The First Commission: The Demon King Takes Action

The Service Club...

Just hearing the name made one instinctively want to take a step back. Could this really be a normal club?

Kikyo Kushida's lively eyes shifted as she tried to force herself to consider it.

She found that she still couldn't accept it!

"Sorry, please allow me to think it over carefully!"

Asking someone to join a club right after school started was, admittedly, a little abrupt...

Bai Yu stroked his chin and silently analyzed the situation, occasionally speaking up to continue his recruitment efforts. "What concerns do you have, Kushida?"

"Given the declaration you made in class earlier, I think you should be highly compatible with this club."

"Huh?" Kikyo Kushida raised her eyes in surprise and gathered her courage to ask, "What exactly does your club do, Bai?"

Bai Yu answered frankly, "Just as its name suggests."

Kikyo Kushida's smile stiffened. "Then I'm afraid we were never meant to meet."

Bai Yu corrected and supplemented his explanation. "This service is not that kind of service. This club aims to help others resolve their worries and overcome their immediate difficulties. It does not carry the feudal meaning of serving others in a humble manner."

"I see..."

With the misunderstanding cleared up, Kikyo Kushida began to waver. If that was the case, it really could help advance her goal to some extent.

But it would only speed up the process and save her some time.

She had plenty of confidence in her social skills. Besides, if club activities ended up taking too much of her time, it would probably become troublesome.

So she still shook her head and politely declined. "Bai, I understand your idea a little better now, but school has only just started. I'd still like to visit some other clubs before making a decision."

"If I still haven't decided which club to join by then, I'll come rely on your Ser... vice Club, okay?"

She once again cast an irresistibly soft and pleading gaze at him. His eyebrow twitched, but he refused to let his eyes spark with hers.

Kikyo Kushida began to feel puzzled.

The boy before her suddenly became solemn again. His pure, ink-black eyes stared at her for several seconds before he made a strangely serious proposal. "How about this? Kushida, submit a commission to the Service Club. If we complete it, you'll officially join this club. What do you say?"

We?

Had someone else already agreed to join? What kind of person would be scatterbrained enough to join such a suspicious club in every respect? Even the club's founder was bizarre beyond belief...

Kikyo Kushida couldn't help finding it curious. After thinking for a moment, she said, "As for something troubling me, school has only just started, so..."

At that moment, another girl stepped out through the classroom's back door and casually cast a cold glance in their direction.

The previously harmonious atmosphere was instantly torn apart by an icy gust.

That single glance made it seem as though the hallway had been struck by extreme weather. Her eyes revealed disdain, along with perhaps a trace of resentment at being unable to settle accounts with someone face-to-face.

Perhaps she had been innocently caught in the crossfire, but Kikyo Kushida seemed to feel the sudden drop in temperature as well.

She stood there frozen, her expression stiff for a long while.

She craned her neck to stare at the girl leaving the classroom, only looking away once the girl had completely faded from sight. Then she turned back to the boy. "Bai, I have a problem!"

The shift in attitude was a little abrupt, but that was fine.

Bai Yu's lips curled slightly as he reiterated, "I'll do my best to solve your problem, but in return, you'll join my club once it's done."

"If you can fulfill my request, that's completely fine." The girl agreed.

"Then the contract is established." Bai Yu held out one hand and smiled peacefully. "So, what is the problem troubling you, Kushida?"

"Please help me become friends with Horikita!"

"Horikita? The woman who tried to take my head with her eyes before going home?"

"Huh?" Kikyo Kushida looked confused.

"Never mind. I accept your commission." Bai Yu agreed readily.

As the club's first activity, it was only natural that there would be a certain degree of difficulty.

No matter how difficult it was, they had to find a way to overcome it. Only when all members worked together could they remain invincible.

Yes.

So every club member had to participate. That was what a club president and commander should do. He couldn't deny his subordinates an opportunity to perform.

Bai Yu's gaze swept out like lightning, leaving a long streak of shadow in his pupils as it precisely struck the elite scout lurking in the corner.

