"Wait for me a moment."
Seeing the gyaru senpai looking as if she were about to die in the next second, Sora truly couldn't just stand by and do nothing. He had to turn around, leave the office, and buy a bottle of the same peach-flavored drink from that morning.
Returning to the student council with the drink, Sora also took the responsibility of unscrewing the cap before handing it to Shikiya Yumeko.
"Here."
"Th-Thank... you..."
The gyaru senpai slowly expressed her thanks, took the drink, and began taking small sips.
Before long, Shikiya Yumeko recovered some strength and could barely manage to sit up:
"I survived..."
Sora really couldn't contain his curiosity: "Can Shikiya-senpai really attend school in this condition?"
"Usually... power-saving mode..." Shikiya Yumeko slowly looked over, her words intermittent.
"Morning... didn't eat... usually fine..."
"Since you're okay now, I'll be going."
Sora stood up and took his leave.
Walking to the office door, he happened to bump into a girl with straight bangs and thick eyebrows.
"Eh, Izumi-kun, why are you at the student council?"
Basori Tiara jumped in fright and hurriedly took a half-step back.
Sora explained: "I came to get Elf's clothes."
"I am incredibly sorry. A teacher called me to help just now, so I'm late." Upon learning the reason for his visit, Basori Tiara quickly bowed in apology.
"Did Izumi-kun get Elf-sensei's clothes?"
Sora held up his backpack: "I already have them."
"That's good..."
Basori Tiara breathed a sigh of relief and bowed again:
"Sorry for causing trouble for you, Izumi-kun."
"It's no big deal, you're being way too serious." Sora complained mildly and waved his hand.
"I'll be going now."
The journey was silent.
Sora quickly returned to the swimming pool.
"Sora, what took you so long?"
Anna was pacing and waiting at the entrance of the changing room. Seeing Sora return, her eyes quickly lit up:
"I've been waiting for half the day."
Being in the same class, and with it being Elf's first day of school, Anna naturally took on the role of the 'big sister' and didn't abandon Elf to leave on her own.
Mahiru had cleaning duty today, so she had changed early and gone to the classroom.
"I ran into some things on the way..."
Sora said as he opened his backpack and handed over Elf's princess dress.
As for what exactly he encountered, there was no need to go into detail.
Unfortunately, although Anna looked a bit silly, she was surprisingly astute at certain times. She quickly noticed Sora's vagueness, narrowed her eyes, and looked at him suspiciously:
"Explaining vaguely... does Sora have a secret you're keeping from me?"
Sora was expressionless: "I do not."
"Very suspicious..."
Just as Anna was about to speak, her eyes suddenly widened:
"Eh, wait a minute!"
'Inmate Eight' quickly took two steps forward, arrived in front of Sora, reached out, and picked a single hair off Sora's shoulder. Her cheeks puffed out high:
"What exactly did Sora go do? Why is there a girl's hair on you?"
As she spoke, Anna stood on her tiptoes, sniffing Sora up and down:
"You smell like a girl all over... It's not Mahiru or Ruri, it's an unfamiliar scent I've never smelled before..."
"Did Sora run into a detestable thieving cat?"
In Anna's eyes, the girls in the world were divided into two categories: one was the childhood friend, and all the rest were thieving cats.
"Don't make wild guesses, listen to my explanation..."
Seeing that he couldn't hide it, Sora naturally had no choice but to tell the truth.
"Eh, Shikiya-senpai?" After listening intently, Anna blinked her bright eyes.
"I know her, she's that gyaru senpai from the second year, right?"
"I think she's the vice president of the student council..."
"Her stamina is super terrible. She often just leans against a wall and collapses while walking..."
"..."
Anna crossed her left arm over her chest, supported her chin with her right hand, and tilted her head to look:
"Today should be the first day Sora and Shikiya-senpai met, right?"
Sora nodded: "That's right."
"And she actually asked you to help buy a drink..." Anna narrowed her eyes.
"Aren't you guys a bit too close?"
"You'll have to ask Shikiya-senpai about that." Sora's expression was calm, showing absolutely no guilt.
"It's also possible that Shikiya-senpai is just a bit absent-minded."
"Let's not talk about it anymore, I'll give the clothes to Elf first..."
