But how could he possibly scare Shinjo, who had seen it all?
He dug a finger in his ear and waved a hand.
"Don't get worked up. I'm not messing with you. It's just that you phrased that wrong. It shouldn't be 'I want to buy your stuff'; it should be 'you want to hire me to buy your stuff.'"
"What's the difference?!"
Shinjo chuckled, picked up a blank commission form from the side, and began writing on it.
"Of course there's a difference. The difference is that you're asking me to do this for you, so you'll have to pay the Odd Jobs Agency a commission fee."
Hayato Kojima stared blankly. He had no idea what language the other guy was speaking. Every word was perfectly clear, but when strung together, he couldn't understand a thing.
"I have to pay you, too?!!!"
Shinjo pushed the completed commission form straight over to him.
"Well, this is already a pretty good deal, isn't it? The fee for an easy commission like this is only 5,000. You're not losing anything here. If anything, you got our lifelong priority queue-jumping privilege for free."
"Heh heh heh... So you're making me pay for nothing, huh?!"
Hayato was clearly laughing in anger.
"Then tell me, what good is this priority queue-jumping privilege?"
Katsuya Shinjo spread his hands and pointed to the tall stack of commission forms on his right, most of which were blank.
"That's what it's for. We're actually pretty busy, so without this privilege, if you wanted to hire me to buy your stuff, you'd probably have to wait at least seven business days. But now, I can take your commission right away."
??????
"So you're saying I should thank you, too?"
"You're welcome."
Hayato felt insulted, but what else could he do at this point?
That second-year emperor had told him he could agree to this deal. If he went back and reported that the mission had failed, or that he'd been played, the consequences would be more than he could handle.
So, forced into it, he could only sign his name with all his might, his back teeth clenched.
"Junior... We'll meet again..."
"Of course. We're already partners with a deep friendship, after all~"
To show off his smile-oriented service, Shinjo personally walked Hayato out of the Odd Jobs Agency's office.
He picked up the file envelope on the desk and opened it without a hurry. But as one question after another on the exam paper came into view, his brow gradually furrowed.
"Heh... heh... Now this is interesting... What exactly are you up to?"
Then Shinjo picked up his phone and called Karuizawa.
"Hello, Katsuya. What's up?"
"Hey, Kei, could you come by the Odd Jobs Agency? There's something really important I need to tell you. Yeah, right now."
On the other end of the call, Karuizawa immediately grew bashful, because her mind was filled with the words "something really important."
So, what would count as something really important?
It wasn't her birthday, and it wasn't Shinjo's birthday. He'd asked her to come alone, and he sounded like he was in a hurry.
Then... it had to be!
It could only be!
It absolutely had to be!
[He's going to confess to me, right?!!]
At the thought, she forgot that Shinjo had sounded so urgent. Instead, she started wondering what to wear and how best to doll herself up.
But in the end, standing in front of the mirror, she shook her head. Nothing she wore seemed quite right, so she decided to go with her usual uniform.
And so, two hours later, a carefully dressed-up Kei (looking exactly the same as usual) stood in front of Shinjo.
"Great, Kei! You're finally here!"
He hadn't really had anything to do, but somehow, waiting for someone during a stretch of free time made that stretch feel especially long.
"Y-yeah. Um, what... what did you want to tell me? Actually, I think things have been moving a little fast between us, but that doesn't mean I don't like you! It's just... I'm not quite ready yet... But if you really want to, I guess I could... I mean, I like you too... Huh?"
As Karuizawa rambled on, Shinjo took the exam answers out of the photocopier beside him, put them in the file envelope, and handed it to her.
"These are the midterm answers. You can take them home and study the questions first, then you'll be all set. After that, hand them out to everyone in class tomorrow. Make sure you do it under your own name. Wait... Actually, maybe give them to everyone in a couple of days. Huh? Were you saying something just now?"
"I... The answers? What was I... What was I saying?"
Shinjo tilted his head and looked Karuizawa up and down. She looked exactly as she always did, except that her face had been red ever since she walked in.
He wondered if it was because the weather was so hot.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
[This... this jerk!!!]
Her blush, which had started from shyness, gradually turned into a flush of anger.
But thinking it over, it seemed she'd been getting ahead of herself the whole time.
Still, it wasn't entirely her fault!
What did he mean, something important? Midterm answers were hardly important!
"It's nothing. I understand. Anything else?"
Karuizawa sounded stiff, but Shinjo didn't know what to say. After all, nobody liked being called in to work on a weekend.
"No... I've got an important commission to take care of in a bit. Otherwise, I would've brought them to you. Sorry to make you come all this way..."
"I'm not blaming you. I just... Never mind. It's fine."
Karuizawa had realized that Shinjo seemed to have misunderstood her without even knowing it. She wanted to explain, but didn't know where to begin.
"Um, that commission... Is it a lot of trouble?"
"Not really. It'll just take a while. They said I have to enter some data, so it'll probably take three or four hours."
"Oh. Then I'll get going."
"Okay."
Karuizawa had just reached the door when an idea came to her, but she wasn't sure if she should say it. She'd always thought Shinjo was interested in her, but lately he'd been a little distant. What if she'd just been imagining the whole thing...
As she hesitated, Shinjo suddenly, as if possessed, made his move.
"You look a little cuter than usual today, though maybe that's just my imagination."
[Y-you! What are you saying all of a sudden!!! But... I'm impressed he noticed. I really did put in the effort. I got a new manicure, and my skirt's just a little shorter than usual!]
[And... since that's the case...]
"Hey... Katsuya. Are you free tonight?"
"No... Unless Miss Karuizawa is willing to buy me dinner."
Kei wasn't who she used to be. They'd been together long enough that she could see the other person's habit of changing direction halfway through a sentence coming from a mile away!
"Then it's a deal~"
"I was worried you wouldn't want to spend the money. You're such a spendthrift, you little blonde, you probably don't have much cash left in your pockets."
"Who are you calling a little blonde?!! Besides, I can afford to buy you dinner. Then it's settled. Remember to come pick me up tonight!"
"Got it."
Before you continue