Izumi Shouya's Q&A Corner

Whipping my muscle-sore legs into motion, I went to school today. Usually when I'm in this state, Kaede and my onee-chans tell me to stay home and rest, but that wasn't an option today. Today is this year's first Boys-and-Girls Exchange class.

"Ugh… if only I were strong enough, I could carry you on my back, Shouya…"

"It's fine, really… it's just muscle soreness…"

Kaede has been worrying over my legs all morning. When she first saw me getting carried by Satsuki-san, she nearly fainted on the spot. It makes me happy that she cares about me that much, though.

She's been carrying my bag the whole way too. I told her I could carry it myself, but she absolutely refused to let go.

"Phew～ we made it～!"

"Sorry, Kaede… I ended up making you carry it all the way to the classroom…"

I get the feeling everyone in the classroom is surprised that Kaede's the one carrying my bag. Making such a slender, cute girl haul my luggage around has probably tanked my reputation.

"Geez! You've said sorry way too much already this morning! It's supposed to be 'thank you,' isn't it?!"

"You're right… thank you…"

"Yup! Very good!"

Kaede nodded with satisfaction and set my bag down.

"Shouya, did you get hurt? Kaede was carrying your bag."

As soon as I sat down, Nana came over to chat, so I told her the embarrassing story of how my muscles ached so badly I couldn't move.

"Shouya, amazing. Pushing yourself that hard is impressive. I'll give you head pets ♡"

Instead of laughing at my pathetic state, Nana praised me and patted my head.

"Geez! Nana-chan, if you'd seen Shouya that day, you definitely wouldn't be saying that!"

In contrast to Nana's gentle smile, Kaede was huffing and puffing with anger.

"I'll go easier on myself next time…"

"Until your muscle soreness heals, you have to lean on me properly… on everyone! If you do that, I'll forgive you!"

"O-okay…"

I got hit with a strange condition, but this could be a good opportunity. I'll think of it as practice for relying on my family. Everyone should be happy about it… probably.

"Kaede. When you say 'everyone,' does that include Nana?"

"Of course! You might be thinking that you only need to lean on family, Shouya, but that's not it! You need to rely on your classmates too!"

"Um… okay…"

Kaede had read my mind and hit the bullseye. But how exactly am I supposed to rely on classmates…

"Shouya. I want you to lean on me freely. Nana likes that you try your best on your own. But Nana hates that you don't rely on her."

Hearing the word "hates" from Nana, who's always telling me she likes me, made my heart skip a little, but this was for my sake too.

"Got it… thank you, Nana."

Nana smiled happily again and stroked my head. I couldn't stand up from my seat, so I just let her do as she pleased.

"Mornin'～. Oh, Shouya's here～! Way to actually show up, good job!"

When Arisa spotted me in the classroom, she rushed over like a big dog wagging its tail, gleefully patting my head and saying 'good boy, good boy.' Maybe she thought I'd skip since today was Boys-and-Girls Exchange?

"Yeah, I made it…"

"Can you walk today? Want me to carry you on my back?"

"That sounds good! Right? Shouya?"

Kaede applied silent pressure to Arisa's offer. After I'd just promised to lean on people properly, it was hard to refuse…

"J-just for today, then, please…"

"Got it! And if I'm not around, Honami would be good too! She's big! Right, Honami?!"

Arisa suddenly called out to Honami-san, who was sitting at the desk diagonally in front of me. Honami-san jolted in surprise and turned to face us.

"There's no way I could ask Honami-san to carry me…"

"Aw, Shouya's getting all shy～? Hey, Honami-chan, how about it? Shouya's legs are in bad shape, so could you give him a piggyback ride?"

"I-I'd… if Izu… if Shouya-san is okay with it… I'd like to… do that for him…"

Honami-san fidgeted with a red face and gave the OK.

"Hehe ♡ Then it's decided! Shouya, you remember what I said, right?"

"Y-yeah… I'll try to rely on people as much as I can…"

"Very good!"

After that, while the five of us were chatting about nothing in particular, the teacher came into the classroom.

"Oh, Izumi-kun, way to make it from day one～! Make sure you have fun with first-period Boys-and-Girls Exchange, alright?"

The teacher checked off the attendance register and started morning homeroom. It was just reading off the day's announcements in a flat voice, but this kind of thing really does feel like proper student life, which is nice.

"Alright! Now then, have fun with Izumi-kun in first-period Boys-and-Girls Exchange～"

With that, the teacher headed back to the faculty room. So Boys-and-Girls Exchange is run entirely by the students with no teacher present? Also, what exactly do we do? In Boys-and-Girls Exchange, I mean. Back in middle school it was basically a 'let's get to know Izumi-kun!' format that turned into a press conference for me. Are we doing a press conference again?

While I was puzzling over it, Miyamoto-san… no, Yuika-san had already stepped up to the podium and started running the show.

"For today's Boys-and-Girls Exchange, since it's the first one, I'd like to do the customary Q&A corner!"

So the reason middle-school Boys-and-Girls Exchange had so many Q&A corners was because my relationship with my classmates kept getting reset. Starting from getting to know each other is the norm… but isn't this really just me disclosing all my info?

