34. 'Sincerely'

Extra in The Student Council

34. 'Sincerely'

"Hi~" Shuu waved his hands. He was waiting at the entrance of Nerima University.

Shuu was wearing casual clothes, and with his height and how he behaved, no one would expect him to be a high school student.

He had already waited quite a while before the one he wanted showed up. It's a group of three women walking relaxedly while talking.

Yet the most important thing is that those three were by no means the prettiest girls on campus. Instead, they were plain women, like background characters—the ones that you won't ever remember if they ever existed in the first place. On the other hand, Shuu styled himself so well that almost every woman, even men, took a second look at him to make sure they weren't dreaming.

Shuu brought himself to stand in the way of those three. When those women realized it, they were already the center of attention at the Nerima University entrance.

"You…" Chizuru accidentally muttered when he saw Shuu's face.

And added to that, "It's been a while, Ichinose-san," Shuu said.

At that moment, Chizuru's friends instantly snapped their heads, staring at her. However, instead of talking to them, Chizuru walked toward Shuu and whispered, "You, what are you doing here?"

Shuu showed her a beautifully packed, medium-sized box.

"I brought you a present!" he said with a bright, warm smile, enough to captivate everyone present.

Looking at him, Chizuru became even more suspicious. She didn't know him well, but she at least knew him long enough to know that the one named Shuu, her superior, never did a useless thing. It was easy to understand if Shuu was interested in her physical body or even her personality, but that wasn't the case. Shuu wasn't attracted to her beauty like other customers she had before; that's why...

(There must be a catch) she thought. While she was trying to find out what it was.

"By the way," Shuu added, "Should I call you Nee-san or Senpai now?" He said it with a smirk on his face.

"!!" With his words as cues. Chizuru instantly remembered when Sumi told her how shocked she was to learn Shuu was younger than her. "That's right!" Chizuru exclaimed, "Why did you never tell me?"

"Well, You never asked. Besides, it won't change a thing." Shuu brushed it away like a small matter. Actually, it was a small matter to him.

"...." Chizuru wanted to refute, but his statement was correct. "Ugh, How can I expect you're younger than me when you acted like that?" From the moment they first met, the way Shuu behaved, Chizuru really was unable to imagine he was younger than her. When she's about to push it even further.

"Chizuru?"

"!?" Chizuru belatedly remembered where they were. She turned around and saw how shocked her friend was by her unusual conduct and connection.

Then, when Chizuru turned to Shuu again, he was smiling brightly as he waved his hands to her friends.

(He got me!) Chizuru didn't have the proof, but she was sure this was his purpose from the very beginning!

"I'll talk to you girls later," Chizuru said to her friend before she pulled Shuu away from the center of attention.

(Did he plan this from the beginning?) Chizuru speculated, (The only reason I slipped up was because I was too shocked to learn his age from Sumi-chan. If Katsuragi-san personally told me or others told me, I wouldn't be this shocked. The problem is…. it was me who introduced Sumi-chan to him)

(But why did he want to intrude on my personal life?) Chizuru's head was full along the way.

Soon, they arrived at a familiar cafe.

"..." Shuu went silent, looking at the sign plate, 'Cafe Stella.' "Do we really have to go here all the time?" He muttered in a small voice. Nevertheless, Chizuru didn't hear him and just entered casually like usual.

"So? What is this all about?" Chizuru asked once they got to their seats.

"Like I told you before, a present," Shuu said, giving her the present.

Chizuru was looking at him suspiciously.

Shuu didn't care and just smiled it off and said, "Open it first. You can decide to take it or not."

Then Shuu ignored her and enjoyed his cheesecake.

(It's delicious. This place also feels comfortable. It's normal to be popular. ) Shuu observed that this cafe was crowded even on weekdays. It was almost full. (It would be much better if that particular maid didn't look at me like a waste, though.) Shuu started thinking that opening a similar cafe like this would be nice.

"What is this?" Chizuru asked with a CD box in her hand.

Shuu turned his attention to her. "Steins; Gate," Shuu replied.

"The serial movie you started in, don't you know?"

"I know that much!" She snapped when she was treated like an idiot. "But why are you giving me this? This movie is still airing in cinemas. We were told that we would get it later after the airing ended," Chizuru asked.

True, Shuu prohibited giving copies to the personnel to avoid any mishap, but he did give them tickets to the cinema if they wanted to watch the end result. He also booked a whole studio room a few times for his subordinates to watch freely.

Shuu didn't immediately answer her question. He sipped his tea, taking his time.

"I think you might need it."

"Why would I—"

"After all, a sick person couldn't go to the cinema," Shuu added, cutting her words.

"?!!" Chizuru was stunned. "You! How do you—"

"Taking care of his employee is also an employer's responsibility." Shuu cut off her words again. Still, this kind of event was too good to be true. Chizuru was still wary of Shuu. She stared, or more like she was glaring at Shuu, so that she wouldn't miss a single movement from him.

Nonetheless, Shuu was still as relaxed as ever. "Well, enough gibberish." He said, "Let's get to the main point." A sharp glint appeared in Shuu's eyes as he stared at her.

Chizuru unconsciously gulped.

"I wanted you, Ichinose Chizuru... No, your stage name is Mizuhara Chizuru." Shuu corrected his words, "I want Mizuhara Chizuru to be our White entertainment's face."

"As you already see from the first reaction to the movie, it's only a matter of time before it explodes, and your name as the upcoming new actress would blow up too."

"You might've already been contacted by others by now." Chizuru remembered a few emails she had received when she heard that. "That's why I want to hold you down in our company before you are snatched by others," Shuu explained.

"And as for the present, it would be for you to know my kind intention."

"No one came with kind intentions, along with an investigated background," Chizuru said with a jab. From the very beginning, she never gave a thought to changing her agency. It was Shuu who found her and gave her a chance when she had nothing, and she wasn't an ungrateful person.

"It stung my heart if you said that," Shuu smiled.

"As if you had a heart," Chizuru scoffed, remembering what she went through when making the film. She was so busy that she thought it would be better to die on summer vacation.

"Then I'll take it that you accept my proposal." Chizuru nodded

"Then I'll still have another thing I want to ask."

"You still have more?" Chizuru was exasperated.

"Actually, I wanted to meet your grandmother," Shuu said. Before Chizuru became wary of him again. He continued, "I know you're an adult and didn't need a guardian to accept my proposal. Still, I wanted to show your grandmother how good our company is. So when you changed your mind, she could help us to prevent that." Shuu explained it as 'Sincerely' as he could.

"...." Chizuru was speechless, staring at Shuu's face.

(Your face was soft and kind, like you wouldn't be able to hurt an ant. But what you say is as vicious as a snake)

(Do you usually say, 'I didn't trust you', and slam that word directly into the person's face?!)

"But well, it's up to you, Ichinose-san. If you don't agree, then I can only give up," Shuu added.

Chizuru took a few moments to think about it thoroughly. Her grandmother also often asked her about her agency when she first told her she had joined one. (It actually helped me if he wanted to meet Grandma.)

Then, after a while...

"Alright, I agree."