“Jeez, come onnnnn! I’m not doing this class representative thing because I love it, you knowww!”

“I get it, Ena-san… If someone could take over, you’d want them to….”

“Arasaki-san, you feel the same way too, right? Also, don’t you get this kind of thing from the girls in your class? Like, ‘Must be nice, acting all fragile and like you’re suffering so Kannonzaki (Haruto) will worry about you.’ It’s not that I’m trying to look fragile, I’m worn out from the stress you guys keep dumping on me!”

“Totally. For me, it’s—”

Whoa…

They’d been bottling up way more than I expected, those two….

Watching Ena-san and Arasaki-san as their complaint-swapping wouldn’t stop, I took a sip from the glass of juice I’d gotten from the drink bar.

Since they were meeting for the first time, I thought I’d have to step in and keep the conversation moving, but once I tossed out a little starter topic at the beginning, the two of them just went nonstop.

“Ah, we ended up getting carried away together. Sorry, Tachibana-kun.”

“I’m sorry….”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. This is a karaoke room and it’s soundproof enough.”

When I smiled and encouraged them with a “Go ahead, keep talking,” Ena-san and Arasaki-san resumed their back-and-forth complaining again.

So why were a boy and 2 girls from different classes gathered in a karaoke room?

After school, I introduced Ena-san, the Class 1 class representative, to Arasaki-san, the Class 3 class representative and set up a chance for the two of them to chat.

And since the venue needed to be somewhere they could talk loudly without worrying about being overheard, we ended up using a karaoke room.

This is a coping method for stress called peer support.

Peer support is when people with the same kinds of stress or worries gather and hold a discussion.

There are worries in this world that are hard to get people around you to sympathize with.

For example, someone with a criminal record for illegal drugs can’t just casually open up about drug-related worries to those around them.

It would be difficult even with their family.

But what if it’s a gathering of people who have the same worries?

‘Sometimes, at moments like this, I suddenly feel like doing drugs again.’

‘I get it—.’

That kind of topic, the kind that would freeze the room if you said it to ordinary people, can actually become something you can talk about and bond over.

Even just turning what you’ve been holding inside into words and admitting it out loud reduces stress a lot and when you get empathy from friends with the same worries, the loneliness of “I’m not alone” goes away.

As a result of that kind of letting off steam, you end up able to avoid touching illegal drugs again.

“Ahh, that was fun. Still, Arasaki-san, you’ve got it rough too. The boy you’re in charge of is selfish and there’s the family situation too. Ours is bad in its own way, but prestigious families really have it hard too, huh.”

“Ena-san, you more than anyone seem like you’ve got a hard time steering Class 1, the top class.”

“Hey, let’s swap contact info, Arasaki-san.”

“Absolutely!”

And just like that, after trading secrets, the two of them became best friends.

In a position of responsibility as class representatives, they couldn’t easily show weakness around others, so the two of them would probably become especially important to each other.

I’m really glad Arasaki-san got her smile back after being expressionless.

Oh right, speaking of which.

“About that contact info, can I tell Tatara-hama-san from my class too?”

““Huh?””

Somehow, I felt bad about leaving out Tatara-hama-san, the class representative of Class 2 as well, so even though she wasn’t here, I asked if it would be okay to tell her too.

But for some reason, their reactions weren’t good.

“Come on, Tatara-hama-san is in the same position as the Class 2 class representative and I think it’d be better if you had a place where you could complain without me, a guy, being there.”

Tatara-hama-san is always smiling in front of me.

Well, sometimes she gets scary when I act too freely….

Even so, for Tatara-hama-san too, it’d probably be better for her mental health if she could trade complaints with other girls.

A coworker with kids said this in my past life, but apparently it’s better if dads aren’t present at mom-friend gatherings.

Because otherwise it gets harder for the moms to complain about their husbands.

Mm-hm. I really am a capable partner.

““There’s no way Tatara-hama-san has anything to complain about.””

Whaaaaat?!

Ena-san and Arasaki-san are already perfectly in sync.

So introducing them really paid off—no, that’s not it!

“Why are you leaving Tatara-hama-san out?! I don’t think that kind of thing is okay.”

Do the two of you lack self-awareness as class representatives or what?

“What could someone who has everything going perfectly—her relationship with the boys in her class and class management too—possibly understand about us?”

“Our topics would be catastrophically incompatible… I’d rather not be forced to listen to lovey-dovey talk about Tachibana-shi… Stress…”

“Seriously?”

With Ena-san and Arasaki-san clearly saying those rejecting words like they were spitting them out, I was left speechless.

For now, since Arasaki-san said it would stress her out, I guess I have no choice but to back off here.

Besides, I haven’t even asked Tatara-hama-san whether it’s okay to pass her contact info around, so I have to give up on this for today.

Girls are delicate, huh….

“Still, a complaint session in a karaoke room is a great idea.”

“Agreed. Let’s do it here again next time, Ena-san.”

“You can call me Ayami. We’re best friends, right?”

“Then please call me Mai.”

Yep.

Cute girls acknowledging each other and deepening their friendship really is nice.

This level of closeness might also be because Class 1 and Class 3 don’t currently have a relationship where they’ll face each other directly in the class competition.

In that sense, as the Class 2 class representative stuck between Class 1 and Class 3, maybe it’s hard to get close to both of them.

Yeah, let’s go with that.

People absolutely have compatibility differences, after all.

So, sorry, Tatara-hama-san.

I’ll look for another chance.

“Thank you for today, Tachibana-kun.”

“I feel a lot lighter now.”

“All I did was set up the opportunity.”

As Ena-san and Arasaki-san thanked me, I replied modestly.

“Still, I think it’d be better if you don’t do this again in the future—being in a karaoke room with girls without bringing your bodyguards.”

“Agreed… Women are all wolves.”

Maybe because they’d calmed down a bit, the two of them started worrying about me.

Honestly, the way they immediately show concern for others is exactly what you’d expect from class representatives, one way or another.

“What is Class 2’s guard even doing?”

“Ah. I can kind of slip out on my own without being noticed. Lately, everyone in Class 2 has half given up.”

“That’s rough on the guards….”

With an exasperated tone, Arasaki-san glanced over at me.

Don’t look at me like you’re seeing something disappointing.

“If we win the class competition, I’m thinking we’ll all go to karaoke as a class. So, keep it a secret from everyone in Class 2 that I came here with you two first, okay?”

Saying that, I raised my index finger to my lips and went, shh.

“…Please don’t do that kind of thing with girls from other classes.”

“Agreed…”

When Ena-san and Arasaki-san said that, they looked away.

They probably found it annoying that they got dragged into my secret without permission.