Inside the sports storage room.
A few windows sat high on the ceiling, scorching sunlight streaming through the glass.
"Let's start inventorying the items," Kaguya Shinomiya said, holding the list Shirogane Miyuki had given her.
As Student Council Vice President, she was actually quite similar to Chika—more like a mascot. After all, the nominal job of the Vice President was to "assist the President." If it were a different Student Council President, Kaguya Shinomiya might have been able to put in more effort. But unfortunately, Shirogane Miyuki was an overachiever—he even took over a lot of Sakurai Saki's work. If he hadn't been genuinely unable to manage everything and needed to give Ishigami Yu a reason to work at the Student Council, Shirogane would probably have taken Ishigami's work too.
What a terrifying man. Did he want to train everyone in the Student Council to be useless without him?
—
"Basketballs," Kaguya announced.
Sakurai Saki was responsible for checking. He picked up a basketball at his feet and squeezed it a few times. Soft.
"It's flat."
"It should be 'out of air.' That's the correct way to say it, isn't it?" Kaguya Shinomiya put a checkmark at the end of the form—indicating it was present but broken. An '×' meant absent, and a circle '○' meant intact and usable.
"Why are we checking balls?" Sakurai asked. "Our Sports Festival doesn't use them."
The last ball game tournament had used many balls, but they were all managed by various clubs and had nothing to do with the sports storage room—which was why there were so many unorganized broken items here.
"To compare with the survey conducted last year." Kaguya glanced at a soccer ball beside her. It was also flat… ahem, out of air. She almost let him lead her astray.
"You mean the previous Student Council also inventoried the sports storage room at this time, but they just didn't report it to apply for new ones?"
"Exactly."
Sakurai Saki stroked his chin. "Are they crazy?"
"Some of the seniors from the previous Student Council haven't graduated yet." Kaguya Shinomiya warned him to be careful with his words—though she also felt those people were a bit off.
"Leave this to Shirogane," Sakurai said. "He's better at it. Very reliable."
Shirogane Miyuki's approach to matters was very gentle—dozens of times gentler than Sakurai Saki. The fact that he could win over the VIPs of the Club Alliance was proof enough.
Kaguya nodded. "Indeed. He is a good President. And as a man, he is very responsible."
The two reached a consensus on this point.
"Why can't such a good person like Shirogane find a girlfriend…" Sakurai Saki walked to the corner and looked at the high-jump mat. He pressed it a few times—the rebound felt normal. "High-jump mat, normal."
Kaguya marked a circle. "It's probably his eyesight. Didn't the President say he's nearsighted? Although it's not severe and he can see the blackboard clearly, he squints at things further away. Now it's become a habit. Plus his dark circles make him look fierce."
"No." Sakurai shook his head. "I think it's because of too much family pressure. He doesn't dare to find a girlfriend." He made a bold statement. "Girlfriends are money-eating monsters."
"Why should he spend money on dating?" Kaguya tilted her head. "Aren't all the girls here from rich families?"
Sakurai Saki fell silent.
"Let me ask you first," he said carefully. "Do you view Shirogane as a normal male?"
"Are you talking about… a man's dignity?" Kaguya's expression was calm, as if genuinely considering it. "As a girlfriend, you definitely have to uphold a man's dignity in public. If it were me, I would privately give my boyfriend a lot of money so he wouldn't hold back in public."
"And privately?" Sakurai pressed casually.
He was quite curious about what attitude the daughter of the Shinomiya family would adopt toward her boyfriend behind closed doors.
"Of course—he'd listen to everything I say," Kaguya Shinomiya said as a matter of course.
"Kaguya-san, do you have a dog at home?"
"No. Why?"
Sakurai Saki didn't speak. He just showed a mysterious smile.
This wasn't looking for a boyfriend. It was looking for a dog.
—
"The tug-of-war rope should still be usable this year." Kaguya squatted down and tugged at it.
There was a lot of dust on it. When Kaguya stood up again, her uniform had a white patch. She reached out and brushed it off.
"This year's Sports Festival should be similar to last year's, right?" Sakurai Saki had only signed up for tug-of-war this year and didn't participate in anything else. If he wanted to be on the news headlines tomorrow, he could sign up. Otherwise… he might as well not.
"It's divided into two teams—by class." Miss Kaguya lowered her head to continue checking items.
"What did you sign up for, Kaguya-san?"
Sakurai Saki was slacking off nearby. He felt great watching Kaguya Shinomiya diligently working.
"Relay race…" Kaguya looked back at him, annoyed. "If your legs aren't broken, you should be able to come over and help, right?"
"They weren't broken just now, but now that you mention it, my legs are starting to hurt." Sakurai Saki walked to the door.
He tried to open it.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he pushed, the door didn't budge.
"Kaguya-san, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
Kaguya, head down as she recorded, said indifferently, "Bad news."
"The door is jammed." He glanced back at her. "Probably because of that stick near the entrance earlier."
"…" Kaguya Shinomiya thought he was lying. How could anything be that coincidental?
"And the good news?"
There was no trace of panic on Kaguya's beautiful face—even though she didn't have her phone with her. Her old phone had been too outdated, so when she got a new one yesterday, transferring data had taken time, and it was left at the phone store. Hayasaka Ai would pick up the new smartphone after school today. Kaguya was very much looking forward to it.
"The good news is—you get to be in a confined, sealed room with a handsome man like me for the duration of the wait."
"You should be the one happy to be trapped in the same space as a beautiful girl like me."
Both of them were very narcissistic.
How cute.
Sakurai Saki didn't answer. He just stared at Kaguya.
Kaguya Shinomiya finally showed some panic.
"Really?"
"Wait—Kaguya-san, did you think I was lying?"
"Have you lied fewer times before?"
"I admit I sometimes lie, but the number is kept within a reasonable range." Sakurai Saki stroked his chin. "Lying no more than three times a day—I think that's still normal. After all, can humans live in this world without lying?"
Not everyone was Yukinoshita Yukino, after all. Oh right, that character was from My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. You often saw promotional collaborations for the second sister on the streets—either cakes or merchandise. As for the novel, it had been recommended to Sakurai Saki by Ishigami Yu.
"I felt a connection with Hikigaya Hachiman," Ishigami Yu had said. "Gentle girls are really terrifying!"
Sakurai Saki felt he was completely joking.
Sorry, Ishigami-san. If you try hard, you might make a beautiful girl fall for you—but becoming a heartthrob is definitely impossible.