Chapter 110: Countermeasure Plan, Kei's Greedy Heart (Two-in-One 5k) (Patreon)

Saturday morning. When Hikaru Naruse woke from deep sleep, the first thing he felt wasn't sunlight, but a warm weight.

It felt as if he'd been wrapped up in a warm, sprawling net.

Looking down, sure enough, it was Kei Karuizawa — the girl had wrapped herself around him like an octopus.

She was still asleep, her eyes lightly closed, her long lashes casting a small butterfly-wing shadow in the morning light.

Her lips were slightly parted, and she looked unusually serene.

Though the persona Kei put on in public was that of a "feisty gyaru," in private she was really just an adorably sweet, well-behaved girl.

Naruse looked at her utterly defenseless sleeping face, and a gentle smile crossed his lips.

Then he thought back to what had happened the night before.

Those tender, lingering moments would surely become memories worth treasuring for the rest of his life — a pure girl had given him everything, a treasure worth remembering for a lifetime.

Naruse smiled faintly, then carefully worked his limbs free from Kei's octopus lock.

It took real care — Kei was still asleep, and he didn't want to wake her, so he kept his movements small.

It took about three minutes before he finally managed to escape the octopus's grip.

Once out of bed, he slipped on his slippers and went into the bathroom to wash up.

He and Kei had been together for over three months now, and her dorm room held not just a spare change of clothes for him, but also his toothbrush and towel.

These things had long since found their fixed spots after countless overnight stays — Kei, for her part, loved arranging it all just so.

When he finished washing up, Naruse glanced at the clock on the wall. Eight in the morning. It was Saturday, no classes today.

He glanced once more at Kei, still asleep on the bed, then slipped quietly out of the room, intending to head to the cafeteria for breakfast.

About twenty minutes later, he returned to her dorm carrying two breakfasts.

He'd just pushed the door open, before he could even step into the living room —

— a honey-colored blur shot out of the bedroom like a launched missile.

"...?"

"Hikaru-kun!"

There was a note of panic in Kei's voice, but the moment she confirmed it really was the man she loved, she flung herself straight at him.

Naruse quickly caught her to keep her from stumbling, and she wrapped both arms around his waist, breathing a little ragged.

"What's wrong?"

"Hikaru-kun... where did you go?"

"Where else would I go? I went to get breakfast," Naruse said with a gentle smile. "I promised you I wouldn't do anything else today."

"Mm."

Kei's unease had good reason behind it — last night's sweetness had been, for her, close to baring every feeling she had.

So when she'd woken up moments ago and found nothing within arm's reach, she'd panicked instantly.

Luckily, Naruse had come back fairly early, or she might have grown even more anxious.

"Okay, okay, it's all right now." Feeling the faint tremble in the body held against him, Naruse's mouth curved into a helpless, doting smile. "You must be hungry — let's eat first."

His gentle touch worked like a sedative, quickly settling Kei's anxious heart.

Given how sensitive she was right now, his consideration meant a lot.

He knew this was a hugely important milestone for her — one that meant not just a physical change, but a massive psychological "uncertainty" as well.

Both partners in a couple could feel this way after such a step, but girls were clearly more prone to anxious overthinking about it.

Kei's unease, of course, wasn't about whether Naruse might leave her — it was about whether they'd be able to stay together every single day from now on.

She knew exactly how popular her boyfriend was, so taking that final, all-or-nothing step had required real resolve.

It was precisely because Naruse understood all this that he could accept every anxious little thing she did.

Words could soothe the heart, but actions were the real medicine.

"Kei, do you want to eat breakfast first... or take a bath first?"

"Mm..."

She pressed her head against his neck and finally laughed.

"Bath first, then."

"Okay. Good thing I asked for an insulated bag — we can take our time."

He set the breakfast down on the coffee table, then took Kei into the bathroom to bathe.

This was routine for the two of them by now — he could probably find the tub with his eyes closed.

Naruse washed Kei's hair, and once he'd finished, carefully blow-dried it for her too, drying her damp honey-colored locks strand by strand until they were fluffy and soft again.

Love was never something you proved with words alone — in a relationship, every loving little gesture was something the other person could feel.

Kei savored every moment of it, her eyes half-closed, a satisfied, contented smile on her lips.

Afterward, the two of them ate breakfast together.

After breakfast, they stayed glued to each other.

Naruse sat on the living room couch and opened the laptop he'd bought a while back for ninety thousand points.

