WFASPSBMEM 12

Chapter 12 — The Contract Is Official

After I demolished the moe-moe-kyun omurice in record time, Yuki Ohira quickly washed the dishes in the kitchen, then returned and sat properly on her knees across from me.

“Now then, to the main topic.”

It was 2:14 PM. Nearly two hours had passed since Yuki Ohira arrived.

She had originally come here to discuss something, but cleaning my disaster of a room and cooking lunch had taken us on quite a detour. At long last, we could finally get to the point.

“Before that… during the opening ceremony, you didn’t tell Konoe-kun anything about me, did you?”

“I told you back then too—I didn’t say a thing.”

Even now, she was still suspicious.

Since I had absolutely nothing to hide, I answered immediately.

Back in the school hallway, she’d clearly doubted me. But after hearing the same answer over and over, she finally seemed to accept it, albeit reluctantly.

“Sorry. This time, I really will get to the point.”

“Yeah.”

“What exactly am I supposed to do as your personal maid?”

Her question made me tilt my head.

“If you expected me to look after you every hour of every day, I’d have to negotiate.”

“No, you’ve got school. And a part-time job. I’m not going to make ridiculous demands like that.”

“That’s what I thought. But then I started wondering where the boundaries are. How much am I expected to do?”

“The boundaries, huh…”

She really was serious.

As expected of the student council president.

“Can’t you just wing it?”

“That would imply our contract itself is something casual, which I find unsatisfactory. Besides, it could lead to you saying something like, ‘The contract was vague anyway, so I might as well casually spill your secret too.’ I’d rather establish clear terms and act according to them. That way, you’ll be more inclined to honor the agreement as well.”

Serious wasn’t quite the word.

Painfully earnest was probably more accurate.

I regretted trying to give such a loose answer to someone as rigid as the student council president.

“Well then… how about this? Whenever you’ve got free time, just do what you did today.”

“By that, you mean housework?”

“Yeah. As you can see, my domestic skills are nonexistent.”

“Yes. Completely nonexistent.”

“Exactly. So whenever student council work is light, or you’ve got a day off from your part-time job, or you just happen to be free, let me know. That’s enough. Actually, I’d prefer it that way.”

The whole personal maid arrangement had been my suggestion.

Sure, having a beautiful girl like her come to my house every day and take care of things sounded like a dream.

But that would only make me feel guilty.

It was easier knowing she’d only stop by when she had time.

Besides, we lived right next door to each other. There was practically no travel time involved.

Honestly, that was more than enough.

“I understand. So the condition is simply whenever I have free time?”

“Works for me.”

“Then the contract is established.”

She gave a small nod.

“And if you ever reveal my secret…”

“After spending all day with you, I’ve learned you’re fully capable of putting a period on my life.”

“Putting a period on my life” was a far more elegant way of saying ending it.

“I wouldn’t do something that stupid.”

“Who knows? You are an idiot, after all.”

“Thanks.”

Apparently satisfied with the agreed-upon scope of her duties, she stood.

“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Yeah.”

I got up as well and walked her to the entrance.

The door clicked open.

As Yuki Ohira stepped out, I called after her.

“Thanks for today.”

Thanking her for cleaning the room and making lunch seemed like the obvious thing to do.

“No need. It was part of the contract.”

Well, she hadn’t taken care of me because she wanted to.

Everything she’d done had been in exchange for my silence regarding her secret.

Given that, her snow-cold response was perfectly understandable.

“Even so, thanks. I’m the kind of guy who thanks convenience store clerks.”

“I see. Well then, goodbye.”

The miniskirt maid left with that brief remark and disappeared from my room.

I turned and looked inside.

The room beyond the open door was so much cleaner than it had been that morning that it barely felt like my room anymore.

When I returned to the living area, I noticed my smartphone dancing across the kotatsu table.

Just a few hours ago, the table had been buried beneath piles of trash.

Now it was spotless.

The screen flashed the name Shogo Konoe.

I picked it up and answered.

“Yo.”

“Hey, Akira! Aren’t we grabbing lunch?”

“Ah…”

I’d completely forgotten.

“Sorry, Shogo. I already ate.”

“What?! Come on! We always eat together on days like this!”

“My bad! I’ll buy you a burger next time!”

“Okay. Then you’re forgiven.”

Thank goodness he was the kind of friend who could be bought off with a meal from Max Dream Burger.

“By the way, what’d you eat?”

“Omurice.”

“Huh? Since when does Akira eat something that fancy? Wait… don’t tell me you’ve got a girlfriend?”

“As if.”

“As if? More like maybe! Don’t keep secrets from me, man. If you’ve got a girlfriend, tell me!”

“I don’t.”

There was no way I could tell him I’d acquired a personal maid instead.

“Anyway, sorry about today.”

I was about to hang up when he suddenly spoke again.

“Oh, right.”

“What?”

“Did Yoshiki send you a LOIN message?”

“Yoshiki? Oh, yeah, he did. Come to think of it, I still haven’t read it. You got one too?”

“Yep. Pretty sure it’s the same thing. He wants us to invite him to our school’s cultural festival.”

“Huh. The Koshien superstar wants to visit a regular school like ours?”

“Even if he becomes the moon and we’re just mud turtles, we’re still friends.”

“Haha. True.”

A dry laugh escaped me as I agreed.

“So, do you know when the cultural festival is?”

“Not really. I don’t know the exact dates either.”

The detailed schedule still hadn’t been announced.

“I’ll just ask Ohira.”

“Ohira? Come to think of it, you were talking to Ohira today too, weren’t you?”

Crap.

I’d spent so much time with the student council president that her name had slipped out naturally.

“Wait… the person you ate omurice with wasn’t Ohira, was it?”

Normally Shogo was an idiot.

Moments like this, though, his instincts were annoyingly sharp.

“Of course not. The student council president’s in our class. I just meant I could ask her.”

“Oooh.”

I couldn’t help feeling proud of what I considered a flawless recovery.

“Well then, see you tomorrow, Shogo.”

“Yeah, later.”

The call ended.

I sat down on my bed.

“Maybe I should stop saying Ohira’s name so casually. It might slip out someday.”

Reflecting on the conversation, I lay back on the bed and idly scrolled through my phone, passing the rest of the afternoon.