ALL NOVEL chapter 95
95. The Scheme of Fusegawa Yorito
As I walked down the hallway with Mashiro, I heard loud voices coming from the classroom of Class 1-2.
—
Wondering about it, Mashiro stopped and turned to me.
“Ryusuke, the classroom seems really noisy, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe they’re excited because of the tasting event? No, but something feels off.”
The whole class had gathered early in the morning.
I thought they might be buzzing with anticipation for the dessert tasting, but the atmosphere felt different somehow.
“It feels like they’re having some kind of discussion, doesn’t it?”
“A discussion… What on earth could they be talking about?”
“Hmm. Can I go listen in the hallway for a bit?”
“Of course. I’m curious too, so let’s check it out.”
Mashiro and I hurried to the front of the classroom.
The voices of my classmates echoed from inside, a lively chatter.
Among them, one voice stood out distinctly—it was Fusegawa Raito.
He seemed to be standing at the podium, explaining something to the class, and Mashiro and I, intrigued by the content, decided to eavesdrop near the door instead of entering.
“You all know the results of the survey, right? The menu options that Shindo created are too scattered, and we haven’t been able to decide on anything. Looking at those results, I’ve thought about it in my own way.”
Fusegawa Raito’s voice rang out clearly as he spoke confidently in front of our classmates.
It was a scene that also appeared in the original story, where the protagonist, Fusegawa Raito, led his classmates.
“I think those results mean that everyone’s feelings in the class are scattered and that we haven’t united as one. There’s confusion in everyone’s feelings towards the cultural festival, and that led to those results.”
With those words, the anxiety that had been simmering in my chest began to spread.
In the original story, the class’s spirit had been fragmented due to the interference of the antagonist, Shindo Ryusuke.
It was Fusegawa Raito who had been desperately trying to bring the class together. I recalled how he had worked hard alongside the heroines to ensure the success of the cultural festival.
However, that was merely a story from the original “Fusekoi.”
Indeed, I was still the class outcast, and it was hard to say that I was leading everyone like the protagonist.
Yet, I hadn’t interfered in any way, and I was genuinely working hard to make the cultural festival a success.
Even so, he was behaving just like in the original story.
As I pondered the strangeness of Fusegawa Raito’s actions, I leaned in again to listen to his speech.
“So, as the class representative for the cultural festival, I have something I want to convey to everyone. I want you to know what I’ve been doing for the class with Yuna up until this day.”
As I peeked inside quietly, Hanazaki Yuna stood up and walked over to Fusegawa Raito.
With her flowing red hair dancing gracefully, Hanazaki Yuna stood beside Fusegawa Raito.
As the main heroine supporting the protagonist, she wore a gentle smile that suited her well.
And while drawing the attention of all her classmates, she directed her clear gaze straight ahead.
—
“I’m sorry to take up your precious time, everyone. Before Shindo-kun’s scheduled tasting event begins, could you please listen to me for a moment?”
As Hanazaki Yuna began to speak, the classroom fell silent. It was clear that the entire class was leaning in, eager to hear what she had to say.
In that silence, Hanazaki Yuna started to speak in a calm tone.
“As a member of the cultural festival executive committee for this class, I have been working hard alongside Raito-kun. However, with this being my first cultural festival in high school, things haven’t gone as I had hoped… I have felt quite ashamed that I haven’t been able to effectively bring the class together. I believe our shortcomings were reflected in the results of the survey we conducted with all of you.”
Hanazaki Yuna spoke slowly in a steady voice.
Contrary to her calm tone, her profile showed a furrowed brow, revealing a look of regret.
“Now, I have something I would like to discuss with all of you. The truth is, Raito-kun and I have been working on a different plan simultaneously while Shindo-san is considering the dessert menu. In order to make this cultural festival a success, we want everyone to unite and come together as one class with a new project. So, we would like you to hear the proposal that Raito-kun and I have been discussing.”
Hanazaki Yuna paused for a moment and smiled at Fusegawa Raito.
In response, Fusegawa Raito nodded and stepped forward. Then he began to speak to the entire classroom.
“I think everyone knows that I have a good relationship with our student council president, Miyuki-senpai. Up until today, I’ve been visiting the student council room and working alongside Miyuki-senpai to ensure the success of the cultural festival. Thanks to that, I’ve finally arrived at an answer.”
Indeed, while I was narrowing down the candidates for the dessert menu, Fusegawa Raito had been frequently visiting the student council room with Hanazaki Yuna.
I thought he was negotiating with the student council to get permission for cooking in the classroom and to increase the budget we could allocate… but it seemed that was not the case.
In fact, it appeared that they had secretly prepared a different plan, predicting that “Shindo Ryuusuke’s dessert café would surely not work out.”
Fusegawa Raito paused again and exchanged glances with Hanazaki Yuna.
Receiving the cue, Hanazaki Yuna nodded and took out a piece of paper to gather her classmates’ attention.
“This is the answer. We, Class 1-2, have decided to collaborate with the pastry shop ‘Pâtisserie Plasador’!”
Hanazaki Yuna declared loudly and began distributing flyers that she had kept inside the teacher’s desk to her classmates.
