How Many Boxes Are You Buying to Blow Up Balloons?

He noticed Shiina, who had been blushing and staring off into space for a while, and couldn't help asking her.

"Ah, it's nothing. I was just thinking... Chukai-kun, do you think I could join the Student Council?"

"What made you want to join the Student Council all of a sudden?"

Chukai-kun remembered that she hadn't planned to join the Student Council in the original story.

"You're already busy enough as it is. If you join the Student Council too, when will you have time to read? You love books, don't you? Give yourself a little more time. Besides, I'm nearly done with those books you lent me. I'll recommend some to you once I finish."

"You remembered."

"What do you mean? It's only been a few days. How could I have forgotten?"

"Mm... I feel like I've been so busy lately that I'm getting a little confused."

Shiina covered her face, only just realizing that the last time she'd gone to the library with Chukai-kun had been the day before yesterday.

It had only been two days, but with all the work she'd had lately, she felt as if it had been ages since she'd read with him.

"Come on, this is probably the busiest it'll get. If you're tired, just tell me. I'll have Ibuki take over your work."

"It's fine. I can still get it done."

"Okay, then keep at it. Also, I wouldn't recommend joining the Student Council. From what I know, it's about to undergo some reforms, so it'd be better to stay away for now. It could get messy."

"I see... Okay, I understand."

After sending Shiina off, Chukai-kun couldn't help sighing.

Had he given Shiina too much work?

"What, feeling sorry for the pretty girl?"

Ryuen Shoko had watched the whole thing while sipping the drink she'd asked Ibuki to buy. So this was what a heartless boss exploiting his sweet little employee looked like.

"A little. I might've put too much pressure on her. If it comes to it, I'll have Kaneda Satoru help out. He's pretty sharp."

"Suit yourself."

"I know he embarrassed you last time, and that's why you've been treating him badly, but let's put that aside. We can still make use of his brain."

Chukai-kun sighed. "At least he's honest compared to the others."

"You mean Asakawa Takane and Managi Akira? True. Compared to them, Kaneda Satoru is honest."

Those two, Asakawa and Managi, were all smiles to your face and treacherous behind your back. They had a small group of followers who seemed to support Ryuen but actually wanted to oppose her.

There weren't many of them, just six or seven, and aside from Asakawa and Managi, the rest were fence-sitters.

Chukai-kun had never expected everyone to follow Ryuen wholeheartedly. After all, ruling through force was bound to leave a few hard cases who wouldn't be easy to win over.

There was one way to deal with weaklings, and another for hard cases.

Rather than trying to win them over, Chukai-kun was now more interested in getting rid of those two.

There was no rush, though. They still had their uses. Sometimes a class needed one or two spies to bring everyone together, and he didn't mind being the butcher who used a knife to cut away a few problems.

"Heh... Let them have their fun for now. There's plenty of time ahead."

Chukai-kun grinned and picked up the backpack beside him. "Come on. Weren't we going to the supermarket?"

"Mm..."

Staring at an item on the counter, Chukai-kun fell into thought.

"What is it? What's so interesting?"

Ryuen Shoko had no idea what Chukai-kun had been staring at for so long, so she came over to take a look.

Oh. They did seem like they'd need some.

"Should we buy them?"

Chukai-kun looked at Ryuen Shoko, who promptly stepped on his foot.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"Excuse me."

Ryuen Shoko ignored Chukai-kun as he hopped around after getting stomped on. Instead, she called to the cashier behind the counter.

"We'll take those."

"Oh, how many would you like?"

The cashier saw Ryuen Shoko looking at the items and immediately fixed her with a sharp gaze.

Not bad. These two must be first-years, right? They'd gotten together in less than a week?

That guy was impressive.

It was obvious at a glance that the boy had gotten lucky. No plain-looking guy could compare to someone pretty and sexy.

"We'll take... a case. The largest one."

"One box, then? Wait, what did you say?"

The cashier automatically said "one box," then shuddered when she heard Ryuen Shoko's answer.

What had she just said? A case?

How many were in a case?

Over a thousand, right?

"Why are you buying so many? Planning to blow up balloons?"

