I Understand.._(Part 1)

"Sigh... Is it just me, or is she starting to become more demanding?"muttered Masachika to himself after school while he read the message Yuki had sent him.The student council apparently needed to go buy some supplies, but she wouldn't be able to do it because she had something urgent to take care of.Therefore, she asked Masachika to go in her place.

> Pretty please? You're my favorite brother in the whole wide world

" "

He was annoyed by how obvious she was being while trying to flatter him,but he felt too mentally drained to fight.

"Yeah, I'll go. I'll go, but...," mumbled Masachika as he simply replied,Okay.

> Hooray!You're the best! I love you sooo much

"Yeah,yeah."

Masachika smirked at the barrage of heart emoji she thereupon sent him,then stuffed his phone into his pocket and headed to the student council room.When all was said and done, he was very softhearted when it came to his sister and couldn't say no to her. Some people in society might even say he had a sister complex.

"Anyone here?"

After knocking on the door, Masachika stepped inside to find two people already waiting there.

"Oh, hey. Thanks for coming to help us again."

"Don't thank me. I'm just trying to fill in for Yuki, since she asked me to."

One of the two people was Touya Kenzaki, and the other was...

"Oh my. So you're Kuze? I'm Maria Mikhailovna Kujou, Alya's older sister and the secretary of the student council. Nice to meet you,"Maria cheerfully greeted as she smiled gently.

"Hey. Nice to finally get to meet you, too."

She was the polar opposite of her sister, thought Masachika while he gave her a small bow.

"I was told I'd be going out to buy some supplies with you, but...?"

"Call me Masha. A friend of Alya's is a friend of mine, after all."

"Oh...Okay..."

As Maria gleefully approached him, Masachika recoiled slightly.Sh-she's so outgoing and nice, he thought.

"You could even call me Ms. Masha if you want."

"Oh... I think I'll just call you Masha."

Masachika bashfully averted his gaze until Maria stopped right in front of him, cupped his right hand with her hands, and gently shook his hand.

"Sounds good to me..."

Her smile and handshake could bewitch any man in the world, but when she looked at Masachika and saw him close-up, her cheerful expression instantly disappeared. She opened her usually heavy-lidded, almond-shaped eyes wide as she assumed a completely serious expression.

"I-is everything okay?"

Masachika instinctively stepped back when he noticed her sudden transformation, but he couldn't take another step away because she was tightly holding his right hand.

"Kuze... What's your first name?"

"Huh? Masachika..."

"Masa...chika..."

Her expression was so serious that it was almost frightening. Maria was staring at him so hard that it was as if she could burn a hole through his face. A beautiful, older woman who he had essentially just met was holding his hand while staring into his eyes. Masachika's heart was racing with excitement,but that excitement soon turned into anxiety.

"What's wrong, Maria? You see a ghost possessing him or something?"

"Wouldn't be the first time someone has ghosted me."

"Ha-ha.Good one."

Touya gave Masachika the thumbs-up after his quick, smooth pun,and the sudden joke caused Maria to slowly blink a few times before her usual sweet smile curled her lips once more.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking, 'So this is Alya's friend I keep hearing about,' and I started daydreaming a little."

After letting go of Masachika, Maria placed a hand on her cheek while apologetically tilting her head to the side. Then, as if to pull herself together, she clapped her hands together and said:

"<Ready to go?>"

Masachika blinked at the sudden Russian. Of course, he understood what she'd said, but he had been pretending to not understand Russian in front of Maria's little sister, Alisa, so he had no choice but to play dumb.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" he asked, feigning a look of innocence. Maria's eyes opened wide for a brief second, but her smile almost immediately returned.

"My apologies. I was just asking if you were ready to go."

"Oh,sure.Let's go."

"Anyway,President,we'll be back soon."

"Thanks a lot,Maria."

"My pleasure."

"I'm counting on you,too."

"I won't let you down."

They briefly bowed to Touya and left the room.

"By the way, Yuki said we needed to go buy some supplies,but she didn't exactly tell me what."

"Mainly stuff we need to use in the student council room."

"Oh... It sounds like the situation's a little different in high school. We used to just order everything from the manufacturers back in middle school."