"Ayanokoji, over there, who's been looking for a chance to slip away—I've been observing you for a long time. You look rather eager to get involved."

A few seconds after those words left his mouth, following roughly the interval of a sigh, the lazy boy with a flying-fish haircut laboriously moved away from the wall by the classroom's back door and appeared before the two outside.

The Demon King had discovered that someone's resolve was not deep enough, so he intended to carve his doctrine into that person's mind once more... Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt that he shouldn't have watched from that spot. He had indeed underestimated the Demon King's radar range.

Kikyo Kushida glanced at the boy who had emerged, recalled the introductions earlier, and suddenly seemed oddly relieved. "So the other member is Ayanokoji..."

"...I feel like you're thinking something very rude." Ayanokoji Scatterbrained Kiyotaka sighed. Since he couldn't escape, he could only face it directly.

"So how do you plan to fulfill this 'intellectually excellent' Kushida's commission?"

"A direct assault. Speak from the heart." Bai Yu stated, "With someone like her, who thinks too highly of herself and disdains forming connections with those around her, beating around the bush might only backfire... Uh, what do you think?"

Bai Yu threw Ayanokoji a questioning look.

Wasn't the club president supposed to formulate the strategy? Weren't members supposed to be merely the vanguard charging into battle?

After hesitating for a moment, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka answered, "To be honest, I'm not very good at interpersonal interactions. When I encounter someone like Horikita, who keeps everyone at arm's length, I end up sweating bullets and completely at a loss."

"Eh..."

After listening to the two of them, Kikyo Kushida pressed a slender, fair index finger against her cheek, then pursed her lips to deepen the dimple it made. Troubled, she said, "I thought Horikita's personality would be difficult to deal with, so I came to ask Bai, who might be able to talk to her, for help."

"So that was why you approached the president?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka bluntly exposed her without a thought. He had wanted to get back at this woman for giving him a stereotype for a long time.

"Huh? Wh... how could... I really did want to be friends with Bai!"

Kikyo Kushida explained in a fluster, her wandering eyes landing on Bai Yu's thoughtful face before quickly darting away.

"It's fine. I don't mind."

Bai Yu raised his head and met Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's eyes. "I often take detours to achieve certain goals too. Those are necessary steps."

"..."

"That makes me a little scared." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka proactively broke eye contact with him.

Don't look over here when you're replying to someone else!

As Kikyo Kushida watched the two boys trade remarks in front of her, she inexplicably felt a little left out. Intentionally making her presence known, she said, "Ahaha... Anyway, I hope I can get along well with both of you too... Um, I'll leave Horikita to you."

"The president will do his best."

"Oh? Has Ayanokoji already become the one calling the shots in the Service Club?"

"Hahaha, Bai and Ayanokoji are both very interesting people." Kikyo Kushida praised them stiffly.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Kikyo Kushida regretfully bid the two farewell at the enthusiastic invitation of the other girls and began her first day of exploring the campus.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka watched the girls' retreating backs as they left in a group, unable to help admiring how adaptable they were. He then turned to Bai Yu and asked, "Do you have any plans later, President?"

"Do you even need to ask, Ayanokoji Kiyo?"

Bai Yu's fingers rapidly swiped across his student ID as he opened the campus map and zoomed in on a building called Keyaki Mall.

"Once you've received your salary, how can you not spend it first?"

"What kind of logic is that..."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka complained weakly.

Bai Yu swung up his shoulder bag and sprang forward in a single stride, tossing an invitation over his shoulder at the same time. "Ayanokoji Kiyo, wandering around campus alone is awkward. I'm not afraid of awkwardness at all, but I'm afraid you're very afraid of it. This is special consideration from your president."

"Let's explore the decadent human world together!"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka froze for a second. That really did sound like something the Demon King would say, except this Demon King seemed to... Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stepped forward to follow him.

"President, my name is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. Also, I'm on the human side."

"? But I think we're the same kind."

"Is it possible that you're human too...?"