28 Finding a Club Advisor

"…You sure this is a good idea?"

"It'll be fine. She quite laid back once you get to know her so I don't think it's going to be much of a problem,

It is currently the fifth period. Otherwise known as my lunch. However, instead of lunch, I am for some reason standing in front of the teacher's office along with Lexi.

Unlike me, Lexi should technically still be in class, but had made up a reason to leave early and is now here with me.

Our reason for being here? To recruit a certain teacher to become the club advisor for our new club.

I couldn't help but reminisce about the events this morning that led me to make this decision.

.

.

"A massage club?"

"Mm-hm! A massage club!"

"…Let me ask first on how did you reach that idea in the first place?"

This has all to do with me, that much is clear. I still want to know what led her to that train of thought, just in case.

"Fufu~ Well, too bad for you, the one who came up in the idea in the first place wasn't me. It was KC. Surprised?"

"What? Kate?"

Eh? Seriously? Lexi was one thing but for Kate to be the one who thought that idea up first….

Honestly unexpected.

I turned my attention towards Kate, not hiding my surprised look the slightest.

"… You know… after everything that happened yesterday... I got to thinking a bit. About the three of us. About myself. And about the future."

Kate began to slowly reveal her thoughts to me.

"…. At that time… when you told me your feelings to me… honestly, I was happy… for you to think that much about me."

Kate…

"… But at the same time… it reminded me about my current relationship with Tony… about how unhappy I was with him…. When compared to the happiness I felt from your confession…. I felt extremely conflicted… I thought 'is it really fine for me to feel this way?'"

"…"

"But that was when I also realize an ugly truth about myself… in all honesty, I was merely afraid… a scared little girl that couldn't handle change… I didn't have enough courage for myself to break up my relationship with Tony even after all this time."

"No, Kate it's no---"

"No, Dan. It is true. It's a truth I can't deny. No, it's a truth I must not deny. For the sake of myself… for the sake of our friendship, it's something I can't run away from."

…

I see. It seems I'm not the only one who changed that night. Even Kate is trying to change. And I was the one to change her. However, if it was not for 'her' changing me first, a change like this might not even have happened.

I couldn't help but take a glance at the culprit for my change.

Lexi, noticing my gaze, gave a playful grin back.

"And so, I decided. I am going to break up with Tony. Today. Cleanly. As soon as possible. This is something I can't let it keep going."

"… That's good. No, that's really good, I'm happy for you, really. Just like I said before if there is anything I can do I'll help you."

"Heh-heh… Thanks, but I'm okay. This is something I decided to do for myself."

"I see. Then I wish you luck."

"Yes!"

After giving each other big smiles, we only continued to looking at each other in silence for the longest time.

…It feels like I am forgetting something….ah!

"That's good and all, but what does that have to do with making a 'massage club'?"

Whoops, I almost forgot my main objective for listening in the first place. It was because Kate said something so surprising I got distracted. What was the relation between her confession with making a 'massage club'?

"Well, that's just the thing. It was because you gave me the courage for this I thought I wanted to do something for you as thanks."

"…and that something is making a 'massage club'?"

"I mean, look. Aren't you always worried about how it's difficult for you to level up while also wanting to hide your System's true form at the same time? Well, if you make a club you could do it more openly without having to hide anymore! Isn't it common knowledge now that you have a Massage-type System? You can use that!"

...

Sounds great an all but...

"Well, putting aside me agreeing to make the club for now… While I am thankful for the thought, but even if you say I can openly massage now, who on Earth would want it? I think you noticed, but I'm not exactly liked by everyone at this moment. Thanks to a certain someone."

I, once again, gave the stink eye to the root of all chaos. I seem to be doing this a lot lately.

"Fufu~ Well, I don't think it's fair to put all the blame on little old me. I thought you were getting quite into it considering how much you say you don't like it."

Lexi wrapped her arms under her huge chest, accentuating it seductively towards me. The male classmates in the background started to become really noisy again. At the same time, I could also feel rising animosity from behind me as well.

You… You know exactly what you're doing right now, aren't you?

*Sigh*… it seems I need to punish her a little more thoroughly next time.

….She can't be doing this because she wants to be punished by me, can she?

…Nah, let's just stop there. I feel like I would go on a path of no return if I continued this train of thought. I'm not ready to go down 'that' route yet.

"That neither here to there. The problem is still who would want to get a massage from me? You're not telling me to forcefully give random people massages under the club name, are you?"

"Fufu~ We're not telling you to go that far either."

"Of course not! Consent must be given above all else! If you were to ever do that, I will never forgive you."

Seems forceful is no good, but it's fine if the girl wants it from her side, it seems.

"It's a bit late now, Kate, is this really okay for you? Don't you…get jealous?"

