The clubroom, freshly cleaned but still suspiciously creaky, basked in the gentle afternoon glow. Aisha was wiping down the infirmary bed they stole for "rest breaks." Mei was wiping her gaming controller with disinfectant. Hana was trying to draw a new club banner but accidentally drew a muscular bunny girl. Aoi quietly munched on potato chips like they were sacred offerings. Akemi floated upside down, drawing mustaches on everyone with a ghost marker only Ito could see.
Ito, sitting proudly in the center like the founder of a definitely-legitimate organization, slammed a clipboard down.
"Alright, troops! We're officially open for business! First day of Odd Jobs Club activity!"
"Don't yell. I can hear you from the afterlife," Akemi groaned, floating into a lazy midair stretch.
A knock came from the door.
Knock-knock.
Everyone turned.
The door creaked open like in a horror movie.
A boy stood there.
Plain. Monochrome. Like someone had dragged an NPC from a budget visual novel into a high-resolution world.
He wore the standard uniform, but somehow, he just didn't... match. His hair was... not even colored properly. It looked like the artist ran out of time and just clicked "default black" and moved on.
He blinked slowly. Then he spoke.
"Greetings… Club of Odd Taskers. I come to ye with a burden… of the heart."
Silence.
Then—
"...WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. HELL," Mei whispered.
Aisha blinked. "Did he just say 'ye'? Did he just…?"
Hana held her breath. "I think I heard an ellipsis in his voice."
Aoi nearly dropped her chips. "He talks like… my foreign language textbooks."
Akemi snorted. "BRO. What century you from?!"
The boy stepped in, walking like a mannequin that had only read about movement but never practiced.
He bowed, deeply, with both hands on his chest.
"I am Yuu Sakamoto. First-year. I hail from Classroom 1-B. My tale is one of aching… yearning… and also milk bread from the vending machine."
Ito tried not to break character.
"Uhh… welcome, Yuu-kun. What's your, uh, odd job?"
Yuu straightened up and pointed—directly at Akemi.
"Her. The ghost maiden of moonlight. She shall take possession of mine body… and confess to mine beloved."
Everyone collectively blinked.
"...You WHAT?!" Mei's jaw unhinged like a shocked anime fish.
"You want a GHOST to confess FOR you?!" Aisha stood up like a disapproving older sister.
"Would you like a phantom slap to go with that request?" Akemi snorted.
Yuu nodded solemnly. "I trust her ethereal charm and otherworldly wisdom. She will know how to woo the woman I long for…"
He turned slowly toward the chalkboard, raised a hand like Shakespeare on stage, and whispered:
"...Minako. The girl with the peanut allergy and soul of a daffodil."
Aoi choked on her chips.
"WHO EVEN TALKS LIKE THIS?" Mei screamed.
"I swear he's reading off an 1800s diary!" Hana added.
Ito leaned in, eye twitching. "Are you… from another country or something?"
Yuu looked at him as if he were the weirdo.
"No. I am from Osaka. Born and bred. But… my sister, when I was but a child… she brought me tomes. Not manga. Not shonen… but…"
He pulled out a battered, yellowed paperback.
"…Wuthering Heights."
Silence.
Ito slapped his forehead. "OH MY GOD, HE'S SPEAKING BRONTË!"
Aisha gasped. "It's all making sense. That language! That melancholy! He's quoting mid-century gothic romance!"
Akemi blinked. "Okay wait, this might actually be genius."
Yuu dropped to his knees before Akemi.
"Please, milady of the nether realm. Take my vessel. Use it. Help me confess. I am but a coward. And your lips, ghostly as they may be, will speak words more brave than mine."
Akemi floated down… and casually sat on Ito's lap. Bridal-style. Her arms curled around his neck. Her icy form melted against him like fog.
"Aw~ You really want me to possess you, huh?" she purred.
"YES!" Yuu beamed.
"Nope."
He blinked.
"Huh?"
Akemi rolled her eyes, then nuzzled into Ito like a cat.
"Not happening. I'm not taking over your boring, unrendered husk. You look like a background character that didn't get patched."
The room exploded with laughter.
"HE DOES!" Mei wheezed.
"He looks like a sketch someone forgot to ink!" Hana added.
"I thought he was a ghost too," Aoi mumbled.
Yuu trembled. "B-But… why not? I have no courage. I… I am but a man made of paper emotions and bent spines…"
Akemi floated up, turned around midair, and looked down at him seriously.
Her playful smile faded.