"Because I feel like it. What's it to you? I'm paying this time, so you can't complain, right?"

"Of course, of course. Whatever you say."

Chukai-kun went back to hopping around. If Ryuen Shoko wanted to spend points on this, then fine. This stuff was expensive, and she was buying a whole case in one go. Seriously...

"What, you think I bought too many? Think about how many times you went at it last night. You'll use plenty."

"Yikes..."

The cashier felt like she'd just heard something she wasn't supposed to.

No wonder that guy had managed to get with a beauty like her. He must be good in bed.

Respect.

"All right, all right, that's enough. Carry it out."

"Wait, could you wrap the box in something first?"

Chukai-kun finally understood why girls asked for their sanitary pads to be wrapped in black plastic bags. Was he really going to carry this box back to the dorm? That'd be a lifelong embarrassment!

It even had "Okamoto" written on it!

"Why are you so fussy..." "No problem, absolutely no problem."

The cashier immediately assured him it was fine. He was the boss, and he could have whatever he wanted.

She had to take care of someone this important. Even if he used a whole case in a semester, that'd still be impressive.

The cashier wrapped the box in paper, and then Chukai-kun carried it back to his dorm with Ryuen Shoko.

"Where am I supposed to put this huge thing...?"

"Isn't there plenty of room under the bed?"

"I'll have to unpack it... All right."

Chukai-kun opened the box and began putting the smaller boxes under the bed.

How many boxes were there? Three hundred.

How many in each box? Ten.

They'd basically gotten the wholesale price. Even so, those three thousand-plus condoms had cost over ten thousand points.

There was no helping it. They needed to buy these things to be safe.

"Are we really going to use that many?"

"Like you said, if we can't use them all, we can blow up balloons."

"Um... never mind."

After stowing all three hundred boxes under the bed, Chukai-kun put the beer in the fridge.

"Then let's get started studying."

"So soon?"

"The sooner we start, the sooner we're done. We'll study until five-thirty, then have dinner. We're done for the day after that."

"Fine."

It was already four. In other words, they only had about two lessons' worth of work left, so Ryuen Shoko went along with it.

There was no one else around, so she didn't need to act so tough.

What good was acting tough? Chukai-kun still pinned her down on the bed and had his way with her.

No, she'd get even today.

"Hmm?"

"What is it?"

"Why are you taking your clothes off?"

"We're back at the dorm. Why are you still wearing your uniform?"

"That's true, but... never mind."

Chukai-kun patted his face and looked away from Ryuen Shoko. Her fair skin seemed to whisper like a demon, reminding him of the wild time they'd had the night before.

Damn, they'd gotten carried away.

"What, never seen me before? You saw everything yesterday, so why are you getting shy now?"

"Mm... I guess I'm still not used to it. I mean, we were drunk yesterday. It didn't feel real."

"Then... want to try again?"

Ryuen Shoko moved close to Chukai-kun and cupped his chin, whispering softly in his ear. "Want to have some fun?"

"We still have to study."

"Tch..."

The disgusted look on Ryuen Shoko's face once again confirmed to Chukai-kun that she was only messing around because she didn't want to study.

"All right. If you study properly, I'll let you drink tonight, and I'll make sure you have a good time."

As he spoke, Chukai-kun gave Ryuen Shoko's butt a hard smack, then gave it another squeeze.

"Fuck you."

"Study, study."

As he spoke, Chukai-kun took off his own shirt too.

Maybe Ryuen Shoko was right. They'd already gone all the way, so there was no need to be so reserved anymore.

It wasn't like I was the one losing out. Why should I care?

"Here, put this on. Let's get started."

"You really like crop tops?"

"I do. What, if I like them, will you wear one every day?"

"Dream on."

She put on the crop top and changed out of her skirt into a pair of shorts. This outfit was much more comfortable.

After changing into something more comfortable himself, Chukai-kun took two test papers out of his bag. "I got these from Sakagami-sensei. Work on them first. I'm going to do the laundry."

Maybe it was because neither of them was particularly shy? After their first time, they'd started to feel like an old married couple.

But that was only an illusion. Ryuen Shoko looked at the test paper, and her brows immediately furrowed.