The Irregular at Magic High

Chapter 15

His right hand shook a little, probably because the wish to shake hands was not completely erased. As to why the shaking stopped, Tatsuya did not care to consider. Hattori returned to his seat while completely ignoring Tatsuya. Behind Miyuki, a displeased aura was gathering, but that too disappeared in an instant. The only one who noticed was probably Tatsuya, thanks to his proximity. Thankfully she managed to control herself, Tatsuya patted himself discreetly on the chest. The Vice President was completely unaware of Tatsuya's worries — though that shouldn't be surprising, given they just met — or the source of Tatsuya's worries. Just then, two very casual greetings flew in. "Ah, you're here."

"Welcome, Miyuki. You too, Tatsuya-kun. Good work." From the way Mari casually raised a hand in greeting, she was already treating Tatsuya as one of them. Mayumi was the complete opposite. Her attitude was much different from before. Then again, most groups would be upset if an outsider were to intrude, although no outburst actually happened. Tatsuya, much like everyone else, had long since arrived at the conclusion that trying to understand these two was a hopeless cause.

"In that case, no need to delay. A-chan, if you please."

"...Yes."

It appeared that she already gave up. For a moment, Azusa's head drooped with a sad expression before she put on a wooden smile and led Miyuki towards the terminal on the side.

"Well, let's be off." It hasn't even been a whole day yet and she's already speaking so casually. Maybe flightiness is part of her character, Tatsuya thought.

"Where to?" Then again, Tatsuya's background was not privileged enough for him to care about anyone else's word choice. He replied in the shortest, most efficient method possible.

"Public Moral Committee headquarters. There's a lot of things you need to see firsthand to understand. It's located directly underneath this room. That being said, they're both connected." After Mari finished speaking, Tatsuya took a breath before replying.

"...That's quite the strange design."

"I thought so too." As she was saying this, Mari began to stand up. But just as she was about to leave the chair, a comment stopped her. "Watanabe-senpai, please wait a minute." The voice came from Vice President Hattori. Upon hearing this, Mari replied in a manner that to this day Tatsuya still cannot get used to.

"Is something the matter, Hattori Gyoubushoujou Hanzou?"

"Please don't address me by my full name!" Tatsuya glanced at Mayumi. Seeing Tatsuya's gaze, Mayumi tilted her head with a "Hm?". You're telling me that "Hanzou" is actually his real name... Completely. Unexpected. "Then let's go with Vice President Hattori Hanzou."

"Please call me Hattori Gyoubu!"

"That's your family's official title, isn't it."

"It has nothing to do with the title now. The school has already accepted the name 'Hattori Gyoubu'! ...No, that's not what I wanted to say."

"That's because you're too formal, isn't it?"

"Ok, ok, Mari, Hanzou also has things he won't back down from." Everyone's gaze fell towards the speaker, Mayumi. You're hardly qualified to say that. (!)

But Mayumi had no reaction at all. Probably because she didn't realize it. More to the point, why hadn't Hattori said anything?. This was slightly different than not being accustomed to speaking with the President. Even when confronting Mari, Hattori's expression had not changed. But compared to his expression then, Tatsuya found that to be very interesting. —Of course, that was only under the condition that he was a spectator. Alas, the time allotted to a spectator is very short.