Chick Magnet

Mamie explained to me that every year, marking the official start of the college representative election cycle, the Union President, Vice President, and Secretary would come to hear about the newest developments of the college and take part in a tour led by the representative candidates.

Anyone would fall into insanity going through the same tour year after year. At the very least, the representative candidates tried to keep it fresh by varying the route. Still, it was a challenge. A lot of the college facilities had been there for decades, only with minor upgrades and improvements over the years. The tours were bound to overlap with their predecessors.

It wasn’t like I had to worry about any of those details, because I was stuck with the rest of the normal students inside an exhibition hall near the top of the Commitment Block, a few floors below the rooftop where Mamie and I watched the sunrise.

She and Hanawa-senpai should be leading the guests around the campus right this moment. Even though I wasn’t there with them, or especially because I wasn’t there, my mind darted to various scenarios where things went wrong for Mamie. What if she accidentally scowled? What if she corrected the guests’ postures? What if…

With all the unease swirling inside, I failed to pretend to be interested in the poster presentations of the ongoing research of the Commitment Block labs, with topics ranging from sexual health to sexual behavior. Furthermore, the dark walls with strong lighting of the venue confused my senses, leaving me even more uncomfortable. To distract myself, I scoured for snacks again. They didn’t have shrimp finger sandwiches this time. My day was ruined.

“I recommend the croissant. They have a sweet, buttery filling that melts in your mouth,” a smooth female voice spoke up next to me. Why do girls always like to chat me up when I’m eating? Do they like my hungry face?

I glanced at the person striking up the conversation. A woman with dark blue hair and gleaming gray eyes stared back at me. She gave off the vibe of someone who was constantly overdosing on caffeine, mainly because her eyes were blinking just too quickly for her to be normal. Before my lips could part, she proceeded to volunteer information that I hadn’t asked for.

“My name is Fujimitsu Ayu. You can call me Ayu. I’m a third-year. Nice to meet you.” As she sank into her monologue, her body gradually slid into my personal space. “I’ve noticed that people, mostly first years, have been sneaking glances at you. If you forgive me for being blunt, are you the Kuronuma-kun that Naoko-chan talked about? I’m sorry that you have to go through what you did. You must have been affected by Naoko-chan’s rumors so much. And-”

“Wait. Wait.” I cut her off and took a step back. She was drifting too close. Maybe I’m literally a chick magnet. This thought lasted less than three seconds because I had a more pressing question. “So, Ayu-senpai. You said-”

“Oh, Naoko-chan is Hanawa-senpai for you,” she said, hands on her waist. A smug face that seemed to be silently requesting me to praise her for reading my mind.

But she didn’t read my mind.

“All I want to know is where you can buy this type of croissant.” That was what I really thought about amidst her rambling. I couldn’t care less about unimportant details, like her name. Was it because she was unattractive? Nope, she was yet another smoking hot student I had come across in my college life.

Was I desensitized by the number of good-looking classmates? Nope, at least I hoped I hadn’t been. Regardless, knowing her name wouldn’t make her sexier, but knowing where the croissant was sold could get me more of them. This impeccable logic led me to the obvious choice of which I should prioritize.

Ayu-senpai’s gaze followed my pointing finger to the box of treats. Then she looked back at me with newfound confusion radiating from her face. “But you haven’t eaten it yet.”

“I know, but how will I ask about their origins once I start chewing non-stop?”

“But how would you know that you would like it?”

“You were the one who gave it high praise.” My smile was strained, and my patience was approaching empty because this girl was dragging the conversation so much that I would think she was charging by the minute.

“Fine. I’ll answer the question then.” But she only gave me silence afterwards. She stuck a finger to her chin. Maybe a half-hearted effort to appear cute or something. I wasn’t sure what she was doing.

“Oh, I actually have no idea. Teehee.” She tilted her head in a desperate attempt to act innocent. After wasting a few minutes of my time, I had decided my best course of action was to bow out of the conversation to finally snatch a croissant.

