Chapter 252: The Overwhelming Aura of the Official Girlfriend
In the student council room.
The conversation continued, only now there was one more person.
"Senpai, were you guys just talking about the cultural festival executive committee?" The one who spoke was Iino Miko, who had just finished her disciplinary committee duties.
"Umu, what about it?" Sakurai Saki replied while taking a few candies from his pocket and handing them to her.
Sakurai to Miko: (っᵔ◡ᵔ)っʚ𖦹ɞ⸜(˙꒳˙ )
"Senpai…" Miko-chan's voice turned a little spoiled.
She wasn't a child, yet senpai was still giving her candy.
But at that moment, Miko-chan was a little hungry, so she accepted the candy from Sakurai Saki: "Thank you, senpai."
"Tch, snack king." Ishigami Yuu threw out a sarcastic jab.
"Who are you calling that?!" Miko-chan shouted.
The two of them seemed about to start another fierce verbal battle.
(ノ ° 益 °) ノლ(ಥ益ಥლ)
"I'm playing Pokémon." Ishigami Yuu showed her the screen of his game console, "Look, this is the name of a Pokémon, it's an Ultra Beast type."
"You only said the name, how do I know if you're insulting me or not?" Miko-chan shot back with sound logic.
Normally Ishigami Yuu just made things up to tease her, so this time Miko-chan had her guard up beforehand.
"Iino, usually only people who already feel insulted react that strongly. There's a saying: if you think you are, then you are." Ishigami Yuu actually hadn't insulted her just now. "People should see the situation clearly before choosing a side and opening their mouth."
"I don't want to hear that kind of talk from you." Iino Miko gave him a sideways glance.
Shirogane Miyuki shifted the topic to the Festival: "Iino, your disciplinary committee also has to send someone to join the executive committee this time, right?"
"Umu."
"Who is it?"
"Me." Miko-chan said proudly.
( • ̀ω•́ )✧
The executive committee was the core of the cultural festival, being able to take part in organizing such an event made Iino Miko very happy.
Shirogane Miyuki glanced at Sakurai Saki.
Sakurai Saki glanced back at him.
The executive committee was originally a place where you worked hard with no recognition: do well and no one praises you, mess up and the whole school talks behind your back. In short, it wasn't exactly a good place, yet Miko-chan seemed to volunteer eagerly.
"Miko-chan… this time Ishigami will also be participating." Sakurai Saki softly reminded.
"?" Iino Miko thought for a few seconds, then casually said: "What does that have to do with me?"
"It never had anything to do with you." Ishigami Yuu muttered.
This time he was only joining to get closer to the one he liked, not to babysit. In Ishigami Yuu's eyes, Iino Miko was just a rebellious little girl who hadn't grown up, clueless about social skills… though Ishigami himself wasn't exactly good at reading the room either.
But he still felt he was much better than Iino Miko.
"I'll return those exact words back to you." Miko-chan replied coldly.
What does that have to do with you?
After that cutting line, she turned and smiled sweetly at Sakurai Saki: "Sakurai-senpai, are you also joining the executive committee this time?"
Miko to Ishigami: ( ◺˰◿ )
Miko to Sakurai: (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)
The speed of her face change left Ishigami Yuu dumbfounded.
Terrifying — women truly were frightening creatures.
The ability to switch masks between someone you hated and someone you liked, even professional actors had to bow down.
"I am, why?"
"Let's make the Devoted Hearts Festival a great success together!"
Hearing that, Sakurai Saki smiled and nodded: "Yeah."
…That was a lie!
This time Sakurai planned to "slack off."
In these kinds of large-scale events, there was always an unspoken rule — upperclassmen took charge of the important categories and coordination, while underclassmen handled errands and assisted the classes.
Including but not limited to decorating the venue, transporting equipment, ensuring fire safety…
A ton of tasks. If chosen, Sakurai Saki only wanted to take on something light, so that during the festival he'd still have time to hang out with his girlfriend.
His class had already decided on their event — a café.
