37. Dye me in your color

Extra in The Student Council

37. Dye me in your color

"Mi, Mizuhara?" A voice called Chizuru from the stairs behind Shuu.

(Perfect timing!) Shuu quickly stepped away from Chizuru. Even when Chizuru calmed down a bit, from an outside point of view, her face was still quite red, and her breathing was also still quite disarrayed, like she was flustered, embarrassed, and shy.

Kazuya felt like his eyeballs almost popped out of his eye sockets. It's hard for him to believe the scene happening in front of him. It was to the point that he forgot the girlfriend he was with.

Shuu observed them for a second. One of them is Chizuru's customer and fake boyfriend from before, and the other is a short girl with black short hair tied with a blue ribbon. Despite her young appearance, she had a womanly figure that was comparable to Chika.

It was a stalemate. Chizuru was still trying to calm herself. The new girl didn't know anyone. Shuu was the one who created this situation, and the last Chizuru's customer... yeah, forget about him.

As tension arose among them, Shuu opened his mouth.

"I didn't know you were living together, Chizuru," Shuu provoked.

"Wha?! No, you idiot! He's my neighbor!" Chizuru exclaimed. (Wait, calm down,) she thought. (It's not like me to react like that.)

"I'm sorry, I'm misunderstood." Shuu quickly apologized and even bowed his head toward her.

Meanwhile, Chizuru was troubled. When Shuu suddenly apologized so earnestly like that, "W, well, it's fine," she replied, and just like that, their argument ended.

However, on the other side,

"What does that mean, Kazuya-san?!" The short-haired girl exclaimed

"N, no, that's..." He also tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but the way he was unable to talk firmly made the girl even more suspicious.

  The short-haired girl finally fed up with Kazuya's conduct and walked away. After all, having your own boyfriend keep sneaking glances at another girl in her presence wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Kazuya belatedly realized his mistake. "Wait! Ruka-chan!" he shouted and quickly followed her steps, but not without taking a few more glances at Chizuru.

  Maybe they were once acquaintances, or even more than that. But now they were just strangers who happened to be neighbors. Chizuru watched their drama calmly as if everything wasn't her problem, which was actually true.

Shuu was amused at her reaction. (I guess it won't take long.)

"Chizuru" he called. "Do you have a hairpin or something similar to a needle?"

Chizuru was confused by the sudden question. "I do have a hairpin," she replied unsurely as she took it out and gave it to Shuu.

"Thanks," Shuu smiled. "Wait a bit," he replied before he crouched to the level of Chizuru's door keyhole. Then, a few seconds later...

*Click

The door opened like normal.

"See" Shuu grinned at Chizuru. "This place isn't safe," he said, returning her hairpin like nothing special had happened.

On the other hand, Chizuru gasped, and her mouth opened wide, astonished by what she just saw.vMany questions instantly emerged in her head, like 'What did he do?', 'How did he do that?', or 'Who is he?' yet nothing came out.

  Chizuru knew Shuu wouldn't answer her, or even if he answered her, there's no evidence he's telling the truth. The more she knew about him, the more she was unable to understand him, yet at the same time, his promise to give her grandmother better treatment became even more convincing than ever. Chizuru's hope of curing or at least prolonging her grandmother's life also rose. That's why she won't miss this chance, no matter what. She swallowed those questions as she took a deep breath to calm down.

  "Thank you," Chizuru replied casually, as if nothing had happened just like what he did. Which quickly caught Shuu's attention. 

"You're welcome," Shuu replied with a smirk.

"Then I'll go in first. See you later." Chizuru observed Shuu's reaction all the way until she entered and closed the door from the inside.

(As expected, acting like nothing special happened was the best way to act in front of him.) Chizuru thought. Her belief was driven by what she observed. She realized Shuu's mood improved when she acted like that in front of her.

Meanwhile, Shuu, who was left alone outside,

(Chizuru started to include my feelings and emotions in the way she approached me.) Shuu let out a chuckle. (That's cute) 

"Now then" Shuu said to himself. He didn't immediately leave the place. Instead, he walked to Chizuru's neighbor/customer Kazuya's room, and Shuu went beyond that to Kazuya's other neighbor.

The door with a slight gap opened was surprised by Shuu's approach and quickly tried to close it completely. Of course, Shuu won't let that happen. He moved faster and pulled open the door along with the person who tried to close it.

"What should I do with this eavesdropper, little mice… kitten?" Shuu corrected his words once he saw the person eavesdropping on them. It was a girl with a cat ear on her head, along with some kind of cosplay that Shuu didn't recognize.

  "Ha ha ha" The girl let out a dry laugh then… "I'm sorry." She instantly bowed her head.

***

"Window shopping!!" Fujiwara Moeha, Chika's little sister, shouted. Moeha shares the same physical traits as her sister, which are pink hair, blue eyes, and being noticeably well-endowed. Her short pink hair is tied up to the top of her neck with twin pigtails. 

"We're going to get everything we need today!" She declared.

"Moeha…" Chika refuted, "If you're buying things, that's just normal shopping." Interestingly, it was Chika who acted sensible.

Kaguya also thought the same as she watched those sisters. At one point, she even questioned herself about the reason she's here with them.

"Don't mind the minor details~" Moeha brushed off her sister's words.

Chika had already expected this kind of reaction from her too, so she gave up quickly and silently.

Meanwhile…

(That's right, don't mind the little things.) Kaguya agreed and turned her attention towards today's objective.

What stood at the end of her sight was a beautiful girl with sky blue eyes and waist-length white hair that had bangs swept to the left side.

