E-book Exclusive Short Story: Tomonari Izuki, the Ladykiller

The morning of a negative campaign craftsman starts early.

Asahi Rintarou woke up early this day as well, arriving at Kiou Academy an hour before homeroom. It had been a while since Rintarou started spreading negative campaigns to win the election and, more importantly, to ignite Joutou Ren’s fighting spirit. Feeling confident in his strategy, Rintarou was strolling through the academy in search of fresh inspiration.

(My eyes were right on the mark.)

Rintarou mentally patted himself on the back for his keen insight.

He wasn’t sure how much scandalous gossip would be accepted by the upright students of Kiou Academy, but it spread far more rapidly than he’d expected. Upper class or not, people were just people. Rintarou felt that the students’ curiosity about scandals revealed a commoner’s nature lurking within them. Upper class, middle class, lower class—peel back a thin layer, and they were all the same creatures. He was now more convinced of this than ever.

Now, what kind of negative campaign should he spread next? As he pondered, he passed by the café. He’d once had a conversation there with Tomonari Izuki.

He’d heard rumors about the prestigious Tea Party Alliance. Surprisingly, his older sister, Karen, was among its members.

In essence, this tea party was likely the top caste of Kiou Academy right now. After all, it included the heiress of the Konohana Group and the heiress of the Tennouji Group. And to top it off, Miyakojima Narika, the pinnacle of a different industry, was part of it too.

Even underclassmen, let alone upperclassmen, paid attention to this group. If they wanted, they could easily sway the future of Kiou Academy. It was utterly humiliating, so he’d never told anyone, but Rintarou had once been asked by an ambitious classmate to put in a good word with his sister. The classmate apparently wanted to get close to Konohana Hinako through Karen. Rintarou, who had no interest in talking to his sister, naturally turned down the request. Karen didn’t know about it, and he had no intention of telling her. From the way Karen acted, it was obvious that to the members, it was just a friendly little group. Let them bask in their blissful ignorance.

Among the members, the names that came up most often were Konohana Hinako, Tennouji Mirei, Miyakojima Narika, and Tomonari Izuki. His sister Karen and Taishou Katsuya’s names had popped up a few times during the Management Game, but generally, it was the aforementioned four whose names were on everyone’s lips.

The boy named Tomonari Izuki, who was making a name for himself as if competing with the three heiresses, was, frankly, an anomaly.

(If the three Ojou-samas were fighting over Tomonari-senpai, that’d make for an interesting rumor to spread.)

Though he doubted it was true, Rintarou couldn’t help but entertain the thought.

Come to think of it… doesn’t that guy have a lot of women around him?

It hadn’t even been a year since he transferred. Maybe the first group he got involved with just happened to have a lot of women, but even so, the imbalance felt extreme.

Tomonari Izuki’s character was admirable. So, it wasn’t entirely surprising, but…

(…Might as well give it a shot.)

Rintarou, the negative campaign craftsman, was struck by a new spark of inspiration.

Tomonari Izuki is a ladykiller.

He decided to spread that rumor.

◆

“Hey, did you hear that rumor?”

“Yes, it’s quite an intriguing story…”

The next day, overhearing the conversation of female students in the hallway, Rintarou realized his negative campaign had spread through the academy.

The new rumor he’d started was being embraced by the students of Kiou Academy.

Though not in the way he’d intended.

“Who’s his real sweetheart, I wonder!?”

The negative campaign, meant to undermine a rival faction, had been absorbed by the students as a juicy romance topic. This rumor was particularly popular among the female students.

“Obviously, it’s got to be Konohana-san, right?”

“But I heard he was dancing with Tennouji-san…”

“Don’t you feel there’s something special about the vibe between him and Miyakojima-san?”

Most likely, everyone had already been curious about their interactions. Their excitement didn’t spring from nowhere due to the rumor; rather, the rumor seemed to have triggered an explosion of pent-up interest.

“Speaking of vibes, there’s talk that he’s super close with Suminoe-san too…”

“And rumors that President Minato has her eye on him…”

The rumors just kept coming, one after another.

(…This isn’t entirely my fault, is it?)

Rintarou, the negative campaign craftsman, understood. If a rumor had no basis, it would fizzle out quickly. Which meant this rumor had some roots and leaves to it.

Just how many women does that guy have around him?

Rintarou’s guilt lessened just a tad.

“Recently, I heard he’s been getting close with Asahi-san too.”

Hearing his own surname nearly made Rintarou whip around. If he calmed down, he’d realize they were talking about his sister, Karen. Witnessing the rumor spiraling in bizarre directions was throwing him off balance.

“Wait a sec. If that’s the case, what about Taishou-kun…?”

The rumor was veering into even stranger territory.

“Huh… wait, what!? That’s a thing too!?”

“Well, that’s just another form of diversity, isn’t it?”

Wouldn’t it be better if this academy just went full commoner already?

His strategy had worked, but Rintarou decided he’d go home and sleep it off in a huff.