When I arrived at the Student Council Room, only Watanabe was around. Her boyfriend, Masato-senpai, and the dog Vice President weren't around. As for Shizu, she's also not around. The girl already informed me that she'd come a little later because Hayashi-sensei called her to her office.
Anyway, perhaps too busy with her work, Watanabe failed to notice my entrance to the room. She's sitting in her usual spot on the long table, arranging and sorting out papers.
Most likely, it's in relation to her job as the Treasurer. Maybe reports from club expenditures? I don't know. I've never really bothered checking on them. I'm only familiar with Shizu's work.
On Watanabe's side, I spied a calculator that she's occasionally using. Obviously, to check if the calculation was correct. Furthermore, the only PC in the room that I seldom saw being used was booted onto a spreadsheet application.
Seeing her like this… she really looked like she was enjoying her job but at the same time, enraged and exhausted by it – evident by the occasional creased forehead and narrowed eyes before sighing helplessly.
Since I planned to wait on Shizu before doing my job as the Disciplinary Officer, I was in my free time and… with nothing else to do, I approached the girl who was still unaware of my presence.
I deliberated whether to surprise her or announce my arrival. The result?
Let's just say, I carefully walked out of her peripheral vision with lightened footsteps and approached her from behind.
By the time I reached a few steps away from her chair, I heard the girl muttering in frustration while tapping her pen on the table, "Ugh… How to do this one? President and Ma-kun aren't around to help me… Why did I take this job? I should've asked him to switch and become the Secretary instead."
Although she said that, her focus remained on the paper, trying to figure out what to do. I took a peek at it from where I stood but with the font size being too small, no matter how sharp my eyesight is, it was impossible to read.
At the very least, I noticed some parts of it circled in red or underlined along with her writing 'Problematic? Unrelated to the club.'
Well, there's no point inferring what that meant so… instead of continuing to watch her struggle, I took the final few steps and arrived directly behind the girl, "Hmm? Do you need some help, Watanabe?"
Naturally, I got my expected reaction.
Even with just the first word out of my mouth, Watanabe's whole body flinched and almost jumped up in surprise. Then, as though threatening to twist her body in a weird way, she turned to face me while looking a little funny.
"E-eh? Onoda-kun? Don't surprise me like that. Wait. How come you're here? I never saw you enter."
Fumbling with her words, the girl then alternately looked at me and the door. From how her face scrunched up into a confused frown, she was most likely trying to convince herself that I sprouted out of nowhere or just wondering why she didn't notice me.
"Well, I have this ability to teleport behind someone. But there's a condition. That someone should at least think about me recently."
"Eh…? Is that even possible?"
Somehow, instead of pointing out the bullshit or just the flaws of that ability, Watanabe instead appeared half-convinced. This girl…
"You know, I expect you to say that you haven't thought about me recently or outright call me out on that absurd answer," I said as my lips stretched into a teasing smile.
Following that, I pulled the chair next to her and sat down.
"Uh… Y-yes. That's right! I haven't… thought about you. I'm just confused, okay?! You suddenly showed up... surprising me even."
"Sure. If that's what you want me to believe." I shrugged while maintaining the same smile.
Obviously, the girl took that as me saying the opposite.
She breathed in before shouting incisively, "Onoda-kun! I'm telling the truth!"
But the same as earlier, I simply shrugged and replied in a monotone before picking up the paper she was working on, "Yeah. I believe you."
"This guy… You don't sound convincing…" Watanabe stared at me for a moment before resignedly retreating to the confines of her seat. She finally accepted that no matter what she said, she wouldn't be able to beat me when it comes to teasing.
At least, she's not spooked anymore. That's a development.
After a while, I glanced in her direction and patted her head. As part of my attempt to console her.
"Alright. You don't need to sulk like that. You were too busy to notice me when I arrived."
Even though she didn't remove my hand from her head, Watanabe continued pouting, expressing her discontentment.
"Then why did you surprise me?"
"Because it's fun?" I swiftly answered along with a burst of laughter.
Expectedly, it made the girl pout even harder. If Masato-senpai saw her like this, that guy would probably lunge at me for bullying his girl.
The good thing is… He's not here so it's safe.
"Ugh… Why are you even here anyway? The President isn't here yet."
"Alright. I won't deny that Shizu is my main purpose for being here… Am I not a part of the Student Council as well?"
"… You are."
"There you go. So, do you need any help? You know, even if I'm like this, I can still be helpful to others." I lifted the paper in my hand. And since I already skimmed through its content, I could more or less understand it. However, I had no idea what she was trying to do so… there's that.
Watanabe stared at me in slight disbelief. If I had to guess, she couldn't wrap her mind around my action of volunteering to help her. She cautiously observed me, perhaps simulating what I could gain by helping.
Half a minute later and after picking up that she had yet to come up with a decision, I started ruffling her fluffy and curly grayish-brown hair. With my fingers sinking into it, the girl who was lost in her thoughts started moving her head while issuing low-humming noises as though she was being tickled.
When she finally recognized what was happening, the girl looked up as an embarrassed expression occupied her face before attempting to extract her head away from my hand.
Unfortunately for her, she failed.
"O-onoda-kun, stop it… I didn't ask you to ruffle my head."
"Well, you're not answering, what do you think I will do?"
"Wait patiently?"
"Sorry. I'm kind of an impatient guy."
"Ugh… First time I heard that!"
Because that's some bullshit on my part. In any case, I couldn't help but fall back on teasing her when she was acting like this. Looks like instead of helping her, I was now serving as a distraction. But who cares?
"Oh. Let me correct that, I'm a little impatient today."
"Now, you're just messing with me…"
"You finally caught on to that? Good job."
I clapped which finally infuriated Watanabe. The girl mustered her strength before grabbing my hand as she tried to move it off of her head.
But at the same time as that, my fingers dug enough to reach her scalp so before she could lift my hand, I already tightened my grip resulting in the girl's failure.
"Onoda-kun…" After trying for a while, Watanabe, looking a little hopeless, pitifully called out to me. In fact, she even looked like she was about to cry. Whether that's just acting or not, I had no idea.
But then again, I probably went too far already so… after staring at her for a while, I retracted my hand, freeing her from me.
At first, Watanabe appeared confused despite that being her wish. Then when everything settled on her mind, a look of relief washed over her face.
Furthermore, as though all of her strength left her body after struggling a lot and experiencing relief, Watanabe weakly slumped forward. With my reflex kicking in, I caught her before her face could crash into my chest.
However, it was at this point that my ear picked up the noise of the door swinging open…
"Tomiko? What is happening here?" With a shaky voice as if he stumbled upon something he dreaded, Masato-senpai called out to his girl.
Yeah. Considering the angle, even if my back was turned to the door, the guy could instantly see Watanabe leaning toward me while I supported her.
Alright. What is this perfect timing? Couldn't he wait for a few seconds before entering?
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