Holding the clothes with both hands, Anna turned and walked into the changing room.
The swimming pool area fell quiet again.
Standing alone in the hallway, Sora prepared to play on his phone for a bit. Suddenly, he felt an unfamiliar object in his pocket and remembered the piece of paper he had dropped earlier was still there.
Casually pulling the paper out, Sora unfolded it and realized he had picked up the wrong thing.
"Midterm exam report card... Tiara?"
The paper wasn't Elf's; the name written on it prominently was Basori Tiara.
Sora's gaze shifted downward, curiously glancing at the rank on the report card.
Out of two hundred and twenty-eight first-year students, Tiara was ranked two hundred and two. Her grades could be said to be quite near the bottom.
"I'll return it to her later."
Sora calmly folded the report card and put it back in his pocket.
It's just an ordinary report card, not a girl's private diary. I don't need to overthink it.
As he was thinking this, the changing room door opened.
Yamada Elf had already changed into her dress and walked out with Anna.
"Idiot Sora, what took you so long to get back?"
Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips, tilting her small face up to look at him.
"It's a long story..." Sora said casually. "So I won't tell it."
"Huh?"
"Sora ran into some unexpected trouble on the way..." Anna helped explain from the side, then suggested, "Shall we take Elf for a tour of the school?"
The blonde loli in front of them seemingly had 'real name phobia'. During lunch in the cafeteria, she refused to let everyone call her Erufu and demanded they continue calling her Elf.
Such a trivial matter naturally wasn't worth making a fuss over, so Sora and Anna continued to call her Elf.
"Then let's take a tour." Yamada Elf crossed her arms over her chest.
"I really haven't been here during the day."
Although she wanted to tour the school alone with Sora, having Anna along was fine too; Yamada Elf actually really liked lively situations.
"You guys have fun, I'm heading back first..."
Sora wanted to slip away.
Unfortunately, the moment he turned around, Anna and Elf grabbed his arms, one on the left and one on the right. In the end, he could only accompany them.
Strolling around, the three quickly toured the school once.
"I want to go to the school roof to take a look." Yamada Elf looked up.
"Okay~" Anna agreed with a crisp voice, unaware of the special significance of the roof. "Follow me."
Sora turned his head and glanced at the blonde loli beside him.
Yamada Elf's small face flushed slightly. She nudged Sora with her elbow and lowered her voice:
"Idiot Servant, you are not allowed to tell anyone the secret of the kiss."
Sora complained in a low voice: "Before you ask others to keep a secret, you should keep it yourself first."
Elf puffed out her cheeks: "This lady kept the secret very well, alright?"
Sora was expressionless: "You already told Mahiru before."
"T-That was an accident..."
"..."
The three quickly arrived at the rooftop.
Under the bright sunlight, a few students were sitting on the roof reading and chatting.
"Eh, it suddenly feels so ordinary..."
Yamada Elf looked around, inexplicably a bit disappointed.
The rooftop during the day was very ordinary, completely lacking the scary atmosphere of the night.
After wandering around the roof once, Yamada Elf quickly lost interest:
"Let's go."
The three left the rooftop and returned to the hallway.
"I heard that clubs are an indispensable part of school life." Yamada Elf asked curiously. "Anna, Sora, what clubs did you join?"
Sora's tone was indifferent: "I'm in the Go-Home Club."
"Eh?"
"It means not joining a club and going straight home after school. But there are very few people in the Go-Home Club, most people choose to join a club." Anna explained from the side.
"I joined the cooking club. After school, we often borrow a classroom to cook. Does Elf want to join?"
"No." Yamada Elf flatly shook her head. "Eating too much food will make me fat."
"What about the track and field club?"
"I don't want to run."
"Art club?"
"Drawing requires sitting for a long time, I can't sit still."
"Elf can play the piano, right? Do you want to join the brass band club?"
"No thanks."
"..."
"You don't want this, and you don't want that." Sora looked over speechlessly. "What club does Elf want to join?"
Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips, asking curiously:
"Is there a club where you can happily read novels and manga, with little to do and lots of free time?"
"Let me think..." Anna rested her chin on her right hand, putting on a serious thinking pose, and her eyes quickly lit up.
"I've got it, the Literature Club is perfect!"