"Maybe skip the love letter idea. A real man should have the guts to fight head-on."
Shirogane knew that if they followed Rinji's method, never mind if the girl accepted Tanuma—it wouldn't be surprising if she called the cops instead.
"As expected of the president!"
Tanuma praised him, completely forgetting it was Shirogane who suggested the love letter in the first place.
"But… I've never confessed to a girl before. I don't even know how."
"Let me be honest—confessing is a death sentence," Takamine said bluntly. "You'll get rejected like a joke, become the talk of the girls in school, and end up a running gag. You can forget about holding your head up in high school ever again."
"That can't be…"
"Hey, Rinji, tone it down a bit," Shirogane whispered.
Rinji's 'confession trauma' was clearly terminal. Even Shirogane didn't know how to cure it.
"But if you really want to take a gamble, I do have a method."
"Please tell me!" Tanuma immediately perked up.
"In a shoujo manga that Fujiwara lent me, there's a scene where a guy corners a girl against a wall, slaps his hand on it with a loud bang, and then confesses while she's flustered… I doubt how practical it is, but Fujiwara seemed to love it. You could give it a shot."
"Oh!! Thank you, Rinji! But… I can't really picture it. What does it look like exactly?"
"Specifically… we'd have to demonstrate. Prez, could you—Prez? What's wrong?"
Takamine turned around to find Shirogane staring at him in disbelief.
"So… so it already exists?"
"Huh?"
"I thought I'd just invented it and even named it 'Wall Duang'… but it's already a thing!?"
"Yeah, it's been around for a while. Still, the fact that you came up with it on your own means you've got a pretty sharp mind, Prez."
"Thanks for the compliment, Rinji."
Shirogane quickly collected himself. "Anyway, what were you trying to say?"
"Tanuma doesn't know how to do the 'Wall Duang', so I thought we could show him."
"Ah, sure. Let's do it."
"Alright."
The two stood up. Takamine leaned against the office door while Shirogane stepped in front of him.
"Alright, Tanuma, pay close attention. No idea if this move actually works, but it's all about the form and the details. Watch and learn."
"Got it! I'll study carefully!"
From the look in Tanuma's eyes, he was genuinely serious.
"Okay, Prez, you're up."
"…Alright."
"..."
"..."
"Prez, go already!" Takamine urged.
"I—I'm building the mood. It's a bit difficult."
Shirogane's face had been red for a while and he was still hesitating.
"Hurry up, Prez. We're both guys. What's there to be afraid of?"
"Y-you're right…"
Even so, every time he looked at Rinji's face, Shirogane couldn't help but feel flustered, despite knowing he was a guy.
"I get it now," Tanuma suddenly chuckled.
"Rinji is just too cute, so the Prez can't help—"
"You little punk, you trying to die!? Want me to come over and chop you up!?"
"I was kidding! Please spare me!"
Tanuma immediately chickened out.
"Forget it. Prez, let's switch places."
"O-oh, okay!"
The two switched spots—Shirogane leaned against the door while Takamine stood in front of him.
Takamine took a deep breath, then slammed his hand against the door next to Shirogane's head with a loud bang. Shirogane blushed furiously as Rinji smiled and said, "I—"
BANG!
"Absolutely not!!!!"
The door burst open violently, sending Shirogane flying backward—only to be caught by Takamine in time.
Everyone turned to see Shinomiya Kaguya standing there, face flushed, eyes teary.
"Shinomiya!?"
"Shinomiya heiress, you were here!?"
"T-this kind of thing…" Kaguya pointed at the two of them, trembling. "This kind of thing is absolutely forbidden!!"
"What are you thinking? We were just demonstrating a confession technique for someone."
"Of course I know that, but…"
"Wait!"
Rinji's eyes suddenly turned sharp.
"You just said 'of course I know,' right?"
"Eh?"
"That means… you've known everything that was happening in the student council office from earlier."
"Well…"
Kaguya looked away, sweating slightly.
"You were eavesdropping, weren't you, Shinomiya heiress?"
"This is…"
"But you came at the perfect time."
Takamine Rinji suddenly grabbed Shinomiya Kaguya by the shoulders and pinned her against the door.
"Eh?"
Just as Kaguya was trying to figure out what was going on, Rinji turned to Shirogane Miyuki and said, "Now that we have a guinea pig, President, use her to demonstrate."
Shirogane Miyuki: "Huh?"
Shinomiya Kaguya: "..."
Sounds pretty good, actually!
On the surface, Kaguya looked shy, but inside, she was overjoyed.
Having Shirogane Miyuki kabedon her and confessing afterward—wasn't this exactly the scene she had always dreamed of?
"I misjudged you, Takamine-kun. You're a good kid after all."
In that moment, her old family feud and the fear from years ago were completely cast aside.
"Since it's for the sake of helping out a fellow student, I suppose there's no other choice. Right, President?"
"...You're not wrong."
Kaguya enjoyed watching Shirogane's bashful, red-faced expression, waiting for him to finally confess to her—
"Thank you, everyone from the student council!"
Suddenly, Tanuma Tsubasa stood up.
"Just now, I've fully understood how this technique works!"
Kaguya: "Huh?"
Tanuma: "No need to demonstrate any further, I've grasped all the details."
Kaguya: "Wait—"
Tanuma: "I'm going to confess to Kashiwagi now. Thanks, everyone!"
With that, he excitedly dashed out of the student council office.
Kaguya: "..."