An Accidental Encounter with Sakayanagi

After a brief moment of thought, Hoshino decided on the workflow.

In terms of ease of work, it was simpler to first submit the documents that required teacher verification.

After a quick glance, it seemed to be a review of the students' recent status by the teachers. The simple check-off items were fine, but there were also some comments that needed to be filled out by the teachers, which would be more time-consuming.

"Knock, knock, knock..." Hoshino knocked on the door of the teachers' office.

"Please come in!"

"Hoshino, is there something you need?" Chabashira looked up and turned her gaze toward Hoshino at the door.

"These are the documents requested by the Student Council. They need to be checked and filled out by the teacher of each class."

"Alright, just put them there." Chabashira pointed to a corner of her desk, withdrew her gaze, and continued with the work at hand.

Seeing that there was nothing else, Hoshino placed the sorted documents on the desk and prepared to leave.

Just then, the office door was suddenly pushed open, and a familiar figure came into view.

"Eh? Little Hoshino, are you here for something?" Hoshinomiya looked surprised.

"...He came to deliver some documents. You should head back now, Hoshino." Without waiting for Hoshino to speak, Chabashira began urging him to leave, as if she didn't want him to have any contact with Hoshinomiya.

"Sae is so mean! I wanted to chat with little Hoshino!" Hoshinomiya leaned in close to Hoshino, placed a hand on his shoulder, and looked at Chabashira with dissatisfaction.

"He still has work to do!... You know, he's a member of the Student Council."

"Hmm... fine! But Sae, you aren't trying to run off on your own, are you?"

Suddenly, Hoshino caught a whiff of thick gunpowder in the air. Unlike their usual bickering, Hoshinomiya's tone seemed to have turned gloomy. Although she still wore her usual smile, the vibe she gave off was completely different.

"...What are you thinking?... Of course not." Chabashira was uncharacteristically shaken, though she quickly composed herself.

"...Is that so?"

It felt like life in Class D was truly not easy! Why did it feel like there was some kind of tension between Chabashira and the homeroom teacher of Class B?

This school really had so many problems!

To escape this "Asura" field, Hoshino hurriedly excused himself.

Only after stepping out of the office did Hoshino let out a sigh of relief.

However, the club survey task in his hands was a bit of a headache. This meant he had to go and talk to every club, and Hoshino didn't even know where some of the clubs actually held their activities!

He flipped through the forms in his hand and took a rough look; they all seemed to be the same, likely a general statistical survey and opinion poll regarding club budgets.

Walking toward the club building, Hoshino polished his pitch in his mind. This was his first time doing this kind of work, so it felt a bit novel.

To facilitate the activities of sports clubs, most of their rooms were located on the lower floors.

Upon entering the club building, the first thing he saw was the room with the "Soccer Club" sign hanging on the door. Well, let's start with the Soccer Club! Hoshino braced himself.

"Good afternoon! May I ask..."

Hoshino began his "floor sweep." The process went fairly smoothly; after all, since it concerned activity budgets, most people were quite cooperative. It seemed that for the convenience of club activities, most clubs had members staying behind.

However, there were some cases where only "ghost members" were left, and they didn't know anything about these matters, which was indeed quite troublesome. Hoshino could only leave the forms with them and come back to collect them the next day.

The next stop was the Chess Club.

"Good afternoon! May I ask... eh? Sakayanagi? Why are you here?" As soon as he entered, Hoshino discovered an unexpected figure. She was currently playing against a student who appeared to be an upperclassman, with two or three people gathered around.

Was Sakayanagi actually a member of the Chess Club?

"Good day! Hoshino-kun, I am not a member here, you know!"

"Eh?" Hoshino looked surprised, as if Sakayanagi had "read his mind."

The person opposite her was deep in thought, agonizing over the next move, while Sakayanagi looked relaxed. Just by looking, one could tell how vast the gap in skill was; Hoshino even felt a bit of sympathy for the opponent. Why would they choose to suffer like this?

"Then, what are you doing here..."

"...I lost..." Before Hoshino could finish, the person opposite let out a long sigh and conceded.

"Then, can the wager be fulfilled?" Sakayanagi maintained her calm, unruffled smile, straightened her clothes slightly, and sat up straight.

"...Fine." Saying this, the opponent took out their phone and performed some operations.

"...Thank you! If you wish to continue, feel free to find me anytime!" Sakayanagi checked her phone and said with a smile.

Hoshino roughly understood; this was the legendary betting of points! However, this method was better suited for someone like Sakayanagi, who was strong enough in certain areas.

Seemingly crushed, the upperclassman's face looked dejected. After a brief greeting, they left silently.

The onlookers, seeing that the show was over, scattered like birds and beasts, and no one else went to challenge Sakayanagi.

"Well? Hoshino-kun, what brings you here? Would you like to play a game?" Sakayanagi didn't seem satisfied yet and looked at Hoshino with anticipation.

"Uh... I'll pass. I'm here on a mission." Hoshino said, raising the forms in his hand.

In truth, Hoshino didn't want to play against Sakayanagi either. He didn't have a masochistic streak, and ever since he learned of Sakayanagi's chess skills last time, he had resolved never to play against her. Why would he want to be crushed when he could crush others?

"I see! You've joined the Student Council, so work must come first!"

Thank you for understanding, Hoshino thought with a sense of relief.

"Excuse me, is the president in? I'm Hoshino from the Student Council, and I have some club-related forms that need to be filled out." Hoshino turned to look at the people who had been watching the match, who were now beginning to play against each other.

"Sorry, the president isn't here right now, this..." Everyone's gaze shifted over, and a boy wearing glasses replied.

"Then could I trouble you to pass these forms to the president? Would it be possible to have them filled out by tomorrow afternoon? I'll come by to collect them."

"...Oh... oh, sure!"

"Thank you very much!" Hoshino bowed slightly. "I'll be taking my leave then."

"Wait! Hoshino-kun, I don't really have anything left to do anyway, so why don't I walk with you?" Sakayanagi took her cane from the side and slowly stood up, her movements quite agile.

"...But I still have things to do?" Hoshino gestured to the forms in his hand, looking a bit surprised.

"It's fine, we can just walk a little way together!" Sakayanagi didn't show any particular expression on her face as she slowly walked up to Hoshino.

"Well... alright then." Looking at the girl before him, Hoshino felt truly helpless.

With that, the two exchanged greetings and left.

"Where are you headed? I'll walk you there first." Once they were out of the club room, Hoshino looked at the girl walking slowly beside him.

"My, Hoshino-kun is quite the gentleman!" Sakayanagi walked up to Hoshino, stopped, and teased him.

"Where to?" Hoshino simply rolled his eyes, ignoring her comment.

"...Then just walk me to the dormitory building." Seeing that Hoshino remained unmoved, Sakayanagi thought for a moment before giving her answer.

"Mm."

Hoshino nodded, stepped quickly to Sakayanagi's side, and stood to her left, signaling for her to take his arm.

Having no experience in assisting girls, and having only seen Kamuro do this a few times, this was the best Hoshino could manage.

"...Thank you!" Sakayanagi beamed, placing one hand on Hoshino's arm...