ch401-ch420 · 402-ch402

Chapter 402: It's All to Cheer Me Up

"Look, I get what you want to say, so just put the chocolate down and make yourself scarce."

So the "last job" was the graduation ceremony address, apparently.

The principal telling her to ask the FORMER president must have rubbed her the wrong way.

Meaning, under normal circumstances, it should have been hers......

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

Don't tell me this girl......

"Chocolate? You mean Valentine's chocolate? Why would I have to give YOU something like that?"

You don't have any chocolate!?

Then what have I been listening to this whole time for......

"I see....... Well then, I'll be going."

Now that I know she doesn't have any, there's no reason to stay.

Seriously—how much trouble does she think she's put me through over the years?

She comes all this way to complain, without even an apology?

The least she could do is give me one piece of chocolate.

Come to think of it......

Huh?

Aside from being stuck with the weird nickname "President," has she actually done me any real harm......

No—being mistaken for one of Ota's crowd has to count against me.

I might have gotten way more chocolate otherwise.

Curse you!

......Uh, what was her name again?

"Ah! W-wait—if I give you chocolate, will you hand over the address?"

You DO have some!

Were you planning it from the start, maybe?

What a tsundere!

"Well, I don't really get this 'handing over' business, but I could probably talk to the principal, maybe?"

"Fine. Wait right there."

Hmmm?

So she doesn't have it on her?

She's going to go buy one now?

Whatever—one's one; I'll count this as my fourth and call it a day.

(The chicken counts as one too, right?)

I braced myself for a long wait, but the true President popped into the classroom right nearby and came straight back.

And in her hand, a small paper bag......

"Here! This is what you wanted, right? Now eat it."

"Ah—yes. Thank you for the food."

Is that kind of rule popular now?

Well, if the Goddess did it, so will I.

It's only natural for the President of the Goddess Adoration Society.

"Ugh, and that was supposed to be Ito-kun's chocolate...... It's fine. At the graduation ceremony. I'll tell him how I feel at the graduation ceremony......"

Ito-kun?

I heard her mutter something......

She can't mean Ito-kun, our class representative, right?

No, actually, that's totally possible.

After all, he's such a devoted Goddess admirer that he was in line even before Shirai-san made it to the front of the classroom.

He was even brought to tears when he got his chocolate.

As fellow presidents of the Goddess Adoration Society, they should get along splendidly.

I'll cheer them on from the shadows.

Even though I took his chocolate......

"Sweet and delicious."

You did tell me to eat it in front of you, so I should give my review, right?

The black gal's bitter chocolate was nice too, but Valentine's chocolate really should be sweet.

......I truly did a terrible thing.

She could have told me that BEFORE I put it in my mouth.

"This guy, seriously...... Don't you forget about the address thing."

"Ah, wait—President!...... What's your name?"

She turned away to storm off, clearly angry now, but I stop the true President.

It's important.

If I explain it to the principal as "the President," it might not get through.

Even the principal thinks of ME as the President—so if he slips and says "please have the Goddess Adoration Society's President give the graduating address," I might actually end up on stage that day.

"To think I'd be called President by the likes of you...... It's Otori Sonoko."

So "that girl" was Sonoko......

I head straight for the principal's office and tell him to please give the address to Otori, so that should be fine.

There can't be another family with a rare surname like "Otori" (great bird), after all.

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"Welcome home, Haruki-san. You must be tired—I'll take your bag."

Oh?

This is a new one.

"Uh—sure, please?"

Though it felt rude to refuse, so I hand the bag over quietly.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm, I'm feeling a little peckish. Mmm-mmm-mmm! My, what do we have here—something that looks like chocolate! Munch munch...... Not bad, but not great."

"Ah......"

When did she even take it out—she's eaten one of the chocolates from my bag.

A speed technique that shredded the wrapper with a crunch in an instant.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm? Could it be I wasn't supposed to eat that? This wrapper—it appears to be a gift. From whom, might I ask, was this gift received?"

