He tried to hide his grin and turned back, feigning surprise. "Really?"
"What do you mean, really or not? I don't know! Just go already!"
Umaru absolutely refused to say it again.
If you didn't hear it the first time, that's your loss.
"Go on, go on!"
Umaru pushed Takashi out the door with a bang!
The heavy door slammed shut.
"Doma-san, I'll be waiting for you on the day of the Hachioji Fireworks Festival."
Takashi spoke through the door, certain she could hear him.
"I'll wait for you to show up, no matter how long it takes."
Just one door between them, Umaru leaned her back against it and slowly slid down, eventually collapsing to the floor.
She could feel her heart racing, almost like she could hear it pounding in her ears.
Her face flushed rapidly, as if she had a fever.
By the time Takashi arrived at the Aoba Student Council office, it was nearly noon.
Standing at the door of the student council room, his heartbeat began to quicken.
He was nervous!
Not the kind of nervousness that comes with romantic feelings—this was a different kind.
To Takashi, the student council office right now felt no less dangerous than Syria.
If he had a choice, he'd rather face Kashiwagi Nagisa than face Yozakura Hitomi.
Taking a moment to calm himself, Takashi raised his hand and knocked.
Knock knock knock!
But the sensation that came back from his knuckles wasn't from a door—it was a forehead.
It was Shinomiya Kaguya's forehead.
"..."
As Takashi knocked, Shinomiya Kaguya had just happened to open the door and walk out, causing him to knock directly on her forehead.
Still processing what had just happened, Kaguya touched her head with a stunned look in her eyes.
Forget her—even Takashi had a "what the hell" expression on his face.
Seriously, could she have picked a worse time to show up?
"Hahahaha!!!"
Watching from the student council president's seat, Hitomi let out a laugh filled with the kind of glee a capitalist might feel from dodging taxes—legally, of course.
"You impudent fool!"
Kaguya snapped back to her senses, her eyes now as chilling as a Siberian cold snap, daunting and severe.
"How would you like to die?"
Takashi wasn't sure if he guessed right, but that's what he interpreted her expression to mean.
"Lady Kaguya, gomen nasai!"
Takashi bowed 90 degrees—just short of dropping into a full-on kowtow.
"I heard you're really good at bootlicking rich girls, right? Come on, show me."
Unfazed, Kaguya pointed at her own foot.
Takashi: "..."
Wait, this is a thing? There's actually something good about this?
Then I'll—"Try licking it and see what happens!"
Takashi was just about to kneel when Hitomi's voice, even colder than Kaguya's, rang out.
"Shinomiya Kaguya, say your piece and get lost."
Kaguya immediately turned to glare at Yozakura Hitomi. "Yozakura Hitomi, aren't you going to give me an explanation?"
"An explanation? How many companies has the Shinomiya family ruined? Has your family ever given anyone an explanation?"
Wearing her indoor slippers like sandals, Yozakura Hitomi walked step by step toward Kaguya, staring her down.
As their eyes locked, Takashi could practically smell the gunpowder in the air.
"Looks like you really like this dog, huh? So protective."
Kaguya's voice remained icy, though a hint of amusement crept into her tone.
"Too bad—he doesn't like you."
Hitomi's smile started to twist into something cruel.
"So what?"
"Like it or not, Takashi is going to marry me in this lifetime."
Takashi raised his hand and muttered, "Um, you haven't asked me how I feel about that."
Hitomi glanced at him, then looked away.
That really pissed him off.
Out of sheer frustration, Takashi decided to keep his mouth shut from now on.
"So go ahead and try calling him a dog again."
Hitomi raised her fingers like a gun and pointed them at Kaguya's forehead.
With a loud "slap!" Kaguya knocked her hand away and turned to leave.
Before leaving, she scoffed, "So you just hide behind women now? Letting them protect you?"
"Yeah. So what?"
Now that he had someone backing him, Takashi had grown a lot bolder.
His righteous attitude left even Kaguya stunned.
She had never seen such shamelessness.
How can this guy speak so confidently about being a kept man? Has he no shame at all?
Shinomiya Kaguya found it hard to comprehend how someone could be this shameless.
As soon as she left, Hitomi grabbed Takashi by the ear and dragged him into the student council room, kicking the door shut with her foot.
With a loud bang, the door closed.
"Ow ow ow!"
Takashi howled in pain as his ear was yanked.
Hitomi only let go when they reached the sofa.
She sat down on the luxurious couch and casually tossed a throw pillow on the floor. "Kneel."
"No way. I'd rather jump out the window than kneel."
Kneeling? That was out of the question.
It was a matter of pride.
"Oh really?"
Hitomi reached out—and seemingly out of nowhere, a maid appeared and handed her a gun, the safety already switched off.
Takashi didn't hesitate; he instantly knelt down on the pillow.
With a wave, the maid vanished.
Hitomi crossed her long legs and rested them on Takashi's shoulders, picking up a report to read.
Takashi glanced at the feet on his shoulders—delicate, elegant, and baby-soft with a faint pink hue. They almost looked like they needed to be cherished.
"You really do have a thing for feet, don't you?"
Hitomi noticed his gaze and chuckled softly.
"Ahem. So, what did Shinomiya Kaguya want with you?"
Takashi coughed and tried to change the subject.
If they kept going down that road, everyone would think he was some kind of perv with a foot fixation.
"She came to discuss possible venues for a few upcoming exams."
Hitomi gently swung her feet back and forth as she spoke casually. "The kendo club came to me again today asking for funding."
"Did you approve it?"
"I turned them down—but I'll approve it later. You're going to be the one to give them the news."
She continued flipping through the document in her hand.
"Why me?"
"Because if you do it, they'll think you were the one who got them the funding. They'll be grateful, and that'll help you become the next captain of the kendo club."
"I only practice kendo as a hobby. I don't care about becoming captain."
"You may not care—but I do."
Hitomi tilted his chin up with her toe and stared him straight in the eyes.
"Everything I've had since I was a child has been the best."
"You have to be, too."
___
20 Advanced Chapters available on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics
Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!
Don't forget to leave a review too~
Check out the other translations too
___