Chapter 21

(A/N Notes: Today, this Saturday, I managed to crunch in two chapters for other stories for release)

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It was early morning, and as always Yuriko and Takeru had already passed through the school main gate and were now putting on their indoor shoes, after doing so, Yuriko went after Takeru to talk with him

"Takeru since from today onwards you'll be joining the student council as the new secretary, the first thing you should do is come to the stucco room every day in the morning, got it?"

"*Nods* Yes"

"Good, so follow me"

Leading the way, Yuriko took him to the stucco room, where Takeru already knew where it was, and invited him to enter

"Now, let me ask you this, do you know how to handle paperwork?"

"… Shouldn't you have asked me that yesterday?"

"Yes, but I forgot to ask it since I was having fun with you"

"I-I see…"

Yuriko had a bright smile when she said that, while Takeru blushed a little

"So, do you know how to handle paperwork?"

"No"

"Thought so, well don't worry too much about it, since you're new all you'll have to do is make some coffee or tea for the others, and occasionally pick a few documents from other places, and take care of some of the correspondence sent to us"

"… That sounds more like an errand boy"

"Well, you're not wrong. It's only like that because the new vice president refused to let go from her previous duties as the secretary, so all you'll be doing is mainly help her by freeing her from some of the less critical workloads"

"I see"

"Good, now Takeru…"

Yuriko sat down on her chair and then extended her hands toward Takeru

"…"

"Takeru, I want you to hug me until I say it's enough, this will be one of your duties as the new secretary"

"… … … Okay…"

With an embarrassed face, Takeru accepted that "new duty" imposed by Yuriko. So he went and hugged Yuriko while burying his face on her bosom, which still felt soft even as she wore her uniform

"Yes, just like that"

Yuriko said that as she caressed Takeru's hair, and the two stayed like that for quite a while, when Yuriko had her fair share of pampering Takeru, she let go of him

"Well, for now, you can just sit over there and wait, Takeru. Or if you prefer, you can brew some tea as well"

"… Then do you want me to brew you some tea?"

"I would love to"

"Okay"

In an attempt to get rid of his embarrassment, Takeru decided to brew some tea, since he would usually get really into making his tea perfectly, because of his time in the tea ceremony club in his past school. Some minutes passed as the two did their own things, with Takeru breaking the silence as he brought the freshly brewed tea to Yuriko

"Here's the tea"

"Thank you"

Yuriko said that as she looked at Takeru who had a proud expression on his face, seeing that made her chuckle a little at finding it to be quite cute of him. She stopped dealing with the documents she was handling to take a sip of the tea

"! Your tea is really good, Takeru. Just like your coffee"

"Kuku!"

And Takeru began making an even more prideful face after hearing that. After that, Yuriko went back to handling the documents, as she sipped the tea from time to time, while Takeru, who didn't have anything to do, tried to help Yuriko…

"Do you want to help me Takeru?"

"Yeah…"

"… Then, for now, try to read this document"

"? Okay"

Yuriko handed Takeru one of her documents, and he began to read, and immediately as he began reading his face began to frown as it became clear that he was having trouble with it, and then after a few seconds, he looked back at Yuriko and said…

"I dun' get it"

"Thought so, you don't have to do anything like this for now. So you can just sit there on the sofa or… *tapping her lap*"

"…"

Yuriko gestured for Takeru to sit on her lap, Takeru stayed silent for a few seconds until he realized what she was gesturing for, then after a few minutes of thinking and hesitating… Takeru gave in and sat on Yuriko's lap

"Fufu" *patting Takeru's head*

Yuriko first patted Takeru's head and then went to tightly hug him as she rubbed one of her cheeks on his hair, and as she got more relaxed from pampering Takeru, Yuriko ended up saying what was on her mind

"I really like you, Takeru"

"!… … … I-I also like you… Yuriko…"

Yuriko was used to hearing words similar to those quite often, but this time, she could feel her face turning hotter and hotter, she also wanted to ask Takeru what kind of like he was talking, but her voice was refusing to leave her mouth

"Yuriko-sama, I'm here"

" "!?" "

Then because of the surprise by the sound of the door opening and a female voice coming inside, Yuriko stopped hugging Takeru while he quickly jumped out of her lap

"Hm? Did I interrupt something?"

"No… No, you didn't, Takane-san"

"Is that so?"