Shirogane Kei. Shuchiin Academy student council's current president, Shirogane Miyuki's little sister.

(This is my chance to make the president's little sister like me.)

Still, Kaguya can't help but turn her attention to the next person—a guy.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"What a surprise! That's what I like to know the  most."The guy, Shuu, replied exasperatedly.

"Moeha, do you call me for this?" Shuu called.

"Precisely, Shuu Nii-sama." Moeha replied gleefully. "And of course, Shuu-Nii won't abandon us frail girls, right?"

Shuu knew she tried to guilt-trip him, yet even so, there's something that stuck in his mind.

"Frail girls??" Shuu stared at Kaguya with an unbelievable face.

Kaguya didn't understand, but still, his stare irked her. "What?" She said it coldly.

"Also, we might need someone to help us carry things later," Moeha murmured. The next moment...

Shuu immediately caught Moeha's cheeks. "Do you think I didn't hear that?" Shuu played with her cheeks, annoyed.

"Soorryy" Moeha apologized, and then, when Shuu released her, "That's right, I have someone to introduce you too," she quickly added.

"You're just trying to distract me, no?"

"Of course not! Ha ha ha," Moeha hastily replied as she slowly turned her gaze away from Shuu.

"Haaa" Shuu sighed, letting Moeha drag him around.

Shuu's role today was just as an added bodyguard. He walked in the back, observing their surroundings without any intention to join their conversation. He didn't think there would be someone insane enough to attack them in broad daylight, but, well, just in case.

As he continued to walk behind them, Moeha suddenly turned and asked for his impression.

"Don't you think so, Shuu-nii?"

"Yes, she's cute and pretty," Shuu replied casually. He was also listening to Moeha talk about her friend Shirogane Kei. 

Meanwhile, Kaguya wasn't sure how to react to Moeha's story. It's not like she hated her it was just…

"She's so pure that it makes you want to slowly corrupt her, just like Shinomiya-san," Shuu continued.

"Right! just like Kaguya-san!" Moeha quickly followed up, "I knew Shuu-Nii would understand."

(These two are dangerous in so many ways!!) Kaguya shivered while listening to their conversations. Her instinct kicked in fast (I need to get away from them ASAP!)

"Well, Kaguya was no longer as pure as before," Shuu added.

"Katsuragi-san?!" Kaguya was startled. "What are you talking–"

"Details, please," Moeha instantly cut in.

"You see, it was that time when we were talking about 'first time' in the student council," Shuu started to recount the event. With Kaguya's superior brain, she instantly deduced which event he's going to tell Moeha.

"Katsuragi-san!" Kaguya glared at Shuu to stop him. However, Kaguya also knew Shuu wouldn't be stopped by something like this; she's ready to throw a punch or two if it is necessary, yet Shuu stopped.

Instead, he finally turned his attention to Kaguya. "But you did research more about that, didn't you?" Shuu said.

"Kghh," Kaguya groaned, unable to refute. She's seriously thinking of stopping him by force now, even if she knew she didn't have that ability.

"Well, maybe next time." Shuu patted Moeha's head, who kept pushing him to tell her what happened.

Moeha enjoyed it for a moment before pouting, as he understood Shuu wouldn't say a single word anymore. "Instead, when will Shuu-Nii dye me in your color like my big sister?" Moeha added, which instantly made Shuu instantly flick her forehead.

"Aau" Moeha glared at Shuu in protest as she held her forehead.

"Dye? What does it mean?" Kaguya asked. Of course, she won't miss the chance to change the topic away from her.

"Nothing," Shuu replied with a poker face.

"Ah, but of course Moeha will wait her turn after Chika-nee!" Moeha said with a smirk. And she expected what would happen next when Shuu prepared to flick her again. "Kei, Chika-Nee" she called and ran away.

Meanwhile, before Kaguya was able to say anything more about it, "Let's go, or they leave us behind," Shuu said, increasing his pace.

(Both Fujiwara and Katsuragi, I don't think I could ever understand them.) Kaguya sighed before following them.

***

Three days later, inside the student council's room.

"Ishigami-kun, Shuu!" Fujiwara looked agitated, calling those two who had just entered. "Yesterday was the president's birthday!" she said

  "That's right" Ishigami replied coolly and just walked past Chika to talk to Miyuki about his present.

On the other hand, Chika got confused for a moment before she learned that Yuu actually gave the president a present too! She realized her critical situation right now and turned her gaze with full expectation to Shuu, her last hope.

Shuu flashed a warm smile at her before he walked past her like Yuu did. "President, did you use the night lamp? Was it too bright?" He asked.

"Ah, no. Actually, it's perfect. It's friendly to my eyes."

"I see, that's good to hear." Shuu replied, then sat on the sofa comfortably as he watched Yuu roast Chika on the grill as the only one who didn't know the president's birthday.

Then, when Chika was finally unable to bear it anymore, she ran away while she apologized to everyone. Shuu chuckled and went to talk to Miyuki again.

"President" He said, "Actually, that night lamp was a present from me and Chika." He explained how he also depended on Chika's opinion.

"Eh?" Miyuki was dumbfounded. "Then why don't you say it earlier?"

"Eh??" Shuu was also dumbfounded by Miyuki's reply. "But, isn't she cute like that? I even recorded it; I'll show it to her later when she's forgotten about it." He said with a smirk on his face.

"""....""" Miyuki, Yuu, and Kaguya were speechless and took a mental note again to remind themselves how evil he could be.

Result of today's battle: Katsuragi's solo victory.