As expected, I got scolded by Aoi again. It was mainly about me putting the students' meal on the public account under the name of team building.
What an absurd double standard. I treat students to a meal or spend funds on other seemingly unrelated things, are those not all meant to make Kivotos better again, while serving my duties for the students?
I advise the so called 'budget guardian' to mind their own business.
...That was how I felt inside, but in reality I swallowed my pride and kept groveling and kissing Aoi's ass with flattery.
After all, while Aoi was scolding me she noticed my dark circles, and she slipped in a few concerned words now and then about taking care of myself, not staying up late. So I endured it.
Anyway, things at the General Student Council went fairly smoothly. I didn't run into Kaya. And Aru, whom I had sent to the nearby convenience store to buy sunflower seeds, did not seem to be stirring up any new trouble, points to Aru.
When Aru and I returned to Schale, Haruka had already finished cleaning, and Kayoko and Mutsuki had bought a new fax machine and were testing it.
While I patted Haruka's head and praised how capable she was, I could not tell whether it was my imagination, but she seemed a little absent-minded, and she did not give that slightly creepy smile she usually wore.
Combined with the message Hoshino had sent me earlier saying she had gone back first, although she had not mentioned anything, I guessed that Haruka might have accidentally noticed Hoshino's presence while she was staying behind.
I could only be grateful that I know Haruka's perks. Even if she had encountered something like that, she would not blab to others, she would quietly keep it to herself. That was why I had arranged for her to stay at Schale alone.
As for now, since she did not tell me, I would just treat it as though she had not noticed.
The next few hours were spent working.
While working, I quietly observed the Problem Solver 68 crew's abilities.
Kayoko was undoubtedly the most efficient, and in her tasks she displayed the dependable reliability I had come to expect.
Haruka's performance also met my expectations, my expectation for Haruka was simply that she complete basic tasks obediently, and that was enough.
I had to admit that Haruka's attitude might be the most unpredictable of the bunch. My only problem was that twice, when she encountered difficulties, she immediately thought herself useless and started to become emotionally unstable and apologetic, so she needed someone to notice and intervene.
What surprised me most was Aru, the one I am currently worried about. When she actually applied herself, she worked quite competently, at least her calculations were correct.
She had only messed up the formatting, everything needed to be redone, but that was not a big problem.
Mutsuki, on the other hand, how to describe her?
Even while working she always wore that mischievous smile as if she wanted to play, she kept interrupting my work to chat and tried to prank me, which was a little annoying.
To be honest, if things are slow it would be fine, but when the workload today is heavy, I want the Schale on-duty students who are my assistants to at least not make things worse, even if they cannot help much.
I wondered, if I didn't bother to control my facial expression and instead showed my true annoyance, maybe even feigned an intolerant look or posture, would that make Mutsuki tone it down a bit?
At the thought of that little devil of a girl being thrown off her composure and making an unbearably adorable face to satisfy someone's cruel impulses, I could not help but look forward to it.
If one day Mutsuki was on duty alone and took her pranks too far, maybe I would try it. But not this time.
Because Aru stepped in.
Although Aru usually ends up on the losing side, she still attracts others around her and has certain standing among her companions. When Aru could not stand it anymore and said a few words, Mutsuki obediently quieted down and no longer nosed around by my side.
In short, I endured the morning despite my sleepiness, and with the help of Problem Solver 68, I completed a good portion of the tasks assigned by the General Student Council. Progress was pleasing.
At noon I thanked the girls for their help, told them the duty work was done for the day, and sent them off. Then I went to the Angel 24 convenience store and bought a bento for lunch.
After filling my stomach, I planned to return to the bedroom to rest.
However, when I opened the master bedroom door I first smelled a strange scent, and then saw a mess.
It was all aftereffects of last night's fight.
I paused in silence, opened the window to air the place out, then moved to sleep in a guest room.
Lying on the soft bed, relaxing, drowsiness and exhaustion swept over me. In only a few breaths I was asleep.
◇
In the Foreclosure Task Force activity room, the pink-haired girl yawned, her eyes closed, looking drowsy.
Serika could not help but grasp Hoshino's shoulder and shake her, "Hoshino senpai, this is not the time to sleep, we still have volunteer work later, snap out of it!"
"Ah wa wa, I know, I know. Even an Oji-san can take work seriously, you know."
Hoshino opened one eye and tried out a line, "So… this job is pretty easy, right? How about we treat this as training for you, so you'll grow faster and stop depending on your senpais?"
Serika instinctively nodded as if to agree, but then snapped back to attention, knitting her brows in displeasure, "So that means you, senpai, are not going to participate, right?"
"Uhee~ you caught me. Sorry, I was joking."
Hoshino immediately caved.
"By the way," Nomimiya said with concern, "you look more tired than usual today, your dark circles are bad. Did you not sleep last night?"
Hoshino showed a strange smile, "Adults have adult nightlife, you little brats would not understand."
Those foolish kouhais who all tried to sneak off but only made it halfway could never imagine that the senpai who seemed to be at the same progress as them had actually already crossed the finish line first last night.
The title of Abydos' strongest tease had already fallen into Takanashi Hoshino's hands.
Naive Serika still complained, "You are not that much older than us."
"Hehe," Hoshino scratched the back of her head and smiled foolishly.
Because Hoshino often spoke in that Oji-san tone and said strange lines like this, everyone naturally took it as another unreliable senpai's joke with a hint of implication.
Who would have thought this time it was not just talk, but actually true?
"But if Hoshino senpai is really that tired, please rest properly today."
