When I read the heart of the never-smiling princess, for some reason she had already fallen head over heels in love for me.

Chapter 22: A Sudden inspection from the Princess and us.

“Alright, everyone, it’s time to get started! Are you ready?” Minami-san’s voice rang out, rallying us with a spark of enthusiasm.

We all nodded eagerly, ready to dive into the mission.

Jiro, stationed closest to the door, gripped the doorknob and swung it open with a flourish.

“Apologies for bursting in like this! Surprise inspection!” he announced, his voice booming.

The students inside froze, clearly caught off guard by our dramatic entrance.

The room, lined with rows of lockers, was filled with male students sporting shaved heads, all in their crisp uniforms. They were huddled around a central table, clearly in the middle of a serious meeting.

“Sorry to interrupt your gathering,” Minami-san said with a polite smile, “but we need to take a quick look around.”

“Everyone, stay right where you are!” Saeki barked, her tone firm and commanding.

Jiro, despite his towering frame, looked a tad sheepish, while Saeki stood tall and confident in front of the baseball team—a striking contrast. Minami-san, Hoshino, and I squeezed into the cramped room, practically shoulder-to-shoulder in the tight space.

*‘Sorry, guys, don’t take this personally,’* I overheard Jiro mutter under his breath.

*‘Heh, my grand entrance has left them speechless!’* Saeki whispered with a smirk.

With no room to spread out, their hushed comments were impossible to miss. Jiro seemed unusually worried—maybe he had friends in this group, and the situation was hitting him harder than expected. We needed to wrap this up quickly for his sake.

And Saeki? *Please, tone down the theatrics,* I thought. *You’re our voice of reason—act like it!*

“Hey, we’re in the middle of a meeting here!” a student with a shaved head snapped, stepping forward with an aggressive edge. His words seemed to snap the rest of the baseball team out of their shock, and they started glaring at us.

This guy was clearly the team’s emotional anchor—their captain.

Minami-san stepped forward calmly to face him. “What’s the meaning of barging in like this?” he demanded.

“As I said, this is a surprise inspection,” she replied smoothly. “We’re here to check the condition of the room.”

“Huh?” The captain’s scowl deepened.

“You know that club room conditions and equipment maintenance impact next year’s budget allocations,” Minami-san explained. “It’s the student council’s job to carry out these checks.”

“Yeah, I get that,” he shot back, irritation dripping from his voice. “What I’m saying is, get out—you’re disrupting our meeting!”

“If we gave you a heads-up, you’d just clean up beforehand,” Minami-san countered logically. “That’s why the surprise element is key.”

The captain’s face twisted in frustration, but Saeki nodded approvingly, arms crossed, clearly impressed by Minami-san’s reasoning.

At our school, it’s a longstanding tradition for the student council to inspect club rooms and equipment to determine budget allocations. But even with the school’s backing, the system has its flaws.

“Man, this year’s student council is a letdown,” the captain muttered loudly, sighing for effect. “Should’ve stuck with Todo again.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Saeki snapped, her eyes narrowing.

“He’s saying we’d prefer a president who gets us,” another student chimed in. “What’s the point of this? Last year’s council handled things just fine. Take a hint from them.”

“Are you saying we should ditch the surprise inspections?” Saeki asked, her tone sharp.

“I’m saying be smart about it,” the captain replied, his words heavy with implication. It was clear he wanted us to either cancel the inspection or look the other way.

*‘Ugh, this feels like an away game,’* I caught Jiro’s whispered thoughts. Like me, he’d been hesitant about these surprise inspections from the start, so I could relate to his unease.

The captain wasn’t wrong. Last year’s student council had kept the peace by going through the motions without cracking down too hard. Why? Simple: they didn’t want to make enemies.

I understood that sentiment. When students inspect each other and report to teachers, it’s bound to stir up resentment. After digging through ten years of records, I’d found that some past councils had taken a similar, lenient approach. The captain likely knew from his seniors that certain councils were willing to play ball, which is why he saw us as a disappointment.

The system is flawed, no question. But scrapping surprise inspections entirely wasn’t an option either. Our student council this year still hadn’t settled on a clear stance: do we enforce the rules strictly, or do we play nice?

I’d suggested playing nice. Sure, turning a blind eye isn’t ideal, but I didn’t want our actions to breed grudges that could haunt our future efforts. Jiro was the only one who agreed with me. Saeki and Hoshino, however, were firmly against it.

*“Where’s the justification for shirking our duties?”* Saeki had argued. *“If word gets out that we’re complicit, we’ll be the ones in hot water. We have to do this properly.”*

*“I-I agree,”* Hoshino had added, her voice tinged with something darker, like she was speaking from personal experience. *“If we let the sports clubs do whatever they want, things could get messy.”*

With Hoshino’s point hitting so hard, neither Jiro nor I could push for the “play along” route. In the end, the decision fell to Minami-san.

*“I believe we should carry out our duties honestly and thoroughly,”* she’d declared.

And so, here we were, conducting bold surprise inspections.

Now, how do we handle this tense standoff?

“So, what’s it gonna be, student council president?” the captain taunted.

“We’re just doing the job we were assigned,” Minami-san replied, unfazed.

“Oh, just a rule-follower, huh?” he mocked, smirking. Did he think he could intimidate her just because she was a girl? I couldn’t stand guys like that.

Suddenly, Minami-san leaned closer to me—close enough that I could hear her inner thoughts: *‘This is tougher than I expected.’*

My instincts kicked in, and I stepped protectively in front of her.

*‘Thank you, Ko-kun,’* her thoughts continued. *‘I don’t think my heart can take much more of this.’*

Her words sounded dramatic, but if Minami-san was admitting vulnerability, it was serious. I didn’t want her anywhere near that captain.

The captain’s glare shifted to me. Yikes, intimidating!

Then, I heard soft sniffing behind me. *‘Haaah, this is so calming. I almost lost Ko-kun’s scent with all these other smells in here. Gotta overwrite them quick!’*

Wait, what? I thought you were scared!

*‘How does his sweaty scent smell so different from everyone else’s? Haaah…’*

Uh, no clue. And there went my chance to look cool.

“Senpai, are you trying to hide something by kicking us out?” Saeki interjected, perfectly timed to draw the captain’s attention.

“As if!” he scoffed. “Everything’s in order.”

“Then there’s no issue, right?” Saeki said smoothly. “We’re sorry for interrupting, but a quick inspection shouldn’t be a problem—if you’ve got nothing to hide, that is.”

“…Tch.”

“Or, if you can’t even handle a simple check, we’ll have to leave,” she added with a sly grin. “Though, we’ll be sure to note that.”

It was a cheap provocation, but to my surprise, it worked.

“Fine, it’s no big deal!” the captain snapped. “Look around, be my guest!”

“Perfect,” Saeki replied. “But if we find nothing, I expect some respect for the student council.”

“Deal,” he growled.

Saeki and the captain locked eyes, both sporting tense smiles, neither willing to back down. They were in too deep now, like people caught in a spiral they couldn’t escape.

A faint, anxious voice piped up from the team: “Captain…!” The other members exchanged worried glances, clearly out of moves.

*Oh, so there’s something incriminating here after all,* I realized. Saeki’s hunch—that their strong reaction meant they were hiding something—was spot-on. Minami-san wasn’t stopping her, which meant she suspected it too.

“Well then, let’s begin the inspection,” Minami-san declared. “Takaaki-kun, Jiro-san, if you please.”

The princess had spoken, and it was time to act.