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Only the possibility that Nagatsuki would take notice of her. If someone he’s got his eyes on has a higher grade, then he’ll likely prioritize them. Still, working hard to study isn’t a bad thing.

「Still, hasn’t the rumors started dying down now that your grades have started rising?」
「I don’t hear a lot of the old rumors lately. Only the other ones about me having ties with the Kisaragi.」
「It’s true, so there’s nothing we can do about it.」

It’s not like it’ll be a demerit for her. Rather, it might turn into an advantage. It’s having ties with someone of the twelve families, after all. And the Kisarag’s infamy is only known in high society circles, not in the business circles.

「Then you don’t need to work any harder, do you?」
「It would be better to do everything that I can. I at least think so.」

In short, not leaving things half-baked. That’s a good thing. There is such a thing as pointless effort but in this situation, that doesn’t apply.

「Then isn’t that good? Now then, why don’t we continue with the studying?」
「Before that, there’s something I want to ask about.」
「What? I didn’t expect you to be interested in the student council, Kaori.」
「Not about the student council. About you, Kotone. How many have you rejected?」

I probably have a really sour look right now. True, as expected, there were some classic love letters left in my shoebox. Also, some who directly talked to me.

「Do you want to know that much?」
「I want to. How about you, Miyako?」
「I guess I’m curious about it too. Since I’ve seen you reading letters with a serious look several times already.」

While there are times when I’m just troubled, there are also times when the sickly sweet letters almost gave me a heartburn. Though I say troubled, it’s just me mulling about how to reject them. After all, I’ve decided to reject all of them from the get go.

「I’m curious too. Curious about what sort of fools would be reckless enough to confess to Kotone.」
「Not you too, Kirigamine. There were some seriously earnest people. But there were idiots too.」
「I mainly want to hear about the idiots. Knowing you, you gave a proper reply to the ones that confessed earnestly, right?」
「Obviously. They confessed their feelings with sincerity, so it’s only proper to answer with respect.」

I’m at least that considerate. My biggest worry is whether I unconsciously end up being insulting while giving a reply. Being confessed to by men face to face is mentally straining, you know? At the first one, I seriously got goosebumps.

「Then one example of an idiot. There was a fool who bragged about his parentage and presented the merits of dating him.」
「Rather than with you, he seems to be more concerned about having relations with the Kisaragi family. And your reply?」
「There’s no merit for me. Otherwise, the merits don’t constitute as merits.」
「Obvious answer.」

Just as Kirigamine said, that’s the only answer. While it may have a lot of merit for the other party, it holds no merit for me. To begin with, we’re still students, so there’s no point bragging about his parent’s work. Since in the end, he’s done nothing himself.

「Do I look like an idiot?」
「He probably thought that you’re easy to win over. Even approaching you seemed dangerous last year, so maybe they thought it would be fine now.」

Last year’s Kotone was a mad dog who would snap at anyone near her, after all. Still, unlike those days, I’m not the type to snap at other people. That’s why this weird confession event occurred though.

「So, what about the other idiot?」
「That’s the one you’re curious about, huh.」
「It looked like the most amusing one.」

It wasn’t amusing to me at all though. I just listened to what they said, gave my rejection, and that’s the end. After that, leave without looking back even if they start saying something.

「There were some that bragged about their looks. Also, there was one that boasted about how many girls he’s dated up until now.」
「Ah, so there really was an actual idiot too.」
「I only met him since Yamada played bodyguard and guarded me from the shadows. If not, I would’ve refused.」

I’ve said it before, but it seems like the student council is overprotective of me. I don’t know where it leaked from, but by the time I was about to head out, Yamada came to escort me.

「So, how did you reject him? Hmm?」
「I smiled and told him to look at a damn mirror before ever coming again. Of course, in this tone.」
「「「Uwahh.」」」

It really pissed me off, after all. Who cares about your dating experience? Hearing my words, the guy was stunned for a while, so I retreated then. Besides, he wants to date me when he’s already dating someone? It’ll obviously cause some weird rumors.

「A nice face is worth nothing with a warped character. To begin with, who the heck brings other women while confessing to someone?」
「「「The worst.」」」

There was an idiot who came to the confession spot with a woman on each arm. I didn’t think he was the one who called me but when I realized that he was, I was dumbfounded. To think an idiot like him exists. Even Yamada who was hiding got angry about it.

「Still, there were some idiots that didn’t seem to understand what I said and chased after me but, well, Yamada seem to have dealt with them.」
「Somehow, this happening might give the rumors about Kotone having the student council under her thumb authenticity now.」

I know, right? That, I can’t deny. From a different angle, it looks like Yamada is my follower. Still, the one who causes this is partially Kirigamine right in front of me. Is she not self-aware?

「I know, alright. I’ve honestly reflected on it, you know.」

As I stared at her, she honestly recognized it. Within the academy, Akira and the others can’t openly take action. They can only do so under the request of their client and after gaining the permission of the academy, so it takes time.

「Well, it should calm down in a while.」
「Isn’t that too fast? It’s still about a week since the second semester started.」
「Kaori, think about it. The people I’ve rejected have already reached double digits. It shouldn’t get any worse than this.」

I have no idea how many have booked in a day. One time there were five people waiting at the same spot and I seriously thought it was some joke. All of them were earnest, so no sort of issue occurred, though.

「I was hoping you’d break the three digit mark.」
「That’d include the people who aren’t serious about it. After that, it’ll be a contest of who can take down the unsinkable me, I guess.」

I’m probably going to be a topic of bets. To begin with, I’ve already told the guys who confessed to me that I don’t intend to date anyone. Only the earnest ones. Telling the idiots wouldn’t do anything.

「Okay, let’s end this here. Back to studying now.」
「「「Oka~y.」」」

They agreed awfully easy this time. I expected them to delay a lot. I guess they recognized that they need to put their back into it soon. Anyhow, it’s better than having more delays.

「Now, let’s do our best.」

It’ll probably end with me practically teaching the three of them, though.