Chapter 17: Early Showdown

The following morning, Kiba was the one who returned to the club room of the Kendo Club. He gave the form to the president of the club, or captain as it is often called in sports club.

"Do you want me to come back later for it? I can wait for it right now, if you're not busy."

Kiba stood in front of the club captain.

"Ah, yeah. I'll finish it right now. Kindly wait for a while."

The captain was seated behind a table. He started to fill out the form.

"By the way, I think I saw members of your club yesterday leaving from the club room. The girl who was there, who is she?"

Kiba raised his eyebrows at the president's question.

"Oh, you're interested in her? She's—"

"Tsurugi-senpai! Morning practice is almost over."

A male student entered the clubroom.

"I-I see. I'll be right there. I'm just finishing the form needed by the Student Council."

After the captain completed the form, he handed it back to Kiba.

"Here you go. Sorry for making you wait."

"It's okay. But it would have been nice if there were girls here in their gi and hakama."

Kiba laughed while walking towards the door.

"Wait, you haven't answered my question—"

"Senpai, everyone's waiting in the practice hall."

Kiba didn't hear anything and proceeded to go outside the club room.

"O-okay, I'll be right there."

---

Kiba went back to the school building. He and Angelie talked beforehand to meet at the clubroom before classes start. He opened the door of the Help club's room once he arrived.

"Here, I got it."

He waved the piece of paper then handed it over to Angelie, who was sitting at her usual chair.

"Thank you, Kiba-kun. I'm sorry you had to do this so early in the morning."

"Hey, no worries. Although there weren't any cute girls in kendo gi so I'm a bit disappointed."

Kiba whined a bit.

"Is that so? Too bad I guess…"

Angelie forced a laugh.

"Speaking of cute girls, their captain was asking about you."

"C-cute? Do you mean m-me?"

"Yep. Why are you being flustered?"

Kiba laughed out loud.

"Please don't laugh, Kiba-kun! I'm not used to being called that… Even before in my past life."

Angelie averted Kiba's gaze.

"What? What were the humans there thinking? No one even tried going after you?"

"Well, there was someone…"

Her tone suddenly changed. She remembered something but quickly changed the subject. She then looked straight back at Kiba.

"As far as I know, the only one who went after me was that cursed Demon Lord. And I wasn't happy about it."

She slightly smiled at her own joke.

"You've got a point there. But right now, you're a cute high school girl who has a secret admirer, so be more confident of yourself, okay?"

Kiba put his hand on Angelie's shoulder and he smiled at her.

"Who has a secret admirer? Definitely not this wretched Saint, right?"

Akuma suddenly entered the club room.

"Oh, you jealous there?"

Kiba grinned at Akuma.

"W-what? Hell, no! I'm just surprised someone has such bad taste. Or very bad eyesight."

Angelie abruptly stood up and pushed the forms towards Akuma's chest. He caught the papers and she then walked towards the door.

"Give that to the student council. At least do your job."

She then left the room and closed the door.

"What was that about? Where's the outburst?"

"Must be that surprised she had a secret admirer."

Kiba put both his hands behind his head and headed out the room. Akuma followed him.

---

Akuma proceeded to the student council room and opened the door. Inside the room were Teki and a female student. They were seated opposite each other across the table. The one near the door was the female student. Akuma went straight to her.

"Good morning. I have the forms for the clubs that was requested by the Student Council."

He handed the forms to the girl. She took it from him and bowed.

"Thank you for your help."

She then faced Teki and handed the forms.

"Senpai, here are the forms. I will collect them later after you have reviewed them."

"Thank you, Hisyo-san."

Teki then took the forms and looked at each paper. After a while, he looked at Akuma.

"So, Mr. President of the Help Club. Might I ask where your form is?"

Akuma twitched and his body stiffened. Sweat drops started to form on his forehead.

"Well, I, um— had a few questions so I didn't fill up the form yet."

He let out a weak laugh. Teki let out an unnoticeable sigh.

"Then, please fill up one now. Classes are about to start and it would be bad if we were late because of something like this, right?"

His sharp stare at Akuma could not be mistaken. Akuma sat down on the empty chair between Teki and Hisyo, which is the principal seat of the table. Hisyo handed him a blank form. He then started to fill it up with haste.

"By the way, what was your question about the form?"

Teki has his arms crossed as he watched Akuma write on the form. Akuma froze up and stopped writing. He didn't look up at Teki.

"You know, uh, I just wanted to, um, ask if there is a limit to the number of equipment or materials we can request…?"

It just so happened that Akuma was at that part of the form when Teki talked to him.

"I see. I guess that is a valid question. To put it simply, based on the items you will write down, the budget will be determined for the club. If you write unrealistic quantities, your budget will be denied and you will be given an estimated budget without basis. So, I suggest you answer with honesty and proper foresight."

"Wow, Teki-senpai. You still gave him a serious answer even if you knew he just made up that question on the spot."

Hisyo's eyes were sparkling while she clasped her hands and stared at Teki.

"Hey, I didn't make that up. I really thought about it when I saw the question!"

Akuma raised his head and looked at Hisyo.

"But it still means you didn't have a question before seeing the form. It means you just forgot you had to fill up a form for your OWN club. Isn't that right, Senpai?"

After glaring at Akuma with a fierce look, she directed a longing gaze to Teki.

"Let's not shame Mr. President of the Help Club any further. I think he already got what it means to have responsibility."

Akuma's eyebrows furrowed yet he tried to force a smile at Teki.

"Yes, I do now. And please, call me Jizen. I don't want you to tire yourself by saying my long title every time I receive such valuable lessons from someone so venerable such as you."

"Of course, we as the student council want to set an example for everyone. You are most welcome, Mr. President of the Help Club Jizen-san."

Teki was looking down at Akuma, with his lips wearing the faintest of smiles.

The pen Akuma was holding was on the verge of snapping. After he calmed himself down, Akuma finished filling up the form.

"Here you are, Mr. Vice President of the Student Council Byoudou-san."

Akuma handed the form to Teki. Teki quickly checked the information written down.

"This is sufficient. Have a good day, Mr. President of the Help Club who forgot to fill up his form Jizen-san."

Teki offered his hand for a hand shake. Akuma grabbed it and firmly gripped Teki's hand.

"You as well, Mr. Vice President of the Student Council who will be late if he keeps on saying long winded words Byoudou-san."

They both stared at each other for a while. When Hisyo loudly cleared her throat, both of them let go. Hisyo stared at Akuma until he left the room.

(Damn him! He was holding Teki-senpai's hand for so long! I haven't held his hand even for a second!)

"I guess my hunch about that club is right."

Teki bowed down and subtly smirked.