35 Excellent Errand Runners Are Welcome

He opened his eyes.

Kei-chan smiled brightly at him, teasing him with her long, silky hair.

He pulled her into his arms with his right arm.

Lying against her darling's chest, Karuizawa Kei quietly listened to his strong, steady heartbeat.

A moment later, she looked up.

"Good morning."

Before the last syllable had faded, she slipped beneath the covers like a lithe serpent.

Mm, he felt a warm sensation below.

Tanaka Yukishin drew in a sharp breath.

After forcing himself to perk up and get moving,

he stopped lingering in the cozy warmth of the blankets.

He got up and did his morning exercise with Karuizawa Kei.

An hour later, he saw the girl curled up in his arms, her brows furrowed and her breathing ragged.

Tanaka Yukishin felt a little sorry for her. With a helpless expression, he said,

"I told you there was no need to push yourself so hard. We could take it slow."

"But you insisted I give it my all."

"Now you know it hurts."

After saying that, he laid her flat on the bed.

He massaged and kneaded her with both hands, helping her body relax and her blood circulate.

At the same time, he soothed her with his mental energy.

The two approaches worked together, and the results came remarkably fast.

Karuizawa Kei's breathing steadied, and her complexion improved.

She stubbornly lifted her chin, still unconvinced.

"If you make me more of your... special homemade meals, I can keep going."

Tanaka Yukishin almost couldn't keep a straight face.

Yesterday, when he saw how troubled she was, he'd also needed a reason to help remove her scars and restore her skin.

So he'd told her that love was the answer, hoping to comfort her.

Now it seemed that comfort had worked a little too well.

Yes, for the sake of a small benefit,

he'd already decided to cook breakfast and dinner himself.

And that went doubly for his girlfriend, who wanted to eat his cooking.

But that matter-of-fact attitude of yours—

wasn't it a little too... blindly trusting?

A miracle meant something extremely difficult and extraordinary.

Seeing how Kei-chan treated him now, would she believe anything he said?

He shook his head, casting aside those jumbled thoughts.

Tanaka Yukishin pointed to the mini-fridge.

"I'd be happy to, but we're out of ingredients."

Karuizawa Kei was dumbfounded.

The magic of his special homemade meals had completely won her over.

That was why she'd dared to act tough and challenge him to give it his all.

There was nothing stopping her from asking him to go buy ingredients and cook now.

But she'd planned to get ready in time to go on a date with him afterward.

It looked like she'd have to change those plans.

Or should she just endure the pain and carry on?

Karuizawa Kei fell into thought.

When the girl didn't answer,

Tanaka Yukishin assumed she wasn't planning to eat his special cooking just yet.

Wanting to spend more time with her, he decided to put someone to work as an errand runner.

You're up—Kamuro Masumi.

He picked up his phone from the bedside table and messaged his underling.

Kamuro Masumi's mood over the past three days had been as changeable as mountain mist.

Getting into Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School had been something to celebrate.

But after she arrived, her classmates had caught her indulging in her particular fetish, then forced her into submission.

She'd been on edge ever since.

Then the Sender incident happened, and she'd felt as if she'd fallen into an abyss.

A rival in her year, a student from another class, had gotten hold of something she wanted kept secret.

What was she supposed to do?

Still, she wasn't the one in control, and she had no intention of opposing Tanaka Yukishin.

After all, that day, Tanaka Yukishin had left an indelible impression on her: he was not someone she could afford to make an enemy of.

At eight in the morning, after finishing her personal grooming,

she headed out to get breakfast in the cafeteria.

Suddenly, a woman's voice came from behind her.

"Kamuro, are you going to get breakfast too?"

"Ah, yes."

Recognizing Sakayanagi Arisu's voice, she slowly stopped and turned around.

Sakayanagi Arisu was still wearing the same outfit as the previous two days.

She held a cane, with a red blazer over her top and a black skirt with decorative trim.