Kind-hearted Ayane said worriedly, "As Hoshino senpai said, this volunteer work can be easily done by the four of us."
"Oh my, I already said I was joking," Hoshino waved her hand to refuse the kindness. "As a senpai, how could I push all the tasks onto the kouhais and slack off myself."
Moreover, since she was tired because she sneaked away, it would be even more embarrassing to ask for leave.
Hoshino still had some shame and a little guilt about it, though not much.
However Ayane shook her head and added, "Sorry, what I meant was, in this state will Hoshino senpai really not be a burden to us?"
"Wah! Ayane what do you mean by that!"
Hoshino panicked and stood up, "Oji-san will go wash my face with cold water and get energized, show you senpai's prowess!"
With that she strode out of the activity room toward the washbasin.
A stream of cold water gushed from the faucet into cupped hands and then splashed onto her face, giving Hoshino a sharp jolt.
After repeating it a few times, she turned off the tap and wiped her face with a handkerchief she had taken from someone when they first met and never returned, and felt she had at least beaten off the sleep.
She closed her eyes and smiled, shaking her head lightly, then murmured, "I know, Ayane was actually worrying about me. Because she knows the troublesome, awkward side of Oji-san, she used that tone hoping Oji-san would go rest properly.
"Uh… but maybe it was not completely emotionless? That does not matter. Being cared for by cute kouhais warms Oji-san's heart. So."
Steps on the old floorboards sounded especially loud as they stopped a few paces away.
Hoshino folded the handkerchief, put it back in her pocket, opened one eye, tilted her head slightly, and teased, "Shiroko, did you come to check on me too?"
The wolf-eared girl stared at her senior solemnly, then sniffed as if to confirm something, pondering for a long time before speaking.
"Senpai, you stayed overnight at Schale last night, right?"
"Mm-hmm, you could smell that. As expected of my proud little wolf cub."
Shiroko ignored the teasing and continued, "Your shampoo and body wash smelled different than usual. They were the brands used in Schale's bath."
"Oh really~ I thought it was something else∼"
Hoshino approached Shiroko with a smile, stopping only a single fist's distance away.
"So, did you smell Sensei on me?"
"…What did you do to Sensei?"
Shiroko fixed her gaze on Hoshino's eyes.
"Oh my~ how to put this∼" Hoshino took half a step back, scratching her cheek a little embarrassed, but her tone was casual, "To put it better, it should be 'what Sensei and I did'."
Shiroko looked at Hoshino deeply, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
"Hey~ don't be mad∼"
Hoshino chased after her without relent, "Sorry~ I just made the same mistake every student makes."
Shiroko obviously did not want to hear that and even quickened her pace.
"Don't be angry, okay? I admit I may have forced Sensei a little, but it was only the first time."
Shiroko stopped, cold and filled with disappointment and a trace of anger in her voice, "Hoshino senpai, do you not think you went too far?"
Hoshino was taken aback, feeling a little guilty, and looked away awkwardly, "D-Do you really think so?"
"Yes. Bragging about it smugly in front of me, what are you trying to say? Are you showing off your victory? Are you declaring Sensei as your property and telling me I am not allowed near him?"
"I-I did not mean that! I was just so happy…"
"So you wanted to share your joy with me? Don't lie. You clearly know about Sensei and me. Last time you were peeping, weren't you? I found your handprint on the gymnasium windowsill."
"Ugh..."
Cold sweat broke out on Hoshino's temple. At the time she had been seized by jealousy and panic, and in her haste she had made an unforgivable mistake, forgetting to clean the evidence, revealing her presence.
Even Shiroko, who rarely showed expression, had anger clearly visible now.
"The most important thing is, you forced Sensei to do something he did not want to do!"
Hoshino hurried to explain, "No! He was willing! He was very willing! Although my attitude was strong, if he had any intention to resist I would have stopped right away. And in the end I was the one who begged him to stop!"
"…Hoshino senpai, why did you do that?"
The question froze Hoshino.
The pink-haired girl sighed, gave a bitter smile and whispered, "I just… did not want to keep distance from him. I wanted to be close to him… I did not want him to hate me, I wanted him to like me… that was all.
I know he cannot belong to me alone, that idea is too selfish.
But even so, I wanted to be his only one, even if only briefly.
Shiroko, you can understand me, right?"
The wolf-eared girl only stared into Hoshino's eyes and said quietly, "Perhaps. But I am different from you. I would never force him. Hoshino senpai, no matter what your reasons are, you did something you should not have done."
"…Maybe."
"So, I am sorry, Hoshino senpai. It will take me a long time to convince myself to forgive you."
Shiroko said to her senior who had done something she could not tolerate, "Before that, I do not want to talk to you."
In the simple worldview of a wolf girl who had once lost her memories, that was the severest treatment toward someone close.
She turned and left without looking back.
"Wait! Next time I will take you with me!"
But that single sentence made Shiroko's steps suddenly stop.
She spun back quickly, stared at her senpai again, and asked tentatively, "You really will?"
"Really!"
Shiroko's ears twitched, she hesitated, "Bu-But what if Sensei does not want to?"
Hoshino scolded her fiercely, "Idiot! If he does not want to, can we force him?"
Shiroko thought for a long while, shook her head, and sighed.
"Then I suppose that is all we can do. I believe Sensei will forgive us."
She then took the hand of the senpai she respected most, her eyes sincere and burning.
"Hoshino senpai, I forgive you. Now come with me to plan how to ambush Sensei."
"Oh! Leave it to Oji-san.!"
Thus, an unbreakable strategic alliance was formed.