When I read the heart of the never-smiling princess, for some reason she had already fallen head over heels in love for me. - v1 Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Princess needs my accompany for herself.

She briskly walks towards me.

Her unhesitant movements made me instinctively rise from my seat.

At this rate, she’ll be within 30 centimeters of me.

As fear starts to well in.

But then—I see a gentle light in Katsuragi Minami’s eyes.

Strangely, the urge to flee slowly dissappears.

She moves behind me and places her hands on my shoulders.

“Please have confidence in yourself. Your skills will undoubtedly be a great help to this student council.”

‘I will never abandon you, Kou-kun. No matter what anyone says.’

Two voices overlap each other like a secondary audio track.

‘So please, don’t say you’re going to leave.’

A faint pressure gets applied to my shoulders by her slender fingers.

Despite her confident words, her inner voice was filled with desperation.

Her plea appeared stronger than her expectation out of me.

She probably has her doubts and uncertainties about my appointment too.

Yet, just where does this strong will to declare she won’t abandon me come from?

I can’t quite understand this at all.

But what I do know is one thing.

Anyone who runs away after hearing this voice, might as well be the lowest of the low among all men.

“So, all I have to do is prove that I’m more useful as a secretary than Saeki, correct?”

I stare directly towards Saeki.

Saeki raised both of her eyebrows as if in complete surprise.

“Surely I might not be much helpful at events or things like that. But in other situations, I’ll make sure not to cause any trouble, and perform my duties flawlessly. There are things that only I can do, I am confident about that.”

“By the way, Saiga, right now the president seems to touch you, are you fine regardless?”

At Taromaru’s words, I snap back to reality and quickly move away from the spot.

Katsuragi Minami raises her hands in a banzai pose, blinking her eyes.

“Could it be that only the president is okay with you?”

When Taromaru points this out, Katsuragi Minami’s eyes sparkle with an “Ara!” continuing to which, Saeki reacts with a repulsed

“Ugh.”

“What are you really, don’t tell me you’re only okay with being touched by women. Your ulterior motives are showing itself all out, that’s just the worst.”

“N-No! I just didn’t notice because I was lost in thought!”

Even as I refute it, Saeki doesn’t stop looking at me with contempt, and even Hoshino starts to look at me with fear.

This situation is really going in a bad direction.

‘Fu~uu, to think that it’s okay if it’s me, that makes me so happy! As I thought its fate that Kou-kun and I are meant to be together forever and ever! I want to bury my face in Kou-kun’s crown and sniff it endlessly!’

Katsuragi Minami’s voice, audibly overjoyed, also echoes in my mind annoyingly. Her way of expressing affection was like how a pet would for their master. And what’s with the “As I thought”? huh? I would like a detailed explanation on where you even got that certainty from!

However, I can’t afford for this topic to drag on for my stature. “That’s not the point right now,” I forcefully take back control of the conversation.

“Uh well, so, what was it again… Right, you just want me to prove that I can handle the job as a secretary well and fine, correct?”

“That is, if you really can do that, sure. But if you show it after the new school year starts, it’ll be too late. If you end up failing and we have to replace you, people will question the selection process itself. That would be a problem for the president too, wouldn’t it?”

“If it’s Saiga-kun, I have no doubts about about it.”

“Why did I even bother asking. Geez, Saiga this, Saiga that, so annoying.”

Muttering in sheer annoyance, Saeki suddenly turns away. Her gaze lands on a computer rack, with an old desktop computer sitting in front of it.

She points to the PC and gives a defiant smile on her face.

“As I heard from a senior that all the student council’s records and reports are stored in there. If you want to prove you’re a capable person, start by organizing and filing that data. Also, summarize what measures have been proposed so far, how they were decided, and what their outcomes were. That’s all the role of a secretary, right?”

“Well, if it’s just that…”

“Is that so. Then get to it right away. By the way, there’s ten years’ worth of data.”

“T-Ten!?”

“And the deadline is by the end of this week.”

“This week!? That’s impossible no matter how you look at it!”

“If you can’t do it, that’s fine either way. You just need to quit.”

Grinding my teeth at Saeki’s mocking tone, I walk over to the computer rack and turn on the PC. Even if she said there’s ten years’ worth of data, it might just be her trying to scare me, and it might not be that much.

The desktop screen sluggishly turns on.

(What the heck is this?)

I can’t help but groan internally.

The desktop is cluttered with countless folders and files. All mixed up, as if there’s nothing organized at all.

“Ah, um, I’ve heard about this too. There was a time when the student council’s handovers didn’t go well, so no one knows which data is important, and macros were built linking to each other data, making it dangerous to touch any of them. So, it was left alone,”

Hoshino said as she was close to the computer rack. Her slight Kansai accent catches my attention, but I set it aside for now.

For the time being, I randomly open some files, but the creation dates are inconsistent, making it hard to tell. Some data takes forever to open. Maybe it’s because it’s linked to other files. Who was it that made it this complicated?

When I glance at Saeki, she’s smirking. She knew about all this and deliberately made this into a test didn’t she.

“Well, then, Good luck.”

Saeki stands up and walks towards the door. The computer rack was near to me, so I hurriedly try to move away, but couldn’t make it in time.

She steps into my range of ability.

“Where are you going, Vice President Saeki?”

Katsuragi Minami calls out sharply, as Saeki turns around from the door.

“There’s no point in discussing with someone who might not even be a member. Ah, I’ll definitely attend in a week’s time. I’ll also prepare the materials too, so don’t worry.”

Saeki throws out these parting words and leaves.

“Achhya,” Taromaru says, half-amused, half-bewildered at her remarks.

“Are you alright, Saiga-kun?”

Katsuragi Minami went on to ask me. Her expression remains as always mostly unchanged, but there’s a hint of concern in her voice.

As I start to respond, a high-pitched voice echoes in my head.

‘What the heck is with that, always Saiga, Saiga…! What’s so good about him anyway!? Favoring him so blatantly, it’s so infuriating! How much do you think I was looking forward to this… why don’t you even care to know how I feel, Minami!’

Since I froze with mouth half-open, Katsuragi Minami looks at me quizzically.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing.”

I cover my mouth. What came to me, was the inner voice of Saeki Nozomi, right?

Somehow something just feels off. Given that voice full of irritation, which makes sense given the situation, but the content just doesn’t sit right.

The voice was more about anger at Katsuragi Minami’s preferential treatment of me, but rather disappointment over an unmet ideal, or so it appears.

(She called her Minami, by her first name. Are they close?)

I had no such prior information about that, but if they were really close friends, it wouldn’t be strange for her to be angry about her decisions, more so being made without consulting her.

But is that really the only case? There’s not enough information to say for sure.

As I was lost in thought, Hoshino, who was nearby, raises her hand hesitantly.

“Sa-Saiga-kun, should I help you too? There might be some accounting data mixed in it as well.”

“Aaah… well, on doing that, Saeki would probably get mad at you as well. I’ll try to handle it all myself. Still, thanks for the heads up, Hoshino.”

Saeki seemed discontent with all the personnel selected. It was a tempting offer, but it’s best if Hoshino doesn’t get too involved with me. The same goes for Taromaru, of course.

Hoshino nods reluctantly, while Katsuragi Minami approaches me. For the time being, I brace myself to avoid her stepping into my ability’s range.

“Saiga-kun, um you know…”

“I know. I will somehow give it my best.”

“Is it really true that I’m the only one who you’re okay with?”

“Is that really the only thing that you’re focused on?”

“Can we test if you’re really okay with me touching you?”

“No, we won’t!”

The conversation continues to derail again and again after yet another derailment; as the day ended without any productive meeting taking place altogether.