She crossed her legs in midair, hands folded as if preaching from a church bench.
"Yuu-kun… You want to love someone, right?"
He nodded.
"You want her to like you back?"
He nodded again.
"Then why… would you ask someone else to do the hard part?"
He looked confused.
Akemi continued.
"Love isn't a spell you cast or a scene from a novel. It's messy. It's terrifying. And yeah, it sucks when you put your heart out there and it gets stomped on. But it's real. That nervous heartbeat, that shaky voice, that moment your lips almost say the words—that's what makes it worth it.
Because when she smiles and says she likes you back… it's not because someone else possessed you. It's because YOU said it. YOU were brave. And no one else gets credit for that."
Yuu was frozen. The whole room was silent.
Akemi's eyes softened.
"I could do it for you. But it wouldn't be your love. It'd be mine. And I already have my guy."
She glanced at Ito and winked. "Sorry, taken by the club founder~"
Ito, flustered: "D-Don't say it like that!"
Aisha giggled.
Hana smirked. "Smooth, ghosty."
Aoi hid behind her lunchbox.
Yuu trembled.
"T-Then… I…"
Akemi floated down beside him.
"You don't need to be bold like a hero. Just be honest. Say what you feel. In your own stupid, Brontë-wannabe words."
Yuu stood. Shakily.
"...I'll do it. I will confess… with my own trembling voice. May the winds of courage carry me to Minako's heart!"
Mei snorted. "He's doing it again!"
Aisha handed him a tissue. "Just… try not to quote poetry during it."
Yuu bowed to everyone.
"Thank you. For your wisdom. For your mockery. And your ghostly flirting. And meet me in five minutes."
Akemi gave him a salute. "Break a leg, loverboy."
He turned and walked away—like a knight going to war against rejection.
As the door closed, Hana sighed.
"Well, that was a thing."
Ito leaned back. "Did he really carry Wuthering Heights in his blazer?"
Aoi whispered, "...That's kinda romantic though."
Akemi flopped backward onto Ito's lap again. "One job done. Let's hope the rest are just as weird."
Mei: "They probably will be. This school is cursed."
Aisha sipped her tea. "At least we're cursed together."
Everyone stared.
Then—
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Odd Jobs Club Reputation: +1]
[Job Completed: "Confession Assistance!"]
---
Five minutes later…
The sun had dipped just enough to paint the school's outer walls in warm gold. A gentle breeze rustled the sakura trees planted near the main gate, petals fluttering like anxious hearts.
Yuu Sakamoto stood nervously beside the marble fountain near the school courtyard—the designated battlefield of love. The Odd Jobs Club flanked him like emotional support generals.
Ito patted his shoulder. "You've got this."
"I… I feel like I'm about to walk onto a Shakespearean stage," Yuu whispered, clutching a small red ribbon.
Mei squinted at it. "Is that... a hair ribbon?"
Yuu nodded solemnly. "She dropped it three days ago. I have carried it every moment since. It still smells faintly of her shampoo… like strawberries and literary grace."
"Here we go again," Hana groaned.
Aisha stepped forward, smiling warmly. "Hey, this is actually perfect. You can start the conversation by returning that. It gives you a reason to talk without jumping straight into the confession."
Yuu's eyes lit up. "Like a subtle plot hook!"
Aoi, quietly munching on a biscuit, nodded with her mouth full. "Mm. S-starter quests…"
Ito crouched in front of him and looked him square in the eye.
"Just remember, Yuu… Talk how you talk. Don't fake being normal. If she's going to like you, it has to be for the real, dramatic, emotionally-overwritten, Wuthering Heights-reading you."
Everyone nodded. Even Akemi floated behind him with two ghostly thumbs up.
"I shall endeavor to be… authentic." Yuu gripped the ribbon like it was a talisman of fate.
Then—
"THERE SHE IS!" Aoi whisper-yelled, pointing to the school gate.
A small group of girls approached. Among them, walking with perfect posture and surrounded by giggles, was a girl with shoulder-length hair, a matching school bag… and, like Yuu, the most unfinished anime face design imaginable.
Her outline was so clean, it looked suspiciously AI-generated.
Her shading was minimal.
And her eyes—though full of life—were the exact same default style as Yuu's.
They all ducked behind the fountain like secret agents.
Ito peeked over the marble rim.
"…She looks exactly like him."
"No way," Hana said, peering too. "She's the female version of Yuu."
"She's his symmetrical soulmate," Aisha muttered.
