Itsuki : Asada-kun, you are very cunning

　　At night, Nakano's house.

　　The warm light of a fluorescent lamp illuminates a neat and clean room, and a small table lamp on the table makes the font under the pencil more interesting.

　　Wearing pink thick-rimmed glasses, Itsuki was writing something in a notebook while talking seriously into the cell phone beside her with the speaker function turned on.

　　"We need to get some progress here within a week, right? Time is a bit rushed. We have to wait for the manufacturer's answer anyway..."

　　After the words fell, the male's even and steady voice came from the cell phone.

　　"What else can we do. Although verbally I said one month is enough, in fact it takes a lot of time to come up with plans, review plans, review and other steps. Even if we follow the steps of the previous forest school step by step, it also happens to be possible, if we want to make extraordinary achievements, we must use every minute and every second to the extreme."

　　After a pause, Shinichi added.

　　"I'm only telling you this as an assistant, others let them do what's on the schedule. I've adjusted until they get used to it. Remember, don't let them realize that we don't have enough time. If not, they will most likely rush."

　　"On the other hand, the work of the two of us will be a bit more strenuous. I have to apologize to you first. If you feel a bit stressed, just say so directly, and I'll lighten the task on your part."

　　Hearing Shinichi's concern, Itsuki stopped writing and jokingly said, "Really? Won't you secretly call me a waste?"

　　"…it was just a joke." Shinichi laughed awkwardly, "By the way, I was the main reason why Nino asked you to join, and you didn't volunteer to join. If I still treat you like that it is also inhumane to use her like a black collar worker."

　　"I understand, but..." Itsuki said softly, "Asada-kun sure is good at joking."

　　"Eh?" Shinichi was surprised.

　　Putting down the pen and stretching, Itsuki said: "Not only that, but he's also good at lying. Asada-kun, why do you have to do something you're not good at?"

　　"...I am not lying?

　　Itsuki said helplessly: "That time you secretly taught me, and also that time when you pretended to be fine in the cafeteria. When you said we were idiots in the conference room earlier, didn't you realize it, Asada-kun? The way you lie is exactly the same."

　　She took off her glasses and detached from the phone. Itsuki rubbed her stiff and sore shoulders while recounting in an even tone.

　　"When I first heard you say that, I was very surprised. After all, we are partners who will work together in the future, and you look down on us so much..."

"But thinking about it carefully, Asada-kun didn't need to say that. It's not that we don't want to work hard, what's the point of increasing our enmity towards you? Thinking back to Asada-kun's expression carefully, I know that those words must have been said by you for some purpose."

　　The hand stopped at the shoulder, and at the same time, Itsuki said to herself.

　　(Though I don't know why, but Asada-kun who told me that everything had to be done from the beginning and admitted that I couldn't do anything, would never taunt us like this out of humiliation!)

　　If Fuutarou said something like that, maybe Itsuki would still be angry even now, and refuse to obey all orders and requests of the other side. Either she did it herself, or she left the committee straight away, and never had any contact with him.

　　However, Shinichi is different from Fuutarou.

　　Because after that meeting, the first sentence he uttered on LINE was not a business matter, but——

　　[What I just said is too much, I'm really sorry! I'll treat you to a drink afterward, and it doesn't matter how many meat buns you want to eat, so please don't pay too much attention to those words.]

　　Sincere apologies.

　　Even though the word "meat bun" was mentioned, it always made her feel like a foodie, and Itsuki really wanted to refute a sentence or two and come back to prove her innocence.

　　However, Shinichi's demeanor is very serious, to the point that Itsuki's slight anger at being called stupid even though she knows for a reason, quickly dissipates.

　　In fact, Itsuki admires Shinichi who can apologize frankly. Itsuki knew she couldn't do this, and was also surprised that Shinichi, who wouldn't accept other people's thanks, could apologize so easily.

　　Itsuki had once thought, could this be a rift between humans?

　　Whether it's him or her tutor, there's a huge gap between Shinichi and Fuutarou in their awareness of facing a serious problem.

　　She didn't know what the others were thinking, but during an hour of business discussion, Itsuki thought she had a rough idea of Shinichi's personality.

　　Serious, responsible, knowledgeable, and purposeful. Paying great attention to the sense of distance, but because the book says that the leader must have a tacit understanding with his assistant, Shinichi carefully tests and tries to establish a good relationship with her on the verge of not being misunderstood.

　　Itsuki guessed that there must be more work than the five people in this schedule combined.

　　Even now, when official business temporarily ended and the chat ended, she could still hear the sound of the other party typing on the keyboard and turning pages.

　　Ask her, does she have any right to get angry when someone who works hard calls her a fool?

　　Not only could she not be angry at all, but she was also starting to admit that she was stupid, and it was true.

　　Unknowingly, Shinichi's image in Itsuki's heart was almost that of a teacher's.

　　 After listening to Itsuki's explanation, the other end of the phone was silent for half a second, and then Shinichi's slightly helpless voice sounded.

　　"The book says about team policies, try not to hide it from the assistant, let me tell you the truth…"

　　"There is a quick way to build centripetal force and cohesion in a team, do you know what that is?"

　　"...I don't know." Itsuki thought for a moment and answered honestly.

　　"It's to increase the enemy," said Shinichi lightly, "Or something similar to the enemy. Your quintuplet cohesion is enough, but the centripetal force that is willing to do everything for a particular goal is only two."

　　"So I have to give you a "goal" so that you have the same centripetal force to reach that goal, so that the team can get on the right track as quickly as possible. "

　　"Of course, because I don't have enough time, I can only find this kind of method with many loopholes for the time being, to make you hate me, and to prove to me that the five of you are not stupid. for various things."

　　"This is my goal."

　　After he finished speaking, he sighed languidly, his voice a little tired: "It's really quite embarrassing for me… Also, it's good that only you know about this kind of thing, don't say it outside."

　　Looking at the call interface, Itsuki was a little confused.

　　"But... Aren't you afraid that we will rebel against you out of anger, or just stop?"

　　"No." Shinichi chuckled "Since Nino was there, she was the one who brought you to the group, apart from me, the center of the committee was her."

　　"And Nino is used to being yelled at by me, and she will never break down over a stupid sentence or two, but will try her best to get results and let me apologize to her. Right now, you guys have the same goal. "

　　——Because Nino is the center point, the direction where the center point extends is the direction in which the entire group moves, and the force that maintains this direction is called the team centripetal force.

　　After Shinichi's explanation, Itsuki stared blankly at the cell phone, her mouth opened wide as if she couldn't close it, and she stood still for a long time before muttering.

　　"Asada-kun... You're so cunning."

　　Shinichi on the other end of the line winked and answered word by word.

　　"Please tell me I've thought about it!"