The flyers featured the logo of the pastry shop along with pictures of delicious-looking sweets, and the girls who received them erupted with excited cheers.
“‘Pâtisserie Plasador’ is that shop in front of the station that always has a line, right?!”
“No way! I love the sweets from that place!!”
“That’s amazing! I definitely want to try them!”
With the girls’ voices leading the way, the boys began to chatter excitedly as well.
“So does that mean Shindo’s desserts are off the table now?”
“If we’re just going to get recipes from the shop and make them, that sounds tough, right? Shindo’s was easy to understand, but mimicking a specialty shop’s sweets seems difficult.”
“Ah, that’s true. But even if we say it’s a collaboration, I’m worried…”
“But it’s ‘Pâtisserie Plasador’ in front of the station! It has to be better than Shindo’s!”
Amidst the mix of anticipation and anxiety, Fusegawa Raito stepped forward to face his classmates. As he gathered everyone’s gaze, he wore a confident smile, clearly believing wholeheartedly in the answer he had arrived at.
“The sweets we will serve at the cultural festival will be provided on the day itself, thanks to the full cooperation of the shop, as they will be pre-made for us. What we need to focus on is creating the interior for the cultural festival, as well as making simple costumes. We also plan to create signs and posters to display outside the shop.”
“Raito-kun is right. Compared to Shindo-kun’s plan of making sweets by hand, we will allocate a larger budget, but if we all unite and come up with ways to save money in other areas, I believe we can make it work within our budget!”
Hanazaki Yuna said clearly and confidently.
That voice and expression carried a certain persuasive power, and my classmates began to voice their expectations.
“Honestly, I thought handmade sweets were a drag.”
“If the shop provides them, it sounds like it would be easy and nice.”
“And it’s from Pâtisserie Prasador! Being able to eat sweets from a famous shop at school is amazing!”
“Exactly! I’m so hyped!”
“I mean, it’s definitely going to be popular. Maybe we’ll become the most popular class at the cultural festival!”
“I totally get that! It’s totally possible!”
A collaboration with a hugely popular patisserie located in the bustling area in front of the station.
Although it would cost more than initially planned, the burden on my classmates would be lightened, allowing us to enjoy delicious sweets provided by the patisserie.
It was undoubtedly appealing to my classmates.
The atmosphere in the classroom began to rise rapidly, and the class, which had been divided over my proposal for handmade sweets, started to come together as one.
Fusagawa Raito and Hanazaki Yuna exchanged glances and nodded happily.
(I see… so it ultimately converges to the same flow as the original story.)
This was the same development I had seen in ‘Fusekoi’ in my previous life.
The protagonist arrives at the answer to make the cultural festival a success through bonds with the heroines.
To unite the class against Shindo Ryusuke’s interference, Fusagawa Raito cooperates with the heroines to negotiate with the patisserie. Using the strong connections of the student council president, Sakuramiya Miyuki, they successfully secure cooperation from the patisserie.
And upon hearing this, the classmates were overjoyed.
With unanimous agreement, it was decided to proceed with the cultural festival in collaboration with the patisserie, and the class began preparations as one.
At the center of it all were the protagonist, Fusagawa Raito, and the heroines.
Meanwhile, the original character, Shindo Ryusuke, found himself distanced from them and became even more isolated…
(…But I’ve been working hard too, you know.)
I hadn’t opposed the protagonists like in the original. I had been doing my best, thinking of everyone, to ensure the cultural festival would be a success.
So while it might be impossible to convince the entire class, I thought I would at least earn some recognition. But the result was this.
Some students even started saying that Shindo was unnecessary, and my efforts couldn’t even break into the event where the protagonists deepened their bonds with the class.
Somehow, that thought made me feel inexplicably sad, and I couldn’t help but lower my face.
“Ryusuke…”
Mashiro called me in a thin voice.
She was weakly tugging at my sleeve, her blue eyes glistening.
It was as if she was desperately suppressing her sad and anxious feelings… such a heart-wrenching yet fleeting expression.
Mashiro had been cheering for me, seeing me stand at the center of the class during the cultural festival.
—
Hoping that my situation of being isolated from the class would change at this cultural festival, Mashiro had been watching over me all along.
It was precisely because of Mashiro that I felt a deep pain in my chest, knowing that in the end, I was still excluded from the class, and that no one recognized her efforts.
Seeing Mashiro’s sorrowful face tightened my heart.
I didn’t want to waste Mashiro’s feelings. I wanted to repay her for the support she had given me.
But I didn’t know what to do.
Would our feelings reach each other, or would everything be ruined like this? An anxious feeling crushed my heart.
Suddenly, everything in front of me went dark—at that moment.
“—Raito. I can’t agree with that plan. I’ve been silent, but you’ve been neglecting Ryusuke, who has been working hard for the class.”
“Yeah, Reo-kun. I think so too. You decide everything on your own without consulting anyone, and then come here to exclude Shindo? That’s ridiculous.”
I heard a dignified voice and instinctively turned my gaze.
Standing there were Reo and Hinano.
Reo, the only friend I had made in class, and Hinano, with whom I had formed a new connection in the second semester.
The two of them stood in front of Fusegawa Raito and Hanazaki Yuna, as if to protect me.