There are no two ways about it. Denying it isn't going to get me anywhere. Her previous thorny attitude and outburst... the experience of her emotions flowing through to me from the [Sensitvity Vision (H)]'s secondary effect... all of those details points to the strong jealousy she feels in relation to me whenever I talk about or massage another girl.

I don't know when she first felt that way towards me, but the fact that she gets that jealous because of me makes me secretly very happy. It's because of that knowledge, I find it even more unbelievable that she would offer to make something like a 'massage club'.

"I-I don--.... yeah, I admit it. I do feel kind of uncomfortable just thinking you would 'touch' any girls other than Lexi and me."

…So it's fine if it's Lexi then?

"…B-but if it's for your sake, my feeling don't matter in the slightest. You should do what you want, don't mind me."

"Fufu~ You did very well to admit something like that. Good girl…"

Lexi, for some reason, is now petting Kate like praising a dog. As expected, Kate was totally embarrassed and immediately threw off her hands.

Kate… to be willing to that far...

"…"

"Fufu~ looks like you are almost convinced. Though it also looks like something is still holding you back. Well, we had one thing left we were going to say in case we couldn't get you to agree."

"…. 'one thing left'?"

"As long as we can make the club... we can also make money at the same time"

!!

",,, Money."

"Fufu~ it seems you really do react to money.:

"You know…?"

"To clarify, I only heard from KC that you were in need of money and you were troubled about trying to find a part-time job still. I still haven't asked for the reason."

"….I see."

"Fufu~ So, how about it? You think you want to make the club now?"

"… Nice try. Do not think that I don't know that any money I earn on the context for club activities will not become my personal funds. How can I possibly earn money this way? "

"Fufu~ Don't worry. I have a plan for that. Just trust me. So, are you in?"

'Trust her'... huh.

"… Okay, I'll do it."

,

,

"Fufu~ Okay, let's go!"

The sound of Lexi's voice broke me out of my reminiscing.

"Eh? W-wait a minute."

Lexi immediately entered the Teacher's Office without even caring about my current state.

The moment we arrived inside, we were met with a peculiar view.

The Teacher's office was of course not empty. We wouldn't be here if that was the case. However, that doesn't mean there are a lot of people either.

Seeing the few numbers of familiar and unfamiliar faces made me realize what kind of place I had arrived in.

But it was also because of that, that I found the situation I see currently very weird.

Some of the few teachers that were in the office seem to group themselves together. In fact, those very same teachers look as though they were planning to leave the office right away. From my point of view, they seem to be trying to avoid something.

It didn't take me long for me to realize what most the teachers are avoiding since Lexi started to walk towards the epicenter of it all.

"Ah, you two students over there. Is there anything you need?"

Before Lexi and I could take another step, one of the teachers from the group stopped both of us and asked if we needed anything. He was an unfamiliar face to me.

"We're okay. We just want talk to Mrs. Hayden about becoming an club advisor for our new club. Thank you very much for your offer."

.... Seeing Lexi acting so polite like this, I could feel nothing but discomfort. Seriously, why does she act so differently depending on who she meets?

"Ah, Mrs. Hayden…. I won't say anything bad, but I think you two should try someone else."

"? Why is that?"

"Well… you see…. Mrs. Hayden is currently occupied and is unable to deal with anything else right now… I hope you understand."

Is that true? I couldn't help but glance towards a certain desk's direction.

In front of me, the appearance of a familiar female teacher's back view is reflected in my retinas. Normally, such a sight wouldn't concern me. However, it would seem that this sight is anything but normal. What I could only describe as an aura of rejection seemed to exude copiously from that familiar back. It's not a real visual, just the feeling I get from looking at her.

Uwah, I can't help but feel that talking to her right now would be a bad idea.

It would seem that the male teacher is telling the truth. At this point, I would've taken the offer from the male teacher and choose a different teacher. But it seems Lexi had other ideas.

"Thank you for the warning. But I think it will be fine." As I feared, Lexi politely turned down the male teachers warning with a small smile.

"… I see. Well, it's your choice. I'll just say don't worry if you get rejected and you can ask any of us anything instead."

The male teacher saw that Lexi was resolute and decided not to continue to convince us. After leaving these words of kindness he and the other teachers left the office leaving the two of us and that one teacher still here.

Lexi once again walked towards her target.

"Hello, Mrs. Hayden! We got something we need to talk to you about. Is that fine with you?"

Mrs. Hayden in question didn't react right away. She continued to type continuously directly into her laptop keyboard. The sound of her keyboard's clicking filled the empty room loudly.

"Mrs. Hayden?"

"… Eh? What is it?"

Finally responding, Mrs. Hayden momentarily stopped her typing and began to face towards Lexi.

Since she is now facing us, I was now able to get a good look at Mrs. Hayden's face.

Dark shadows under her eyes, a glare that would send any grown man running between his legs, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that she is in a really bad mood.

Hah…. Lexi…. If anything bad happens I'm putting all the blame on you.