"From a teacher,......"

Some kind of pressure is......

The one I just lost was from my homeroom teacher, given on the way out.

"Good heavens! A member of the clergy, handing chocolate to a student—how shameful! Unforgivable. All this anger has made me peckish again. Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm—there doesn't seem to be any more, does there. Haruki-san, do you have any other snacks on you? Cookies, gummies, anything will do. If you have some, hand them over at once!"

Kasumi-san dug through my bag like she was about to turn it inside out, but sadly the chocolate was already gone.

There was no nameless chocolate or note in my shoe locker either, nothing like that.

Four pieces at school—finish.

But I wasn't expecting anything from school anyway.

The main event is the Chiba branch—the real show starts now.

From Hayashi-san, Shiraishi-san, and Kasumi-san I'm guaranteed to get some, so that's three solid ones.

"Oh, Haruki-san—perfect timing. This is the very last one."

Oh, speak of the devil—Hayashi-san, at the ticket gate in front of the 'Dungeon Gate.'

Behind her, a mountain of cardboard boxes.

Huh? Did she hand out ALL of these?

"Good work today, Hayashi-san."

"Thank you for all you do. I look forward to your ever-greater success from here on too!"

Woohoo!

Piece number five, acquired!

Have I EVER gotten this much chocolate in my life? No, never! (irony)

"Thank you very mu—"

"I'm feeling peckish again, it seems. Munch munch. Hm, cheaper ingredients make for cheaper taste, I see."

Faster than I could raise my received chocolate skyward with a fanfare, Kasumi-san snatched it away.

And with yet another speed technique, into her mouth it went......

It's a huge heart-shaped chocolate, but there's no way Hayashi-san made the entire mountain of boxes herself.

It must be outsourced—and with the costs cut, the taste was cut with it, apparently.

But even at this size, that has to be an enormous quantity.

Did she really hand out all of these?

No wait—where did that budget even come from......

"Moooon, Kasumi-san! You'll get fat, you know? But I made sure to hand mine to Haruki-san properly. I expect something in return!...... To be specific, how about a Floor 30 magic stone? You're graduating high school soon, after all—what do you say?"

So the system is: get a magic stone as a return gift, cash it in, and she makes her money back?

Or maybe cashing it in boosts the branch's sales, something like that?

She thinks of everything.

"We'll think about it."

For some reason, it's Kasumi-san who answers, and I get towed along into the dungeon.

"Whoa, there's a huge crowd!"

And it's ALL men!

They're loitering here instead of going deeper into the dungeon, hoping to maybe get chocolate from the receptionists, aren't they.

They think exactly like high school boys!

"Ah, Kasugano-san, ssu! Here, this is...... eh? What are you doing, ssu? Ahhh—ssu!"

"Here you go. It's just obligation chocolate, but how abou—huh? Kasumi-san? What are you? Eh? Eh?"

After that, it looked like I'd get chocolate from the newbie and Akane-san too—but every time, Kasumi-san ate it before it reached my mouth.

She must have been really hungry.

But it still counts as "almost got some," right?

Seven pieces!

"Sorryyy, the grandpas swarmed us today and we even had a raffle—not a single one left, dear. And I'd made extra, too. So sorry about that!"

Incredible—no chocolate from Shiraishi-san of all people......

Shiraishi-san's clinic was apparently packed to bursting too.

The grandpas think exactly like high school boys!

She was planning to give me one, so does that count...... no, it doesn't, does it.

Still seven.

"Haruki-san has MY chocolate, so there's no room for any other woman's chocolate in him, you see."

Of course—I get Kasumi-san's, so that makes eight.

For all her clowning around, Kasumi-san must have sensed I was feeling down after I woke up yesterday, and that's why she's acting like this.

It's all to cheer me up.

"Kasumi-san. Thank you......"

"Mmm? It's too early for thanks, you know. Come, come, inside with you. Right up to the second floor!"

Sounds like my mutter reached her after all.

We ARE inside the dungeon, after all.