"We still do that for the basic necessities, but these are things we're going to be using every day, so ideally, we would actually enjoy them. Take tea, for instance. You would probably want to smell it before actually buying it."

"Oh, that makes sense...which makes it even stranger that someone like me is helping, since I'm not even in the student council."

"Then why not join the student council? Problem solved."

"I'm not interested."

"Really? That's too bad."

Maria shrugged as if she really was disappointed, causing Masachika to smirk.

"I'm good at holding bags, though, so don't be shy."

"I'm counting on you."

Being an outsider, it would probably be better to keep quiet and just carry whatever Maria picked out instead, thought Masachika, but it wasn't that simple.

"This incense smells sooo good. Let's try them all out and see-"

"I don't think using incense in the student council room is a good idea. You should probably stick to just using it at home."

"Oh my gosh! Look at this cat plushie. It looks just like Alya! Oh,I know!How about we get a plushie that resembles each member of the student council and then decorate the room with them?"

"It'd look like a gift shop! There's no way the president's going to feel comfortable in a room like that!"

"This lion wearing glasses right here looks just like him."

"Were you even listening to me? I said-What the...?! That does look just like him!"

"Looks like we're going with the lion, then."

"Wait! Yes, it looks like him, but you can't decorate the student council room with stuffed animals!"

"What?! Come on!"

"No,you 'come on'!"

"Mmm... Fine. But I'm still going to buy the cat plushie for myself,since it's so cute."

"You can't buy it together with the rest of this! The receipts have to be separate! Alya's the accountant. Remember? She'd be pissed!"

Masachika knew it was going to be bad the moment they stepped into a variety store, but it was even worse than he thought it would be. She was far more free-spirited and spontaneous than he could have ever imagined. Maria was darting her eyes all around the shop while selecting things inappropriate for the student council room, and she wasn't joking around. Masachika was too busy correcting her and guiding her in the right direction to even worry about his original plan of keeping quiet and carrying whatever they bought.

It's hopeless. Is she always this way? Because I don't see how Alya deals with this every day.

They somehow managed to only purchase the bare necessities, but by the time they started heading to their final destination, the tea shop, Masachika was already exhausted. He fulfilled his role of holding the bags and glanced down at Maria, who was holding on to the cat plushie as she walked. Even a grade schooler would have a difficult time getting away with walking around town while holding a stuffed animal, but it didn't seem that strange when Maria did it, for some reason.

I'm sure most people passing by are probably thinking,I wish I were that cat, so I guess that's part of the reason why.

Masachika thought that as he gazed at the two melons crushing the plushie's head from behind...when he suddenly imagined Alisa glaring at him as if he were garbage, and he flinched.

Come on. Give me a break. What kind of guy wouldn't stare at ones as incredible as these? We can't help it. That's the sad nature of man.

He apologized to Alisa in his head.

"Kuze,we're here."

"Oh! Sorry!"

"...? Is everything okay?"

"No-I mean-yes! It's nothing."

Although Maria curiously tilted her head, she didn't pry and instead promptly walked inside the tea shop.

"Hey,Masha? Maybe I should hold that for you."

"Oh, thanks. I'm counting on you to take good care of Mewlisa for me,okay?"

"M-Mewlisa..."

His cheek twitched at the incredible name given to the plushie while he gently took it out of her arms.

Great... Now I look like a creep!

People might nervously laugh if they saw a high school girl holding a stuffed animal, but a high school boy? They would intentionally try to avoid eye contact while keeping a straight face. And yet...

"Oh my! You look so cute!"

"You need to get your eyes checked."

Maria mirthfully smiled as if something had tugged at her heartstrings, and she swiftly pulled out her smartphone to take a picture.

"Say cheese."

"I'm not letting you take a picture."

"Oh,come on.Please?"

Masachika held one of their shopping bags in front of the camera's lens. He was no longer hesitating to treat her as an equal and tell her exactly what was on his mind.

"Didn't we come here to look at tea?"

"Oh yeah!...HIey, it's the owner! Long time no see!"

After managing to avoid having his picture taken, Masachika waited in the corner of the room as he watched her. Maria seemed to be a regular here. She talked with the elderly owner while smelling various types of tea.