"I'm your girlfriend, right?"

On their way to the student council, Ichinose Honami walked ahead with her hands behind her back, playfully kicking her legs beneath her swaying skirt.

The late summer sunlight illuminated her clean profile as her long hair fluttered gently.

Though phrased as a question to Kaor, her tone left no room for denial.

"Her personality can be quite troublesome sometimes—it gives me headaches too," Kaoru murmured, observing her from behind.

The distance between them suggested she was upset, though he wondered if she even realized it herself.

"But Kaoru, you're partly to blame too, aren't you?" Ichinose struggled to define her current emotions.

Just recalling recent events made her mouth taste sour.

"You knew we were dating, yet you made that bet with Sakayanagi-san. Do you prefer... smaller girls?"

By any measure, Sakayanagi was a petite girl—physically delicate and less endowed than herself.

And then there was the lingering matter of Amikura Mako.

For a girl experiencing her first relationship, navigating such complex emotions was overwhelming—far beyond her processing capacity.

"First, my wager with Sakayanagi was made at the start of term, before we began dating," Kaoru paused briefly.

"Second, I'm still figuring out my own preferences."

"Such an evasive answer," Ichinose pouted slightly.

"So I'm just supposed to wait until you decide who you like more?"

Any response now would inevitably disappoint her, so Kaoru opted for deflection.

"I notice you're embodying the textbook girlfriend now—anger, jealousy, interrogation. You're checking all the boxes."

As expected, Ichinose stopped walking abruptly.

"Honestly, I don't understand my own feelings either. Seeing Sakayanagi-san just... bothers me." After a moment, she added, "And what about Kushida-san? Did you make some promise to her too?"

Kaoru genuinely wished he knew the answer to that question, though upon reflection, even Kushida probably didn't understand her own words.

No—what intrigued him more was what Kushida actually intended.

She had no reason to suddenly intervene, did she?

"It's nothing. She just wanted to be friends with me since I rarely go out normally."

"I see."

Ichinose Honami accepted his explanation.

After all, Kushida's persona was that of a pure little angel—she was always eager to get along with everyone.

It was hard to imagine such an angel having any ulterior motives for approaching him.

Then again, Kaoru was an utterly shameless pervert.

Apart from her, there probably wasn't a second person in the entire school who could accept him, right?

Ichinose Honami slowly blushed.

She couldn't keep thinking like this.

Before long, the two finally arrived at the student council office.

Unlike usual, most of the student council members were gathered in the office.

Nagumo Miyabi had even commandeered the sofa, with second-year executives standing beside him, all staring at the two who had just entered.

"You came at the perfect time. We've already confirmed with the school specific tasks the student council will be responsible for," Tachibana Akane said, holding her notebook.

Spotting Kaoru and Ichinose at the door, she immediately waved them over.

Kaoru obediently walked towards the senpai, while his vision caught Katsuragi standing slightly closer to Nagumo Miyabi—yet not too close to the core position—subtly reflecting Katsuragi's current standing.

"Long time no see, Mitoma," Nagumo Miyabi said with a smile. "I heard you had a great victory during summer break, completely dominating your entire grade. Well done. This is how Class A student should be."

Only three first-years were present in the office and Ichinose happened to be from Class B.

Was this a deliberate attempt to drive a wedge between him and Ichinose, or was Nagumo simply displeased with her tagging along?

"Yes, I believe we should thoroughly eliminate all students outside Class A—drive out every single non-Class A student without exception."

Since Nagumo was being sarcastic, Kaoru decided to tear the roof off.

Nagumo Miyabi was momentarily speechless before coldly replying.

"Fine. Let's see how you plan to do that."

"Haven't you already been doing it, senpai?" Kaoru smiled faintly.

It was common knowledge that Nagumo had purged quite a few non-Class A students.

Nagumo Miyabi laughed in anger.

He hadn't expected this guy to dare sarcastically provoke him to his face, even turning the tables to stir discord between him and his subordinates.

"Enough. The focus now is the sports festival," Horikita Manabu interjected, preemptively stopping the brewing argument.

Seizing the moment, Tachibana Akane smoothly continued.

"According to the school's requirements, the student council will be responsible for logistical support and partial planning during the sports festival's preparation phase."

"Logistical support? Like volunteer work?" Ichinose recalled a common type of staff role.

"Yes, but not entirely," Tachibana Akane explained. "The school wants us to help inspect sports equipment and assist with setting up the venue the day before the event."

"Though the school is willing to delegate some tasks to the student council, there's hardly any heavy work involved. Everyone can rest assured," Horikita Manabu said calmly, as if this wasn't his first time handling such matters.

Not only were the third-year executives unfazed, but even the second-years wore indifferent expressions—clearly, they had experienced similar situations more than once or twice.

Come to think of it, the school hadn't explicitly stated that this sports festival was a special exam.

In Japan, sports festivals and cultural festivals were common events.

Advanced Nurturing High School had likely just given this one a twist.

"So, does that mean we only need to do a little work?" Ichinose Honami asked.

"Exactly, besides these, there's also planning." Tachibana Akane pondered, "For example, the school has allowed our student council to come up with the topics for the scavenger hunt competition."

The scavenger hunt was one of the assigned events in this year's sports festival.

The basic premise was to draw a topic from a lottery box and then retrieve the required item as quickly as possible.

The most classic topic would probably be 'someone you like'.

The school likely delegated the task of creating topics to the student council because students understand students best.

"This year, we'll follow the usual arrangement: third-years handle the venue, second-years prepare the topics and first-years assist with equipment preparation." Horikita Manabu assigned the simplest tasks to Kaoru and the others while turning to Tachibana Akane.

"Tachibana, if you have time, take them to the sports storage. I expect quite a few people will be borrowing equipment these next couple of days."

"Leave it to me!" Tachibana Akane patted her chest confidently, though her gaze lingered mischievously on Kaoru Mitoma.

And she wasn't the only one—Nagumo Miyabi was also staring coldly at Kaoru Mitoma.

Tch.

--------------------------------

Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.

patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator