The little girl from the Manga Club, who had been scared unconscious, was placed by Asakura on a long table made of several school desks in the Service Club activity room. Her hands were clasped over her chest, and her sleeping face looked as serene as a body at a farewell ceremony.
"You don't have to put her on the table, do you?"
Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't help but retort: "In terms of height alone, it would be better to make a bed out of chairs, or simply send her to the infirmary, wouldn't it?"
"That would be too much trouble. This is part of resting—" Asakura replied.
"Instead of resting, it feels more like being offered as a living sacrifice on an altar…"
"Sacrifices need an object, like an evil god or something, but if the sacrifice is performed in this clubroom, the one who receives the offering…" Asakura trailed off.
The two exchanged glances and, with perfect synchronicity, said:
"It's Hiratsuka-sensei."
"It must be Hiratsuka-sensei."
In the teacher's office, Hiratsuka Shizuka, who was devouring her bento, suddenly sneezed twice, spraying rice grains all over Amanatsu Konami, who was eating with her.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, do you have a cold?"
The petite Ganatsu-sensei squinted, wiping her face with a tissue, and asked in a somewhat aggrieved tone.
"Doesn't seem like it. I just suddenly felt the urge to sneeze." Hiratsuka Shizuka awkwardly scratched her nose.
"Perhaps someone mentioned Hiratsuka-sensei, like your blind date from yesterday?"
"Ah, that one wasn't very good… It started off fine, but when he finished eating and started smoking, he wouldn't stop lecturing—" Hiratsuka Shizuka waved her hand. "Why is it so hard to find someone to marry?"
"I understand!"
Amanatsu Konami emotionally grabbed Hiratsuka Shizuka's shoulder, not even bothering to wipe the rice off her face, and said tearfully with a sympathetic tone, "I liked him, but as soon as he saw me, he said, 'Sorry, tell your mom I'm not interested in someone who already has a child!' That's super rude, right! Hiratsuka-sensei, you must understand!"
"No, I think our problems are on completely different levels…"
Setting aside the two older single women sharing their experiences, let's shift our attention back to the Service Club clubroom.
Kaoruko Moeta awoke from her pharaoh-like slumber, and then she saw Asakura observing her from the side.
Instantly, the girl was scared into a stick figure.
"Don't be scared, don't be scared. I won't eat you—" Asakura could only make a sound to comfort her, to prevent her from fainting again.
"Eat, eat me?! Ah-ba-ba-ba…" For some reason, her shivering frequency increased by a notch.
Asakura stroked his chin. He noticed that Yukinoshita Yukino was looking at him with the gaze of a child at a zoo watching a gorilla, clearly not intending to help.
Is she getting back at him for not going with her to deal with that Togawa thing earlier? What a petty person.
Asakura sighed and looked at the pink-haired little girl, who, like Gotō Hitori, seemed not very good at communicating.
Wait, like Hitori?
Then, perhaps using the same method he used with Hitori, which is to adopt a firm attitude to directly push the conversation forward, might also be effective against this girl?
Thinking this, Asakura looked at the pink-haired little girl again, revealing a kind smile.
"Heh heh."
"Ah-ba-ba-ba…"
"What kind of abstract communication is this?" Yukinoshita Yukino complained from the side, but Asakura ignored her and continued trying to communicate with the other party.
"Kaoruko Moeta… right?" he asked. "I remember you've already debuted in a manga magazine, haven't you?"
"W-why do you know my name? Am I being targeted?!" The girl trembled even more violently.
"Hint one, I previously helped the Student Council replenish drawing materials for the Manga Club—" Asakura said, holding up his index finger.
"Could it be that you saw it at the Student Council?" The girl seemed to relax a little at his words.
"Hint two, my name is Asakura Takuma."
"The legendary Shadow Student Council President of Soubu High School?! Are you going to overthrow the Student Council's rule starting from the Manga Club?!"
As if a bolt of lightning flashed behind the girl, the pink-haired little girl showed an expression of extreme shock and fear.
"When did you get that title?" Yukinoshita Yukino asked curiously.
"It seems it was when that Amakusa couldn't find her seal, so she had people bring some documents to me to stamp with the backup seal—" Asakura replied.
"Couldn't she just ask you for the seal and stamp it herself?" Yukino asked in confusion.
"It seems she intended to create a de facto situation where I was already a member of the Student Council."
As a result, he didn't expect to be seen as a Student Council member; instead, he became a sort of urban legend. Asakura spread his hands.
After several startling moments, Kaoruko Moeta, while subtly feeling mentally exhausted, finally calmed down a bit. She watched Asakura and Yukino's interaction and felt that the other party wasn't as terrifying as she had imagined.
"Um, Asakura, is there something you need at the Manga Club?"
Upon hearing this, Asakura gave the girl a heartwarming smile.
"Heh heh."
"Ah-ba-ba-ba…"
"Aren't we back to square one?!" Yukino complained.
Asakura concisely explained his purpose to Kaoruko Moeta—in short, it was to commission a draft for the sign and flyers for the Rabbit Desserts shop.
"I see, that shop…" Yukino murmured softly, deep in thought.
Kaoruko Moeta, however, didn't notice this, only furrowing her brows and looking troubled: "Um, everyone in the Manga Club is currently rushing their manuscripts for the Newcomer Award, so I'm afraid there isn't much time to design a sign and flyers for Asakura."
"The seniors who've already debuted don't need to participate in the Newcomer Award, do they?" Asakura asked.
"If you're already serializing in a magazine, the workload is actually even greater. After all, no one has assistants. Normally, other people in the club could help, but now everyone else is busy with the Newcomer Award, so the serialized seniors can only handle their own work. I heard some seniors are already considering dropping out to become full-time manga artists—" Kaoruko Moeta replied weakly. "Although I'm very sorry, Asakura, there's no one in the club who can help…"
"No, isn't there still one?" Asakura said.
"Huh?" The pink-haired girl tilted her head.
"It's you—" Asakura said, looking at her with a sunny smile. "I remember Kaoruko-san only serializes four-panel comics in that magazine, right? And it seems to have been canceled?"
"Ugh…"
"You really enjoy happily picking at other people's wounds, don't you?" Yukino complained, but Asakura pretended not to hear and continued looking at the pink-haired girl, giving her a thumbs-up.
"You don't need to participate in the Newcomer Award, nor do you have serialization work, and your art style leans towards cute. Why don't you help me out?!"
"Eh eh eh eh…"