When people are busy, time slips away quietly without them noticing.
Today was a holiday, and Ichinose Honami had organized another gathering—once again at the karaoke place, with Class B booking a large private room big enough for the entire class.
Counting carefully, it seemed all forty students from Class B had shown up.
“Shiraishi-kun, why aren’t you singing?” Kobashi Yume raised her voice to avoid being drowned out by the lively singing.
“I’m tone-deaf—I don’t dare to sing.” Shiraishi brushed it off with a smile.
In truth, he was completely unfamiliar with this world’s pop songs and had no idea what to pick or sing.
Though he didn’t sing, some classmates still pulled him into games.
With only a few microphones to go around, the rest either played cards or board games like Ludo, or chatted over snacks—the atmosphere was warm and relaxed.
But Shiraishi also noticed that at every gathering, there were always a few students who kept to the sidelines, never truly participating.
“See you all tomorrow.” As the gathering ended and students left in small groups, Shiraishi called out to Ichinose, who was about to leave.
“Hold on a moment—come with me.” He didn’t explain further.
“Then Chihiro, you guys go on ahead.” Sensing he had something serious to discuss, Ichinose said goodbye to her friends and followed Shiraishi back into the private room.
Inside the room, one person remained.
“Oh, Yuki-chan’s still here?” Ichinose immediately recognized her and greeted her softly.
“Ah…
so you kept me behind on purpose—is there something you need?” Himeno Yuki looked a bit flustered.
“Here’s the thing—I noticed Himeno-san barely participated at all tonight.” Shiraishi spoke first.
Noticing Himeno’s expression shift slightly, he quickly added: “I’m not criticizing you for being unsociable.
I just wanted to point out to Ichinose-san that our class’s gathering frequency might be a bit too high.” The idea of organizing class gatherings had originally been Ichinose’s.
On the second day of school, she’d suggested that the whole class go out together to help everyone get to know each other quickly.
Over time, it had gradually become a regular activity—whenever a classmate proposed it, she would poll everyone’s opinions.
The Advanced Nurturing High School was isolated from the outside world, and the campus environment had already been thoroughly explored.
Class gatherings were one of the few forms of entertainment, so most of Class B was happy to attend.
But doing the math—two weeks into the semester, averaging three gatherings per week—the frequency was indeed quite high.
With forty people in a class, each with different personalities, there would always be a few who weren’t keen on group activities.
In other classes, those students could simply decline.
But Class B’s overall atmosphere was so united and harmonious that students like Himeno Yuki worried about being labeled “unsociable” and found it hard to turn down their friends’ enthusiastic invitations.
“I see…” Ichinose immediately caught the underlying meaning and turned to look at Himeno, her eyes filled with apology.
“Himeno-san, please feel free to say whatever’s on your mind.” Seeing her hesitate, Shiraishi encouraged gently.
“Then I’ll be honest…” Himeno glanced at Shiraishi before speaking in a small voice: “I don’t hate gatherings per se—I just don’t have that much enthusiasm for them.
Sometimes I don’t really want to come, but since everyone else is participating, I’m afraid of ruining the mood if I don’t show up, so I end up forcing myself to attend.” “I’ve been keeping an eye on everyone’s behavior during these gatherings.
There are actually a few other classmates who rarely interact much at these events either—they probably feel similarly to Himeno-san.” Shiraishi spoke at the right moment.
“Ichinose-san, your intentions were good, but sometimes, you need to listen to different voices.” “I understand.” Ichinose nodded softly, then turned to Himeno and bowed sincerely: “I’m sorry, Yuki-chan.
I had no idea you were feeling this way.
If Shiraishi-kun hadn’t pointed it out, I never would have realized my mistake.
I’m truly sorry!” “Ah, ah—you don’t have to go that far…” Himeno looked flustered and reached out to steady her.
“Don’t blame yourself too much, Ichinose-san.” Shiraishi added.
“If you really feel bad, just explain the situation clearly to everyone later.” “Mm.
I’ll make sure to tell the class properly.” Ichinose nodded.
Before class the next day, Ichinose stood at the podium and called a brief meeting.
“First of all, I want to apologize to everyone.” She bowed slightly to the class.
“Because of my oversight, I failed to notice that some of you weren’t comfortable with such frequent class gatherings but were forcing yourselves to attend for fear of spoiling everyone’s fun.
Thanks to Shiraishi-kun’s reminder, I’ve realized that I should leave everyone more room to make their own choices.” “Again, I sincerely apologize.” Having said that, Ichinose stepped to the side of the podium and bowed deeply.
“Ichinose-san has done a great job—don’t put too much pressure on yourself.” Kobashi, one of her closest friends, was the first to speak up in support.
“Exactly—Ichinose-san just has too many things to manage for the class.
Some things are bound to slip through the cracks.” Other students chimed in as well.
“Thank you, everyone.” Seeing the class’s reactions—especially Himeno quietly echoing the sentiment—Ichinose’s face softened into a gentle smile.
She continued: “So I’m planning to slow down the frequency of class gatherings to once a month, roughly scheduled after each exam, as a way for everyone to relax together.
Apart from that, I won’t arrange any more mandatory events.
If anyone wants smaller get-togethers, you can organize them privately among yourselves.” “Also, if anyone has suggestions or concerns about the class but doesn’t feel comfortable speaking up publicly, you can come to me privately—or you can tell Shiraishi-kun.
We’ll listen carefully to everyone’s thoughts and do our best to make sure everyone feels comfortable at school.” Once the responses settled, Ichinose moved on to the next matter: “Second thing.
I just received notice from our homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya-sensei, that there will be a monthly exam at the end of this month.
After discussing it with a few classmates, we’ve decided to organize after-school study sessions.
Anyone who isn’t confident in their academic ability can register with me privately.” “So there really is a monthly exam…” Shibata Sou scratched his head nervously, and quite a few classmates showed serious expressions.
These students already lacked confidence in their studies, and with everyone speculating that test scores would directly affect Class Points, many were feeling the pressure.
“Of course, if anyone is confident in their academic abilities, you’re welcome to join in as tutors—Ichinose-san alone probably won’t be enough.” Shiraishi took the opportunity to add.
He knew that if he didn’t say this, Ichinose would likely try to shoulder everything by herself.
As things stood, the only one who would probably volunteer would be Kanzaki Ryūji—and the two of them would likely end up tutoring nearly half the class.
Ichinose looked over at him and nodded lightly.
“That’s about it.
Remember to contact me privately if you’re interested.”