Poaching

"Anyway, I really have to thank you for this, Odd Jobs Agency."

"It's no big deal. It was a job, after all... But have you ever considered that the commission letter didn't include any contact information or offer me any payment? What if I'd turned it down?"

"Well..."

Truth be told, he hadn't even thought about paying her at first.

Who hadn't joined a club before?

Clubs often had things like detective societies, after all.

Those high schoolers and college students who fancied themselves detectives loved sticking their noses into other people's business. Their abilities varied, but he'd never heard of any of them charging for it.

So he hadn't planned to distinguish the Odd Jobs Agency from a detective society, even though Manabu Horikita had made the difference perfectly clear in his announcement.

"Never mind... This job was outsourced to me by the Student Council anyway, so if you don't pay me, you don't pay me. But next time, remember to include payment!"

"Huh? You really do want money..."

"Um... Shinjo... About the payment... I... I'll pay it..."

As soon as Sakura offered to pay for him, Sales Champion hurriedly jumped to his feet.

"No, no, you can't do that..."

"That's not what I mean. I was thinking... maybe I could help Shinjo..."

Sakura didn't finish her sentence, but Shinjo understood what she meant.

She was offering to testify on Sudo's behalf. But if Sakura chose to do that of her own accord, Shinjo wouldn't interfere.

Still, if that was supposed to count as payment...

"Oh, that... There's no rush. Sakura, I think you should get some rest today. If you want to say something, you can text me or tell me tomorrow. As for that matter, I don't think we need you to get involved just yet."

Unless Sakura had video evidence proving that Class C had staged the incident that day and that they'd thrown the first punch.

Otherwise, even if they submitted ordinary evidence, it would be hard to turn things around. Besides, since Horikita hadn't come to him for help yet, why waste this information for nothing?

"That's more or less what happened."

Shinjo reported the full story to Manabu Horikita, leaving out Sakura's secret.

The commission he'd received hadn't been to catch some perverted groper.

It had been to uncover the truth behind the anonymous commission letter.

"More or less... Never mind. At least no students were hurt this time. You did well."

"Hey, isn't that a little strange? It sounds like I'm your subordinate."

"The president praised you, and you won't even accept it?!"

"Tch..."

"You've got the nerve to suck your teeth at me!"

"..."

Manabu Horikita picked up his pen and wrote something in his notebook.

"Still, I had no idea this school even had groundskeepers like that. It looks like we'll have to conduct a thorough inspection and cleanup."

As he spoke, his eyes casually swept over Shinjo.

"Listen, don't even think about roping me into that! There are so many groundskeepers in this school, and my Odd Jobs Agency only has a few people. Don't start outsourcing all the Student Council's work to me."

In fact, Sato and Matsushita were only nominally members; they didn't actually do any work.

[Should the Odd Jobs Agency expand? It'd be best to find two or three hard workers who don't need much in the way of points—ideally, people who'd be satisfied with nothing but empty promises!]

"Hey! If you've got nothing else to do, you can leave. Don't think you can freeload off us!"

Akane Tachibana seemed to have read Shinjo's mind. Remembering how he'd only given her tap water last time made her flare up.

Manabu Horikita didn't say a word. He didn't care about such trivial matters, but he had carefully written down Shinjo's rudeness in his notebook.

"What a stingy senior..."

"You're the stingy junior!"

As they bickered back and forth, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"President, here's last month's financial report. You... Shinjo?"

Shinjo thought he recognized the voice. He turned around and saw that it was Ichinose.

"Ichinose? The financial report... Oh! You're doing odd jobs for the Student Council now, aren't you?"

Ichinose smiled awkwardly, but Tachibana beside her was clearly displeased.

"Junior! That was a rude way to put it."

"Shinjo, I do handle administrative duties for the Student Council, but calling it odd jobs is a bit..."

Shinjo didn't think much of it. In his eyes, every position in the Student Council besides the president's was more or less an odd job.

The president's power was unlimited!

"Huh? Why would someone like Ichinose be handling odd jobs?"

"Well... Whatever the position, I can help everyone. And because these are administrative duties, I get to learn a lot of things I wouldn't otherwise."

Ichinose wasn't sure what to say.

Should she thank Shinjo for thinking so highly of her, even though the first time she'd applied to join the Student Council, the president hadn't thought much of her? If it hadn't been for the vice president, she wouldn't have been qualified to join at all...

Shinjo's eyes lit up at once.

"How about this, Ichinose? Quit the Student Council and join my Odd Jobs Agency! We've got great benefits, and you'll learn all sorts of things you wouldn't otherwise while helping your classmates~"

As he spoke, Shinjo deliberately lowered his voice.

"Just between us, the Student Council is an empty shell now. Most of its work has been outsourced to my Odd Jobs Agency!"

"Huh? Th-this..."

Ichinose was at a loss. She couldn't tell whether Shinjo was pulling her leg, but compared to the Student Council, the Odd Jobs Agency seemed a little less respectable.

Besides, she'd already joined the Student Council. How could she just quit?

"First, the Student Council doesn't have any other vacancies right now. Second, new members start at the bottom. I was no exception. Third, this was decided through internal discussions within the Student Council."

[Fourth, you're poaching members right in front of me?!]

"Ha! So you're saying that if I'd accepted your offer to join the Student Council back then, I'd have been stuck doing odd jobs too?!"

"Huh?!"

Manabu Horikita ignored Ichinose's astonishment. He nodded thoughtfully, then shook his head.

"You're different from the others. An administrative position wouldn't suit you."

In fact, Manabu Horikita had no idea what kind of position would suit Shinjo. If he'd actually recruited him, figuring out where to put him would have been a headache.

Someone who liked cutting corners and wouldn't lift a finger without a benefit wasn't suited to the Student Council.

But he had to admit that those very qualities made Shinjo an excellent fit for Advanced Nurturing High School.

After considering it from every angle, it seemed the Odd Jobs Agency really was a good place for him.