With his Private Points balance now over a million, ninety thousand points barely registered. The laptop's specs were decent enough to handle his everyday work and entertainment needs.

Kei curled up in his arms, tucked into a tight ball like an oversized orange cat.

Up top, she wore one of Naruse's white short-sleeved T-shirts; given the height difference between them, the oversized shirt hung on her like a dress, its hem dropping all the way to her thighs.

Below, she wore nothing but a pair of black panties.

She found it comfortable this way, and she also knew Naruse would love the look.

The two of them stayed curled up on the couch like that, watching a drama together, enjoying the quiet, lazy morning.

Noon arrived. Naruse's phone suddenly rang. The caller, of all people, was Honami Ichinose.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, then picked up.

"Hello?"

"Naruse-san, good afternoon. Do you have a moment?"

Honami's voice came through the receiver, noticeably more serious and earnest than usual.

"I do. Go ahead, what's going on?"

"It's about something on the agenda for next Friday's Student Council weekly meeting. President Horikita asked me to give you a heads-up early."

"President Horikita?"

At the mention of Manabu Horikita's name, something flickered in Naruse's eyes.

"What is it?"

"Senior Nagumo apparently submitted a proposal, and it made its way to President Horikita... Since you weren't at the Student Council today, he had me pass the word along."

"Is that right."

Miyabi Nagumo... finally couldn't sit still, could he?

"I've converted the document to a digital file. Is it all right if I send it to you now?"

"Go ahead."

"There, it's sent. Naruse-san, I've passed the message along, so I'll go ahead and hang up now."

"Thanks, I appreciate it, Ichinose-san."

Naruse pulled out his phone, and sure enough, the file Honami had sent was already sitting there.

Just reading the title made his brow furrow immediately.

[Proposal for a Campus Rectification Campaign This Academic Year]

"A rectification campaign?"

Naruse let out a cold laugh, then bent his head to read through the proposal in detail.

The concrete plan was simpler than he'd expected, but the way it was framed for execution was extremely thorny.

The core idea behind Nagumo's "rectification campaign" was as follows:

After nearly a semester of observation, Nagumo — in his capacity as Student Council Vice President — had noted that students weren't taking good care of the campus environment, with all sorts of rule violations cropping up.

Trash tossed near, but not into, the bins, left uncollected.

Library books left out instead of being returned to their shelves.

Cafeteria trays not cleared away after meals.

Scrap paper and drink bottles carelessly discarded in the hallways.

Taken individually, none of these were a big deal — trivial, even, the kind of thing you'd call "petty nonsense."

Aside from the [Student Conduct Regulations] exam during the first month after enrollment, the school hadn't been especially strict about this kind of thing since.

But Nagumo rolling this plan out now was, at its core, simply meant to make trouble for Naruse.

The logic was simple: even if the campaign was rolled out across all three grades, the first-years would inevitably get the most scrutiny.

On top of that, since Naruse had founded the [First-Year Management Countermeasures Department] to stand on equal footing with him, this would naturally fall squarely into his job description.

Once Nagumo's proposal passed, it would very likely dump the entire first-year rectification effort straight onto Naruse's plate.

And Naruse's original goal had been to build up his reputation among the first-years, to win more people's support.

But once the rectification campaign hit, only two roads lay ahead of him.

If he chose [High-Pressure Management] and enforced strict discipline on the first-years, they were bound to resent it.

No matter how fair the intent, he'd bleed "public support" either way.

And if he chose to [Turn a Blind Eye], that was even simpler — it would hand his opponents a ready-made excuse to attack him.

Nagumo could then rightfully raise, at the weekly meeting, the question of the [First-Year Management Countermeasures Department]'s inaction — chipping away at Naruse's authority.

And most critically of all, the bottom of the proposal actually bore the Chairman's personal seal.

That meant Nagumo's counterattack wasn't some slapdash move — since the Chairman had personally approved the new department earlier, this time his high-minded "rectification campaign" had likewise earned the Chairman's blessing.

After all, the whole premise of the idea, however you looked at it, was making the campus a better place — the Chairman had no reason to refuse it.

That was exactly why Manabu Horikita had Honami pass the word to Naruse as early as possible.

As Student Council President, he supported Naruse, but he couldn't afford to be seen playing favorites in council affairs — doing so would undermine the President's own authority just the same.

In other words, Naruse would have to solve this one himself.

By the time he'd finished reading the whole document, his expression was perfectly calm.

