He left the office.
Sakurai Saki walked to the bottom of the teaching building and found that everyone's eyes held a hint of admiration? No—it was the look of someone watching a fool. Someone who, regardless of the consequences, had suddenly gotten a rush of blood to the head and confessed. That was probably what they thought.
It's over now. Sakurai General Affairs's perfect image has collapsed, turning into a love-struck boy who gets swept away by women.
This was too stupid. To be expelled for a confession—even Sakurai Saki felt he was being stupid. However, he didn't care about their gazes. Do you care about the opinions of ants? The kind you can step on and kill a whole bunch of them at once? No, right?
A bit annoying.
He ignored the chattering beside him, took out his phone, and dialed Hayasaka Ai's number.
After a brief ring, the call was answered.
"Where are you?! I'm coming right now! Let's go apologize to the principal and teachers together!" On the other end of the phone, Hayasaka Ai's voice was urgent and anxious.
Sakurai Saki preferred her like this—rather than the gyaru persona she had put on earlier. Hearing such words of concern for him, he naturally felt happy.
"I'm at the bottom of the teaching building." He paused. "What's wrong? Were you scared just now?"
"You're still talking?! Do you know what you're doing?! You'll be punished for this! If your mother finds out you've been expelled from Shuchiin Academy—which you worked so hard to get into—how disappointed will she be? Do you know?!" Hayasaka Ai had already recovered from her shock.
If she had known he would do something so foolish, she would definitely not have hidden her identity anymore.
"...I know." Sakurai Saki's figure appeared not far away. He said calmly, "But there's something more important. Regarding the confession just now—give me your answer."
"Okay." Hayasaka Ai said, putting down her phone.
Then she rushed straight to Sakurai Saki.
The next second, Ai-chan angrily grabbed his collar. "Are you an idiot?! Still confessing?! Is this kind of thing important?"
She grabbed his collar, her exquisite and beautiful face no longer calm.
"You're the idiot." Sakurai Saki didn't feel he was wrong at all. He even chose to talk back.
"Don't you think you did anything wrong?" Hayasaka Ai immediately clenched her fists upon hearing this.
Whoosh!
This punch was very forceful, with no intention of holding back. She felt that her boyfriend's thinking was problematic. She had to hit hard. Beat him awake. Scold him awake.
"What? If you don't agree to the confession, you're going to hit me too?" Sakurai Saki caught her fist and said with a smile.
Beside them, the onlookers who had gathered for the show were dumbfounded. That punch just now had clearly not been holding back. If he hadn't resisted, he would probably have been knocked to the ground with one punch…
"So Ai-chan dislikes Sakurai General Affairs that much?" a gyaru murmured.
She usually hung out with Hayasaka Ai a lot. She would have to be more careful when joking around in the future—for no other reason than fear of being punched into the hospital by her.
"I think she's just shy." A girl rested her chin on her hand. "Hayasaka loves romantic scenes like this. She must have been blushing to the top of her head just now."
"How can you be so sure? It doesn't seem like it at all, does it? Who gets shy and then hits people?" The gyaru subconsciously retorted.
Then she turned her head—
"Shinomiya-san?!"
Kaguya Shinomiya tilted her head. "What's wrong? This student?"
Gulp. The orange-haired gyaru swallowed. "So Shinomiya-san also likes this kind of thing?"
"Of course."
This was her maid's big gossip.
Kaguya Shinomiya watched as Sakurai Saki and Hayasaka Ai got more and more heated in their fight—mainly Ai-chan attacking and Sakurai Saki dodging. Sakurai General Affairs's skills were that good? One should know that her maid had received physical training since childhood. Ordinary boys, no matter how many came, would be easily taken down by her.
"Alright, Hayasaka-san, stop fighting." Kaguya Shinomiya stopped her.
Then she spoke to the onlookers: "Everyone, the Sports Festival closing ceremony is about to begin. Please gather quickly. I will handle things here."
She had great prestige at Shuchiin Academy. Everyone dispersed upon hearing her words.
After everyone left, Kaguya Shinomiya looked at the two and said, "Let's talk in the Student Council Room."
There were some things Kaguya felt she needed to say herself. Therefore, she hadn't even called the other Student Council members over just now.
The three walked down the corridor. Sakurai Saki wanted to hold Hayasaka Ai's hand, but unfortunately, she dodged him. Sure enough, she was still angry about what had happened earlier.
"So, my carefully planned confession was rejected like this?"
Ai-chan glanced at him, sulking. "We're already dating. You're doing something completely unnecessary." Her voice softened. "Do I like you or not? Do you still need to ask me? You idiot."
Sakurai Saki scratched his head upon hearing this.
Damn. He really became an idiot.
They arrived at the Student Council Room.
Kaguya Shinomiya handed the coffee beans to Hayasaka Ai—this was a portion she had originally prepared for Sakurai.
"Hayasaka, go make coffee." Kaguya-san commanded as usual.
"Yes." Hayasaka Ai replied.
Their behavior was no different from self-exposure.
"Ai-chan, is your job related to Kaguya-san?" Sakurai recalled the day of the ball game tournament—Hayasaka Ai's title had included 'Faceless Man,' which seemed related to intelligence gathering. It would be strange for a young lady like Kaguya Shinomiya not to have bodyguards at school, wouldn't it?
Hayasaka Ai was silent for a few seconds, then replied, "I am a maid of the Shinomiya family, responsible for taking care of Kaguya-san's daily life."
She had expected Sakurai Saki to react strongly, but instead, his expression was unusually calm.
"Just that?" Sakurai Saki retorted.
Not an assassin? Not a spy? Do maids of zaibatsu families have to be this capable now? Ai-chan is only missing time-stopping ability—otherwise she could cosplay Izayoi Sakuya.
"Your words are a bit hurtful, Sakurai General Affairs." Kaguya-san helped explain for her maid. "Hayasaka was afraid of getting you involved in the Shinomiya family's disputes, which is why she was unwilling to tell you. Otherwise, why wouldn't she tell you after you asked her so many times?"
Hayasaka Ai ground the coffee beans, her expression focused as she said, "I usually have to collect intelligence nearby, protect Kaguya-san's safety, and return to the Shinomiya family's mansion in the Port District after school. So I can't go on dates with you."
"Maids don't work nine to five?" Sakurai Saki said, then felt he had asked a useless question. Would capitalists let servants work nine to five? Impossible to imagine, right?
"Sigh~" Hayasaka Ai sighed. "I play games with you every day, but only before going to bed."
Sakurai Saki fell silent. He sat on the sofa. He was internally considering whether to get his girlfriend out of the Shinomiya family.
"Kaguya-san always wants to chat with me every day, and she always makes unrealistic demands." Ai-chan seized the opportunity to complain wildly.
Sakurai came back to his senses and said, "Kaguya-san, what are you doing to someone else's girlfriend every day?"
Ai-chan continued, "She also always talks to me about you."
"Kaguya-san, you don't have feelings for me, do you? That would be quite…"
—
Listening to their husband-and-wife routine, Kaguya Shinomiya felt her fists clench.
These two—they were even less comfortable after revealing their true selves than when they were pretending.