Chapter 421: The Next Day

Even after the Hoshin Festival ended, students still had to attend school the next day.

Though finals were over and there weren't many classes, it wasn't vacation yet. Students still had to show up.

Especially the student council. Even without lessons, their work continued.

It was a rainy day, and most of the student council had arrived at the office.

"You're all here already?"

Rinji walked into the student council room and saw that, aside from Iino, everyone was present.

"Hm? Someone's missing."

Looking closer, Rinji noticed only Ishigami, Shirogane, and Fujiwara were in the room—along with a mysteriously cute creature cradled in Fujiwara's arms.

"Shinomiya and Iino didn't come?"

"Iino's out on patrol," Shirogane said. "As for Shinomiya..."

"Kaguya's right here~"

Fujiwara lifted the cute creature in her arms and held it up to Rinji.

A chibi-style, two-head-tall version of Kaguya—judging from her clothes and hair, it was definitely her. The soft aura she emitted just reinforced the chibi illusion.

"...What kind of bizarre situation is this?"

"Well... she showed up this morning already like this," Shirogane explained.

He'd been planning to ask her about last night, but when she arrived, this chibi version was what he got.

You couldn't really blame her.

After reflecting on her reckless actions and feeling deep embarrassment, she had no idea how to face Shirogane. The overwhelming mental pressure caused her to revert to this state.

In other words, this chibi Kaguya was a rare version triggered by an IQ crash.

Rinji frowned at the drastically different-looking Kaguya in front of him.

"Shinomiya, have you lost your mind? Showing up like this?"

Chibi Kaguya turned her head toward Rinji, wriggled out of Fujiwara's arms, and walked over to tug his sleeve.

In a tiny, sweet voice, she said, "Good morning, Rinji-kun~"

Rinji: "..."

He looked up at everyone. "She's kind of cute. Let's keep her like this."

"Even you're saying that..."

Shirogane covered his face in despair.

Although he also thought the currently adorable chibi Kaguya was pretty cute, he was more eager to ask about what had happened yesterday.

Right now, chibi Kaguya's brain capacity was probably about the size of an orange. Forget asking about yesterday—holding a normal conversation was already impossible.

Just like how an adult can't communicate with a baby, Shirogane had no way to talk to the now suddenly mentally challenged Kaguya.

"Speaking of which, Rinji, you looked completely dejected yesterday… are you okay now?"

"Thanks for the concern. I'm fine now." Rinji rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "Even though it's still incredibly embarrassing when I think about it, it's something I must face. Facing my true feelings is what matters most. I shouldn't run away anymore."

"Looks like you really are okay…"

"Right, President, I came here today because there's something I wanted to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

"For the next few days, until the break starts," Rinji said, "I might not be showing up at school every day."

"Huh? Something going on?"

"Yeah, I found someone I've been searching for this whole time... I'll need to take care of some things involving them, so I might not be at school regularly. I'll also need to take a leave of absence from student council duties."

"Alright. Your matters are more important—better to prioritize your own business."

Shirogane agreed to Rinji's leave.

Besides, there wasn't much left for the student council to do before the break. The rest could be handled by the others.

But on second thought, only two people in the student council could really do any work—Ishigami and Shirogane himself.

Iino had her disciplinary committee duties, and Fujiwara was already doing well just by not causing chaos. As for Kaguya… she was pretty much a lost cause now. As long as she ate and drank properly, expecting her to work was pointless.

"And there's something else. Next semester, I might only be in class for about a month."

"Huh? Why?"

"I'm heading back home for the New Year at the end of January, probably won't be back until March," Rinji said. "It's kind of a tradition in my hometown. I hope you can understand, President."

"Well…"

Ishigami chimed in, "Rinji, you really do take a leave of absence every semester, huh."

"Actually, I was originally planning to tell this to Shinomiya. It's just that…"

Rinji glanced down at the adorable chibi Kaguya, who had been distracted by a butterfly that flew into the office, and sighed.

"There's no point in telling her now."

"Uh… what were you planning to say to Shinomiya?"

"It's not a big deal. I can wait until her IQ returns to normal."

Rinji had planned to tell her he wanted to take Karura and Hayasaka home with him next semester, and that Kaguya would be without someone to care for her during that month.

But thinking about it more carefully, things between Kaguya and Shirogane were pretty much set already. There wasn't much he or Hayasaka needed to worry about anymore.

"Anyway, that's how it is. I have something to do, so I'll head out for now. If there's any task that absolutely needs me, just send me a message, President. I'll come to school if I can."

"Oh… okay."

Rinji didn't linger. After saying his piece, he left the student council office.

"...Was it just my imagination?"

Fujiwara curiously watched the direction Rinji had left.

"I feel like Rinji-kun has changed somehow… but I can't put my finger on it."

"It's probably his eyes." Ishigami turned and looked at Shirogane. "President, do you know what happened?"

"No… about that…"

Of course Shirogane knew what happened. Rinji had told him everything yesterday.

'What do you mean "Girlfriend +1"!? Do you think this is Steam and you're buying games!?'

There was no way he could say that in front of the student council.

———————————————————————————

Unlike the light drizzle in Minato Ward, Shibuya was getting poured on.

Putting his dripping umbrella aside, Rinji stood in front of the door to a cheap rental apartment labeled "Amano."

Though he really wanted to go find Hayasaka today, Rinji believed this was the matter that needed to be handled first.

Taking a deep breath, Rinji lightly knocked on the door.

[Note: Decided to Continue this cause this shit's too addicting. Other than some questionable gay context crossdressing shit and unnecessary glazing (well I kinda understand because I think the author is female). The fic is overall all addicting and the more I read and translate it, the more I wanna keep going till I finish it.

But beware as im not translating this under the context of obligation but more like if I feel like reading and translating it. So the updates are maybe slow or fast, depends if I got bored translating my other projects (Which I'm fully invested in). So yeah, don't expect me to post 30-50 chapter every 2-4 days like before.]