Nagumo's move had some teeth to it, but Naruse wasn't without options.

Or rather, Nagumo's move overlooked one crucial point.

Which was that Naruse didn't crave the Student Council President's seat all that badly — even a hit to his reputation was well within a range he could manage.

So Naruse's choice was simple: he'd carry out the plan in a way that left Nagumo unable to find a single fault with it.

As for who'd take point... maybe he could put Katsuragi out front, with the department's people backing him up.

"...Katsuragi's a very earnest guy, isn't he."

He'd let his muttering carry a little louder than intended, so the girl in his arms caught it.

"Hikaru-kun, what's wrong?"

Kei lifted her head from his chest and studied his face intently. Beyond his words, pressed together as they were, she could feel the shift in his mood too.

"It's nothing — just some Student Council work. There are three weeks left until finals, so things might get busy from here on."

"Busy, huh?"

She frowned slightly without meaning to.

After all, the busier Naruse got, the less time the two of them would have together. But she wasn't the type to make a fuss, so she kept the thought to herself.

Still, his next line made her a little jealous.

"And tomorrow... I might have to go meet Ichinose-san."

"Hm?"

At the name Honami Ichinose, the corners of Kei's mouth dropped instantly.

"Why do you need to meet Ichinose-san?"

"Didn't I just say? It's Student Council business."

"You two..."

Kei said, a little jealously, "You and Ichinose-san, alone together in the Student Council — what if she..."

"What if she what?"

Naruse arched an eyebrow, teasing.

"What if she falls for me, is that it?"

"Yes."

Kei stared at his face intently, seemingly quite convinced of the idea.

"You're overthinking this."

Naruse reached out to cup her face, and said slowly,

"Who do you think I am, Fukuzawa Yukichi, that everybody loves?"

"But I feel like your Charm... is way more than Fukuzawa Yukichi's."

"Is it?"

"Of course it is."

"Okay, okay, stop overthinking it. While I'm handling Student Council work, I'll make time to come be with you."

"That's more like it."

Over the course of dating Kei, Naruse had discovered one very clear virtue in her.

Namely, that she sometimes liked to "bury her head in the sand" — jealous as she might be inside, she was easy to soothe.

Often she'd pretend not to notice, swallowing her own feelings, but for Naruse, that was a good thing.

If Kei had kept being unreasonable about everything, the relationship might have run into real problems.

She'd probably realized this long ago, which was why whenever she got jealous, it only took two or three rounds of coaxing from Naruse before she settled right down.

A woman who clung on and could never be soothed wasn't something Naruse would ever choose.

Once she'd settled back against him, his phone buzzed again in his hand — silently this time, so it didn't catch Kei's attention.

It was a message from Airi Sakura.

"Hikaru-kun, do you have time tomorrow night?"

He set the phone off to the side, glanced at it from a distance, and typed a reply one-handed.

"If I'm free, I'll message you ahead of time."

"Okay."

Airi replied fast — after all, besides her camera, her phone took up a lot of her time too.

Kei hadn't seen the contents of that exchange, so for the moment she stayed calm.

But a little while later, she suddenly turned, stared at his face again, and said quietly,

"Hikaru-kun~"

"What is it?"

Only now did Naruse notice her face had suddenly flushed — it seemed she'd thought of something interesting again.

"I... think it doesn't hurt anymore."

After a night's rest, Naruse's gentle care, a bath, and the fast recovery of a young body, that was only natural.

At that, his eyebrow rose slightly.

"Oh? So you're asking for another lesson from me?"

He smiled faintly, his voice carrying a subtle note of "what exactly are you hinting at."

Kei's face flushed even redder.

But she didn't stop moving — she shifted right there in his arms, going from sitting to kneeling, then wrapped both arms around his neck.

"You're my boyfriend, Hikaru-kun. It's only natural I'd have some ideas, right?"

"Of course."

"Then can we... keep going?"

Continuing what they'd started the night before.

"Really keep going? I'm worried you'll surrender partway through again, Kei."

"I promise I won't give up this time. Yesterday was... was an accident."

"All right."

Naruse took a deep breath, then said firmly,

"Then let's keep going!"

He slid an arm under her and scooped her up by the waist, then rose straight to his feet.

"Hikaru-kun!"

"What is it?"

"I don't want to go to the bedroom... let's just do it here." Kei's face was flushed deep red, color even creeping up to her ears.

"Are you sure?" Naruse set her back down.

"I want to try it."

"Okay~"