Stealing Spree

"Ma-kun…" Watanabe raised her head right away as soon as she recognized Masato-senpai's voice. There wasn't any panic in her voice and in fact, she sounded more relieved that he arrived.

Most likely, she believed that with the guy here, it would be impossible for me to tease her again.

With her conscience clear, the thought about this being a delicate situation that could cause a misunderstanding possibly hadn't sunk into her head yet.

Whether that's naivety or not, I had no idea.

In any case, it would be good if Masato-senpai could believe her. I mean, this should be the first time in a while that there's really nothing going on except for that golden timing of his arrival.

True. I teased Watanabe to the point that she got this weakened but had he appeared two or five seconds later, this scene wouldn't be the one to welcome him.

Anyway, since I also believe that my conscience is clear, I pushed the girl's weakened body and straightened it up before releasing her in my hold. After that, I glanced behind me to check on the guy before gesturing to the paper that I dropped on the table.

"Masato-senpai. Good timing. I thought of helping Watanabe with her work but I guess you're best suited to do that."

"Help me? Don't lie, Onoda-kun. You're here to tease me!"

Still failing to read the air, Watanabe pouted and pointed at me like someone reporting a bully. Furthermore, she didn't stop at that. The girl grabbed her head and started combing it with her fingers, fixing the mess that I made, "Look what you did to my hair. Uhh… I told you not to."

At this point, Masato-senpai remained standing at the entrance, neither saying nor doing anything. His eyes which were slowly narrowing into a slit, put us under his intense gaze.

Yet, Watanabe failed to pick up on that. For sure, based on how she's behaving, it's not an act but her genuine reaction. In her eyes, nothing was wrong with this.

However, that probably wasn't the case with Masato-senpai. With skepticism in his eyes, he started making his way to us. He still hadn't said any word yet except that dread-sounding inquiry when he arrived.

By the time he reached our position, his accusatory gaze landed on me and remained there for a few seconds before it turned gently as he looked at his girl, he reached out for the girl's head and helped her comb it back to normal.

I guess he's believing her, huh? However, the guy clearly started looking at me in a negative light.

"Okay, I'll help you. Onoda-kun, can you… vacate that seat?"

If his tone towards Watanabe was as warm as the morning sunlight, it quickly dipped to absolute zero when it came to me.

Acting oblivious, I put on a smile and stood up, vacating the seat like he asked.

Well, that's his usual seat, anyway.

Furthermore, the fact that he kept his internal thoughts in was a lot better in this situation.

Rather than be confronted on something I didn't do, I'd save us the energy for that.

Of course, he'd definitely be more guarded around me after this. Unfortunately for him, Watanabe was already tied to us. Unless he prohibits her from interacting with me, she'd remain my assistant when it comes to gathering news.

As for Watanabe… well, it's hard to determine whether she's acting or she's really that clueless about what happened.

In any case, when she saw me stepping away, Watanabe made a face and stuck her tongue out at me while looking comfortably at the sensation of Masato-senpai's touch.

Yep. Most likely, she thought she won against me. Little did she know, I only chose the route where there wouldn't be a direct confrontation. Also… she's unaware that Masato-senpai wasn't looking at that gesture kindly.

He's jealous. No doubt.

Dropping my initial thought of helping her, I walked away from the couple and started preparing the tea.

In the short duration before Shizu arrived, Watanabe would occasionally call out to me, provoking me with words like, 'I thought you're going to help me, Onoda-kun? What are you doing there?'

In which I would respond, 'Don't be greedy. Masato-senpai was already helping you. Just focus on his voice and stop dragging me in.'

That amused the girl and obviously, it's the opposite for the guy. But in the end, he never voiced that out.

Was that him being a wimp? I don't think so… He probably didn't want to make a scene with Watanabe here but I'll sure expect him to confront me.

In any case, it didn't matter to me. No matter what, my conscience is clear. Right?

I only teased his girl. I had no plans to steal her from him.

-

-

Right at the same time as I finished preparing the tea, Shizu arrived at the room. By barely acknowledging the couple's presence, the girl quickly moved to my side, jumping at me at first instance.

"Good. You're still here. I missed you, blockhead." The girl squeezed into my embrace before tiptoeing to kiss me.

I welcomed that wholeheartedly and returned the kiss with more passion.

While Masato-senpai couldn't look at us straight, Watanabe was acting the same as usual, her eyes fixed on us as though she was watching her favorite soap opera.

The only difference from before is… her notepad wasn't around. She could only commit what she was witnessing to memory.

"You know I won't leave before seeing you. So… sit down and let me serve you before I get to work." I eventually replied after finishing our passionate exchange. Furthermore, even though I told her to sit down, I actually started carrying her behind her table before I returned to get the tea set.

When I started pouring the cup for her, Shizu affectionately watched me. And after taking a sip, she turned her attention to the couple.

Donning her normal persona of being the Student Council President, she started addressing the two regarding their work.

"Masato-san, have you finished collecting the data for the upcoming event? And Watanabe, you can finish that next week. It's not urgent."

Upon hearing that, Masato-senpai who was still looking at me with a hostile gaze quickly flipped as he stood up to make his report.

As for Watanabe, she simply nodded her head cautiously. Her smug face from earlier disappeared by the second.

From that, it once again highlighted how much authority Shizu holds.

Well, in any case, I still served the two their tea before returning to Shizu's side.

Since I still have something else to do, I spent a few minutes watching them work and also pampering my girl before excusing myself.

Inugaki never showed up. Perhaps, he's afraid to see me there or he's hiding somewhere. I told him to make an apology for his behavior in front of everyone in the Student Council as his punishment for aiding Ichihara when the guy confronted me a few days ago. However, because I could only be present on Mondays and Fridays, he had yet to do that.

In any case, with Shizu already aware of what happened back then, it's only a matter of time before he could be dealt with. She had started giving the guy less work or importance. And according to her, she's going to pressure him to resign from the position. It's not within her authority to fire him without probable cause, after all. And what happened with Ichihara wasn't enough so…

As for who would replace him when it happened, Shizu told me that if Haruko wants it, she was going to appoint her. If not, she's going to find someone else. Someone she could control, unlike the dog of a Vice President.