"Also, for today I've set up a system so that you can ask things that are hard to ask in person! I've posted a link in the group chat, so please send your questions through there. You should be able to submit them anonymously. Of course, raising your hand to ask in person is welcome too."

With Miyamoto-san's slick MC work, everyone immediately started fiddling with their phones. What kinds of questions are they going to ask, I wonder?

"Here, Izumi-kun, you join from this link. That way you can see the full list!"

Just like before, when I tried to head to the front, Arisa gave me a piggyback ride and Kaede carried my chair. Doing this in front of everyone was honestly pretty embarrassing.

"Um, so first up is 'Favorite food'… uh, for something I've eaten recently… I'd say I like carbonara."

"I see, I see, carbonara, huh…"

Apparently Yuika-san is going to be recording my answers this time. She's thinking ahead so everyone can look back at them later. I could enter the answers myself, but right now I've got my hands full just responding in front of everyone.

"Um, next one is… 'Aren't tall girls scary?' Um, I don't mind if a girl is tall."

I deliberately said this while glancing in Honami-san's direction, and Honami-san turned red and looked down.

"Ah, go ahead."

I spotted a raised hand and prompted them to ask. The one with the platinum-blonde half-up and white knee-socks was… Hoshimiya-san, I think?

"Yes, Shouya-sama, I heard previously that you've already promised to marry two people. How many more are you planning to marry?"

"Um… actually, the number I've promised to marry has gone from two to four now… and I think one more will probably get added pretty soon… I guess."

My answer made the classroom's mood turn quite heavy. Because I was about to fulfill the minimum marriage quota, which meant I no longer needed to marry by obligation. But hadn't I said before that I wanted to keep marrying anyone I fell in love with? Or did everyone think I was joking?

"Um, this is something I mentioned a little bit before, but… if she's a wonderful woman, I want to marry her regardless of whether I've cleared the marriage quota or not."

"That's right! Some people here heard Shouya say it before too! You all just didn't think he was being serious～!"

It seems Kaede really had remembered me saying this before. But if you don't understand my views on women the way Kaede does, then by this world's common sense it must sound weird and hard to accept.

"S-so anyway… um…"

"In other words, you just have to make Shouya fall for you. Right, Shouya?"

While I was stammering, Nana summed up the hard-to-say part for me. When I nodded in agreement, the classroom's mood instantly brightened.

"Oh, Shouya! Got a question! 'Are flat-chested girls a no?' is what it says!"

Arisa went out of her way to pick a question that was hard to touch. That's exactly why it's anonymous, I guess.

"Um, breast size is fine with me… if it's the person I love, I can come to love her chest…"

"That's right! Let me say it one more time! Shouya can fall for tall girls, big-breasted girls, AND lewd girls, so you're all fine! Also, he didn't make a sour face when I hugged him after club practice!"

The classroom buzzed at Arisa's declaration. Please, really, stop exposing my preferences on your own. Even if lewd guys are supposedly more popular, what's embarrassing is still embarrassing.

"Oh, Shouya, the next one's a serious question! 'Please tell us how your marriages came about,' it says!"

It almost makes my earlier breast-related worry sound un-serious, but Kaede's question really is a serious one.

"Um, the two of them have always supported me and protected me, and… I came to think I… liked them…"

"Geez ♡ Shouya, your face is bright red ♡"

Kaede is teasing me, but Kaede's and Arisa's faces are bright red too.

"Um, as for the other three… they took care of me at the hospital before… and they treated me really well… is how it went."

My face kept getting redder and redder as I exposed my own love life. To distract myself, I pretended to be sorting through questions while looking at my phone screen. After that, I handled questions like 'Will you come if I invite you on a date?' and 'Could I get your contact info?' (silly ones that were hard to ask at a first meeting), and then class time was up.

"Great work, Izumi-kun!"

Yuika-san offered words of appreciation to me as I was being carried back to my seat on Arisa's back.

"Thanks for your hard work too, Yuika-san. You're going to compile the questions now, right?"

"Y-Yuika… um, yeah, that's right! Izumi-ku… Shouya-kun, I'll need you to submit a report later too, so please do!"

Yuika-san seemed surprised at being called by her given name. Kaede and the others had been encouraging me to use casual speech and given names, so I tried it, and I'm glad she didn't make a sour face.

"Got it… by when do I need to submit it?"

"Hmm～ ideally I'd want it by lunch break, but waiting until after school is totally fine!"

For Boys-and-Girls Exchange, both boys and girls submit a report… or rather, an impression-essay… after class, and grades are determined from that. As long as the content isn't truly terrible, it's basically a subject where you're guaranteed the top grade.

"Alright, I'll write it during the next class then."

"Yes! Please do!"

"Oh, right, Yuika-san. That question link, is it still usable?"

"I think so, but… why?"

"If there are other questions, I figured I could answer them in my free time…"

"That's such a great idea! Right, Yuika-chan?! That way, from the next Boys-and-Girls Exchange we can do something different!"

For my part, I'd rather use precious class time for something more meaningful than a Q&A corner. The most efficient thing is for me to list out the questions, type up answers, and post them to the group chat. If anything else comes up, people can just ask me directly.

"That's true… then, may I ask you to do that?"

"Yeah, of course."

I spent the rest of the free class period entering answers to questions I hadn't gotten to during the earlier session, and writing up the class report.