“Sorry, can’t talk. I’m eating,” I said and lurched towards the closest piece of pastry, and stuffed it in its entirety straight into my mouth. The taste was only passable, as if someone had deep-fried cardboard and took pity on it by dropping a dash of vanilla on top. I blamed Ayu-senpai for hyping it up so much, but I gave a thumbs up nonetheless so I could maintain the excuse to dodge the conversation, and it served as a distraction from my worries. Chewing strained my muscles since my mouth was filled to its limit, and I couldn’t imagine how snakes would swallow their prey whole.

Anyway, speaking of snakes, at the corner of my eye, I glimpsed Hanawa-senpai guiding two people into the room, and Mamie trailing behind with a radiant smile. One of the guests had short orange hair, but a sharp chin that was undoubtedly feminine. The other I recognized from Mamie’s home: Nakaya-san, who had spotted me through her glasses and gave a subtle wave mere seconds after she entered.

Yep, Mamie was right. This woman was scary. Because only psychopaths would be this good at Where’s Wally.

But shouldn’t there be three guests?

“Well, fun time is over. Time to get to work,” a voice muttered beside me. Oh right, Ayu-senpai was still here.

Her grin shifted from dorky to professional, and she strode straight at the group. The crowds of students had gradually lowered their chatter, turning their attention to the newly arrived Union members. That was, except for the students who were obliviously staring at their phone screens, of course.

“Welcome, Arayama-san and Nakaya-san, to our college once again. I’m happy to see you two well.” Ayu-senpai bowed to the two guests. Her firm and polite tone sounded completely different from when she deceived me into tasting dull food. She finally passed as a third-year student in my mind.

The orange-haired woman, who was apparently Arayama-san, reached out to shake Ayu-senpai’s hand. “Maybe I should say something pretentious about how time flows. But I’m truly glad to see you again too, Fujimitsu-san.”

Ayu-senpai repeated the greeting with Nakaya-san. After the pleasantries had been exchanged, the tour continued, although it was Ayu-senpai who led it, rather than the two second-years. Some students returned to their chatter, albeit more hushed. Others watched the congregation of five traversing through the lanes that were framed by rows of academic posters. It was a bit creepy, to be honest.

And I was among the spectators too, for no particular reason. Hanawa-senpai and Mamie followed behind the other three, so there shouldn’t have been a way for Mamie to mess up. Yet, I still stared at her.

Yep, it was creepy all right. However, I would like to think that I got a pass. Not because I was handsome… maybe it was partly that, but I just felt like we were close enough for me to stare. Professor Silva said it was okay after all. I think. I really have to reread his books.

While I was waiting for something to go wrong, more anxious than during the entrance exams, the group had completed a lap around the whole hall and settled on seats laid out on the stage. Ayu-senpai received a microphone from a staff member and rushed to speak into it, as if she had been waiting for this moment since she was born.

“Testing. Testing. Great. It’s on. Hello everyone. I’m Fujimitsu Ayu, the current college representative.” She seemed to have conveniently left out this information when she was dumping her whole episode of gossip onto me. I was right to prioritize the croissant over getting to know her, despite how depressing the taste was.

Her introduction of the other four people present wasn’t that informative to me, except that Arayama-san was the Union President, but even that didn’t shock me. What clued me in was that Ayu-senpai greeted that woman first before moving on to Nakaya-san.

“Now, it’s up to you all to ask questions, whether they were directed at our two dear friends at the Union or at the two candidates to succeed me as the representative next year.” Ayu-senpai’s tone slipped back closer to what she used in her conversation with me. I could see that this type of Q-and-A session was rife with potential for hard-hitting interrogations, especially toward Hanawa-senpai and Mamie.

A girl with black twin tails raised her hand and was given a microphone. I recognized her as a member of Hanawa-senpai’s clique. Dreading her challenge to Mamie, I prayed in my heart for a deity to intervene (almost prayed to Professor Silva on reflex), for the question to be a slight at anyone other than Mamie.

The gods might have heard my prayers, because what the girl asked wasn’t a direct attack on Mamie.

It was quietly aimed at me.

“If I may ask everyone on stage, what do you think about the recent rise of ‘sigma male’ influencers and people who subscribe to their beliefs?”

Shit.