The only difference was that her black beret had been replaced with a white one.

The silver-haired girl had pale skin and a cute face.

Even though Kamuro Masumi had seen her many times, she still thought she was adorable.

Remembering how Sakayanagi Arisu usually sat quietly in her chair in class, and how she needed her cane even to move around with difficulty,

she stepped closer and offered an arm to support her.

"Thank you, Kamuro. I'm not in very good health."

A strange glint flashed in Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes.

Kamuro Masumi was a free agent in the class. To recruit her into the Sakayanagi Faction,

Sakayanagi Arisu had deliberately waited for her to leave.

In Sakayanagi Arisu's mind, Kamuro Masumi was an extension of her own hands and feet.

Because of her illness, Sakayanagi Arisu's body struggled with everyday activities, and she needed someone to help her.

When going up and down stairs, someone had to support her by the elbow; on long walks, they had to adjust their pace to hers.

If something unexpected happened, they would clear obstacles from the route ahead of time to ensure her cane or wheelchair could pass.

They also had to handle tasks that required a lot of strength: taking heavy objects from her when she tried to carry them, and taking care of the physically demanding parts of classroom duty.

When carrying out class strategies, they would become quick and capable executors.

They would relay instructions, negotiate with other classes, and turn plans on paper into reality.

And Kamuro Masumi, a fellow girl who lived on the same floor, was the best choice in her eyes.

However, it seemed she hadn't even needed to use her carefully laid plans yet.

Kamuro Masumi had walked straight into the trap on her own.

Sakayanagi Arisu hated being looked at with pity.

But she wouldn't turn down sincere kindness, either.

"Kamuro, we live on the same floor. If we happen to run into each other when I'm going out, could I ask you to help me?"

"Of course."

Along the way, Sakayanagi Arisu used her conversational skills to learn about Kamuro Masumi without overstepping.

Kamuro Masumi was also happy to talk with Sakayanagi Arisu.

Not only because she was cute, but because she was one of the two faction leaders in Class A.

The two factions were still only taking shape, but unless someone else stepped forward,

the outcome was already set.

She still wanted to graduate from Class A, so she had to resolve the problem with Tanaka Yukishin.

But she couldn't bring herself to expose the problem of her own accord.

It was better for one person to hold her secret than for several people to know it.

She wasn't particularly clever, but she wasn't stupid, either.

She understood perfectly well why Sakayanagi Arisu had approached her.

First, she'd use her poor health to draw them closer, then rely on Kamuro reading the room to draw her into the Sakayanagi Faction.

Of course, to put her at ease, Sakayanagi Arisu would inevitably reveal her strength in some way.

After all, Kamuro Masumi wasn't a free agent because she refused to join anyone. She was simply waiting to choose the best option.

Chapter 34: 35 Excellent Errand Runners Are Welcome

Choosing between people had always gone both ways.

Just as rulers in ancient times chose their ministers, ministers also chose which ruler to serve.

The same kind of mutual choosing was quietly playing out in this little world of a school.

In the faint morning light, the asphalt path from the dormitory to the cafeteria gleamed with dew.

The walk from the dormitory to the cafeteria wasn't long.

For someone walking at a normal pace, six or seven minutes was enough.

But Kamuro Masumi deliberately lagged half a step behind, matching Sakayanagi Arisu's slightly unsteady pace.

The silver-haired girl's white cane tapped the ground with a regular click in the quiet morning. It took the two of them a full ten minutes to cross the tree-lined path, where the cherry blossoms were just beginning to bloom.

During that deliberately extended time alone, Sakayanagi Arisu smoothly shifted the conversation from class schedules to club activities, then casually brought up the school board's new regulations.

Like a hunter weaving a web, she assessed her companion's reactions through what seemed like idle chatter.

After talking all the way there, Sakayanagi Arisu was quite satisfied with Kamuro Masumi's performance.

She decided to show some of her strength, while also learning more about Kamuro Masumi.