"Yes…"

Both Yuriko and Takeru had red and somewhat disappointed faces, Takane was kinda suspicious but she didn't pry on that matter as she had something else to ask Yuriko

"I see. Now, who is he?"

Takane pointed at Takeru

"He's Tanaka Takeru, and from today onwards he'll be the new secretary of the student council"

"Huh? Didn't I say that I could take care of both matters as the new vice-president and former secretary"

"Yes, you did. But I still wanted to take some of the burdens from you, so Takeru will be mainly taking care of making drinks and snacks for us, and getting some documents for us whenever we need them. Meaning that you won't need to stop working to go pick more documents"

"That… Does make sense, but don't you need to ask our advisor about bringing new members?"

"Don't worry, he already told me that I could just bring whoever I wanted to join the stucco without asking him"

"… Did he also say that you could just do whatever other thing that you wanted without consulting him?"

"Yes"

"How did the principal even allow that slacker to be our advisor?"

"Now, now. Don't worry about the small details, ah! Takeru, is there more coffee for you to offer to Takane-san?"

"Yes, I'll go get some for her"

"Please do"

Takeru went and picked another mug and put some coffee in it and then handed it to Takane

"Here"

"Thanks"

Takane looked at the black coffee inside the mug, and then she looked at Yuriko, who was urging her to take a sip

<Good grief, Yuriko-sama tends to be a little pushy in these things> *Takes a sip of the coffee* "Ngh!?"

After taking a sip of the coffee, Takane made a surprised face as she looked at the remaining coffee in the mug, and then she looked back at Yuriko

"So how is it, Takane-san?"

"It's… Really good"

Takane had the face of someone who couldn't believe that the coffee was that good, while Yuriko had a bright smiling face, with Takeru looking a little proud of having his coffee praised

"So, do you have any objections to Takeru joining the stucco, Takane-san?"

"… … …"

"Ah! That's right, I forgot to tell you. But during the last home economics lessons, I was allowed to bake a cake, do you want some, Yuriko?"

Takeru then took put a plastic pot from his bag and extended it to Yuriko, inside the pot there were some slices of simple chocolate cake

"…"

Yuriko had picked the pot and was alternately looking back at it and at Takeru with a surprised smiling face

"W-what? I-I just felt having something sweet back there"

"I see, but why did you bake a whole cake?"

"B-because I-I a-also t-thought of h-having it w-with y-y-y… If you don't want just give it back!"

Takeru was unable, to tell the truth, and instead acted like a tsundere as usual

"I'll have some"

"C-can I have some too?"

Takane was almost drooling at seeing sweets in front of her after having spent a long time on a diet, and seeing her like that Takeru could only nod with some worry. Then Yuriko and Takane picked one of the slices and ate a part of it

" "Ngh!?" "

Then they both began looking down at the same time, as they both felt their pride as girls getting a hit. Since neither of them could be said to be good enough to bake a delicious cake like the one there had just taken a bite of

"Takeru is it?…"

"Yes?"

"Please join the student council… Please join us, I beg you!"

And due to a combination of having sweets for the first time in a long while and the taste of the cake, Takane begged Takeru to stay in the student council as she hugged his legs while crying, making Takeru sweat from worrying about her mental state

"…"

Yuriko on the other hand was looking at the two with a smile on her face, but her eyes were showing quite a bit of jealousy from Takane interacting way too close to Takeru. Then she got up from her chair and approached the two

"I think that's enough, Takane-san. I already told you, but he's going to join us, so don't worry"

Yuriko said that as she gently pushed Takane away from Takeru, as she also went to hug Takeru from behind

"Ah! That's right! Sorry, sorry"

"It's alright, but make sure to not infringe on Takeru's personal space, okay?"

"… Hm, Yuriko-sama, aren't you doing the exact opposite of what you just said?"

"No, because I'm the only girl allowed near him"

"Huh? ! Oh! Oooooh!… I see I see, so good luck for you two"

When Takane used the few seconds of surprise to think, she was able to connect the dots of Yuriko being possessive of Takeru, and him acting like a tsundere towards Yuriko. Takane was able to notice that the two liked each other, but that Yuriko was unaware of her own feelings yet, but she decided to not say anything about that

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(A/N Notes: Yuriko is as dense as she's tall, and she's very tall)