Leave a comment

After everyone finished eating, we had a short chat and got ready to go home. Before leaving, the president gave me the promised free meal tickets for today’s work. Still, why did he walk around with this on him? When I asked him that, he just smiled. Yeah, scary.

「Well then, let’s drop you all home.」

He’s a really attentive guy. As anyone would expect, it’s dangerous for girls to walk home alone this late at night. You never know what could happen. I seem to have bodyguards, so I should be fine but that I can’t say the same for the other two. Also, maybe I should treat the bodyguards sometime.

At this moment, I didn’t think too much about the president’s statement of how he’ll make it difficult to refuse. I only realized he was serious the next morning.

「Hey, morning.」

As I passed through the academy gates, someone called me and when I turned around, the president was there with a smile. Ugh, everyone’s looking at me. There’s a lot of students coming in at this time, so there’s really a lot of different eyes on me.

「Good morning president. This is intentional, isn’t it?」
「Ahaha, I guess you can tell, huh.」

Anyone can tell with something this obvious. He probably did this stunt in public to hint that Kotone and the student council had reconciled. Am I really worth doing this though? One wrong move and this might direct suspicion to the student council instead. They might think that the student council is under Kisaragi Kotone’s control, or so.

「Should I call it bold or perhaps shortsighted?」
「That would be wrong. I’ve thought this matter through.」

At present, Kotone’s existence should be synonymous with a bomb, or so I thought. It seems like the president doesn’t think the same way I do. No one would willingly carry a bomb into their own home. And yet the president started speaking with the future in mind.

「As you are now, no one would be able to ignore you in the future. You’re able to objectively see how you were before, so I have trust in you.」
「Taking responsibility for one’s past actions is only natural, isn’t it?」

I can see the past objectively because I’m a completely different person inside. I have no idea if Kotone herself is capable of returning to sanity and repenting for her past actions. However, I shouldn’t doubt my ability to do it either. So that I can live as myself while carrying Kotone’s past with me.

「That isn’t something anyone can do. Most people would rather take the easy way out.」
「That is true, but…」

Wait, pay attention to your surroundings, me. As I’m standing here conversing with the president, a lot of people are staring at us. They’re making sure not to miss anything from our conversation. I’m absolutely standing out.

「President, I’ll be excusing myself then.」
「E~h~, let’s go together~.」
「I refuse. I’m already attracting enough attention as it is, please give me a break.」
「Well, I guess I’ll leave it at this for now. I’m going to be scolded if I get late after all.」

I’m sure the president will be let off even with a half-decent excuse. In my case though, in addition to being scolded, I’ll definitely be recorded as late. Even if it’s Teacher Kondou, he’s pretty strict with this stuff. The president then clapped his hands and with only that, all the surrounding students began to head towards the academy.

「The entrance is completely congested. What should we do?」
「That, I actually didn’t think about. Man, what do we do?」

Is he the type who’s clumsy at the most crucial times? Or is this intentional like before? Whichever it is, I don’t plan on diving in the congested sea of students myself. While I’m sure it’ll take some time to wait, it shouldn’t take too long to the point where I’m late. Though I might be cutting it a bit close.

「President, please go easy on me.」
「That’ll depend on you.」

With my hand on my head, I let out a sigh. I suppose this means that he’s not going to stop until I give up, huh. Well, what to do? If this situation continues every day, then I’ll be completely worn out first thing in the morning. Give me a break. That’s just mentally exhausting.

With what happened this morning, I was uneasy during the break. There’s no telling if the president would just suddenly barge in, so I was on guard the whole time but he didn’t come. I was expecting him to follow me around everywhere until I joined the student council but I guess I was wrong. Or maybe the break was just too short and it wouldn’t be practical? Either way, I’m pretty sure he’ll come this time though.

「I should’ve brought my own lunch.」
「Ohh, you’re eating at the cafeteria, Kisaragi? That’s rare.」
「Minagawa. I have some free meal tickets, you see.」

As I reached the entrance of the cafeteria, I happened upon a classmate. And, well, if not for the fact that I saw the president nearby, it would’ve been a welcome event. I let out an exaggerated sigh, when I looked again, the president was gone. Really, what is he trying to pull?

「Is something wrong?」
「Nothing. I just saw someone I don’t want to be involved with much.」

I’d rather have a relaxing time at lunch, at least. Anyhow, as long as they don’t approach me, I absolutely won’t go near them. And today after class will be the end of my assistance. After all, I don’t think they’ll go as far as to let the other two rest tomorrow as well. As long as I can pull through today, it should be fine. I don’t have any solid basis, but let’s be hopeful.

「Kisaragi, your turn.」
「Umm, ah, there it is.」

Hmm, I guess I can’t choose the extra options, huh. Well, I’m thankful enough that I can order the main dishes for free. For now, I pressed my order of choice and then the students on the ticket machine left and right of me did a double take. Is it that weird for me to choose this one? Rather, Minagawa behind me is really trying hard to hold back laughter.

「Is it that weird of a choice for me?」
「I mean, you are a rich girl after all…」

What I chose was a gyudon and miso soup set. This is the one that’s free, I wanted to try the one with extra egg but I gave up on that. Asking for extra sauce should be fine, right? I’m really glad that I can eat meat two days in a row. I handed over my meal ticket to the cafeteria lady¹ and when I asked for extra sauce, she happily obliged. It looks like my face still isn’t known in the cafeteria.

「Here you go, sorry to keep you waiting. Still, your order doesn’t really suit your face, does it?」
「My face is irrelevant. I just want to eat it」

This sort of stuff really stimulates the appetite. It’s the same with junk food but I don’t really go and buy hamburgers and stuff unless I’m out with other people. 500 yen a set is expensive.

Searching for an open seat, I found an empty corner. I guess it isn’t too packed today.

1. Lyly: Lady meaning elderly lady
   Lio: Also known as granny