Very classic, class 2-A had no fresh ideas at all. Calling it creative was just changing the costumes a little, but a maid café was nothing new. In Akihabara, there was an entire street full of maids calling in customers, looking no different from a red-light district.
...
After class, finishing tutoring the quintuplets, Sakurai Saki stepped out of the library.
Right at the library entrance, he saw his girlfriend. These days, Hayasaka Ai always tried to go home with her boyfriend — and why? Of course, to prevent this guy from getting tangled with those "sneaky cats."
"Sakurai-chan~ good afternoon." Hayasaka Ai spoke as she approached, then stood right in front of him, tilting her head up with smiling eyes: "Did you miss me?"
Sakurai & Hayasaka: -`♡´-(っ˶ ˘ ᵕ˘)ˆᵕ ˆ˶ς) -`♡´-
"Do you want the true answer or the false one?"
Hayasaka Ai lightly touched her chin with her index finger, her pose extremely cute: "True."
"Every second, every minute."
"That sounds a little half-hearted, let me hear the false one instead."
"When I can't see you, even with birds singing and flowers fragrant, I feel no joy. Everything becomes empty, lonely. My sensitive heart grows dull, unable even to touch my own soul." Sakurai Saki didn't hesitate to borrow the famous line he had just read.
"The Dancing Girl of Izu?" Hayasaka Ai gently covered her pink lips, smiling softly: "And that's supposed to be the false one?"
"Words of others, even if they're famous quotes, can't express my feelings for you. Of course it's nothing but fake." Sakurai Saki smoothly pulled her into his arms.
If it had been before, when Sakurai Saki suddenly hugged her, maybe Hayasaka Ai would have been shy, but now, distanced from Shinomiya Kaguya, her courage had grown a lot.
She wrapped her arms around Sakurai Saki, resting her head on his chest, not caring if her hairstyle got messed up.
"So warm." Ai-chan whispered.
The temperature today was a little low.
"Quite the romance, Saki-chan~"
Hearing that voice, Hayasaka Ai instantly pulled away from Sakurai Saki's embrace.
Hayasaka: (◣ _ ◢)
"Shijo-san?" Her eyes looked at Shijo Maki as if staring at a criminal.
"Oh, so scary, Saki-chan's girlfriend is really scary, am I about to get beaten up?" Shijo Maki laughed as she spoke, then turned and walked away.
Maki: ╮ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭
She had only shown up to provoke others.
Hearing that, Sakurai Saki immediately realized that things wouldn't be peaceful for him.
"Care to explain?"
Hayasaka: ( ｡ •̀ ⤙ •́ ｡ )
Sakurai: (｡Ó﹏Ò｡)
"…Just a friend." Sakurai Saki's voice sounded a little weak.
Hayasaka Ai looked up at him for a few seconds: "Doesn't seem like you're lying."
"Shijo Maki's personality is exactly like Shinomiya Kaguya's, the closer they are, the more distant they act. So that way of calling me… actually proves we're not that close yet…" The more Sakurai Saki explained, the more it sounded like useless excuses.
Just then, from inside the library, the Nakano quintuplets came out.
"Sakurai… um?" Nino had just spoken when she noticed another girl standing next to Sakurai Saki.
Shining golden hair, beauty no less than her own, at this moment standing close beside Sakurai Saki.
Hearing Nino's voice, Hayasaka Ai turned her head and smiled: "You're my boyfriend's students?"
She slightly bowed, politely saying:
"Thank you for always looking after him."
The quintuplets each responded in turn, exchanging a few polite words.
A few minutes later.
Hayasaka Ai and Sakurai Saki left, heading toward the school gate.
Watching their backs, Nino's expression faintly showed displeasure.
Nino: ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)
"That's the pressure of the official girlfriend." Ichika crossed her arms, her face amused as if watching a play.
She knew full well that Nino liked Sakurai Saki.
"Hmph." Nino frowned slightly.
Though she felt extremely uncomfortable inside, she had no reason to argue back.