"They're both characters that the artist forgot to finish before the deadline," Mei whispered, face blank.
"Kindred sketchy spirits," Akemi added solemnly.
They watched.
Yuu took a deep breath. Clutching the ribbon, he stepped forward—dramatically, like an extra in Les Misérables—and called out to her.
"Minako-san!"
The girl turned. "Yuu-kun?"
His hands shook.
"You… dropped this. Days ago. I held onto it in case the winds of fate blew us together once more."
She blinked.
"Oh my god," Aoi whispered, "they're the same."
Yuu bowed, arm extended, presenting the ribbon like a knight offering a rose.
She gasped softly, accepting it with both hands. "Thou art too kind, Sir Sakamoto."
The gang behind the fountain collectively recoiled.
"DID SHE JUST CALL HIM 'SIR SAKAMOTO'?" Hana whisper-yelled.
"Did she just speak in Shakespeare!?" Mei covered her mouth.
"Shhh!" Aisha smacked Mei's arm. "Let them talk."
They all peeked again.
Now Yuu was standing rigidly, like his entire skeleton had turned to wood.
"I… have adored thee from afar, Minako. Thy laughter… thy kindness… thy brilliant answers in classical literature class… have ensnared my soul."
Minako blushed. "Oh! Yuu… I too… have been enraptured by thine poetic gaze. I did not dare hope…"
They held hands.
Then she leaned her head slightly.
"I accept thy confession, Yuu."
Mei quietly slapped her own face. "No WAY."
Akemi wiped a fake tear. "This is the cringiest, most romantic garbage I've ever witnessed."
Ito stood and straightened his collar. "And they say romance is dead…"
Yuu turned around with the grace of a man reborn. He and Minako walked toward the club gang like two Regency-era lovers on their way to a tea party.
"Everyone," Yuu said proudly, "I would like you to meet Fujihara Minako—my girlfriend."
Minako smiled politely. "Greetings, O friends of my beloved! I am most pleased to meet thee."
"...Oh my god they're multiplying," Mei whispered.
Aoi bowed, slightly flustered. "C-congratulations…"
Hana tried to smile normally. "That's… great. So great."
Aisha gave a more diplomatic nod. "We're happy for you two."
"Congratulations~!" Akemi floated a few centimeters above the ground and whispered to Ito, "They're going to start writing letters in quills and kissing with pinkies out."
Ito smiled. "Still… mission accomplished."
---
The entire Odd Jobs Club slumped into their seats like overworked drama club members after a tech rehearsal.
"Dear GOD," Mei exhaled. "That was… emotionally exhausting."
Ito dropped into his chair with a dramatic flop. "I feel like I just watched the BBC Pride and Prejudice with extra subtitles."
Aisha giggled behind her hand. "Still, it was sweet. In a... very strange, outdated novel way."
"I don't hate it," Hana admitted. "They were weird. But weird together."
"They spoke in paragraphs," Aoi mumbled. "I… couldn't follow most of it."
Akemi floated above them all, arms behind her head. "Love comes in all forms~ Cringe is just passion with bad taste."
"That should not be on a T-shirt," Mei muttered.
Ito stretched, interlacing his fingers. "Anyway… job done."
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: Odd Jobs Club – Job Complete: +1 Reputation]
[Reward: Emotional Satisfaction + Group Experience]
A moment of silence followed. Then...
Aisha leaned over and kissed Ito on the cheek.
"One down. More to go?"
Ito chuckled. "One kiss per completed job. I like the sound of that."
"Oh? Is that the rule now?" Hana asked, standing and walking toward him. "Good."
She sat beside him and pecked his lips softly. "I expect my loyalty points too."
Aoi, blushing wildly, turned away. "N-no one said I had to…"
Then she shuffled forward on her knees and lightly kissed his cheek.
"G-g-good job, Senpai…"
Mei folded her arms. "Baka…"
Then she marched up, grabbed him by the collar, and kissed him quickly before retreating behind the curtain like she'd committed murder.
Akemi smirked, then floated into his lap once again.
She cupped his face with chilly ghost hands and whispered, "Payment time~" before giving him a long, spine-tingling kiss that made his toes curl.
When they broke apart, she winked. "Now THAT'S a proper reward."
Ito, dazed: "…I think I just leveled up in a dating sim."
Everyone laughed.
And for that moment, the clubroom felt warmer, fuller, more chaotic… more like home.
---
END OF CHAPTER : 64 : CONFESSION ASSISTANT!
---