Where I am ?

… 

Outside Tadano's classroom.

"Wow... Otori-san, your calligraphy is impeccable and so elegant. You must have practiced a lot," a girl said with admiration as she looked at Kaede's beautiful handwriting while she wrote the promotional posters for their class.

"Hehe, not at all, it's just a bit of skill... Besides, I'm not very good at drawing cute pictures. How about you help me with that?" Kaede said gracefully.

The group of girls nodded enthusiastically and started drawing cute pictures around the poster.

*Slap*

"Hey! What are you spacing out for? If you've got that much free time, help us set up the classroom," Najimi said, sneaking silently behind Tadano, who had been watching Kaede.

"Oh? Weren't you with the cooking girls?" Tadano asked, confused to see Najimi there.

"Hehe! This lady isn't cut out for domestic work, so I took a little break..." Najimi said playfully.

"Well, with that said, see ya..." Najimi added before turning to disappear into the horizon.

*Grab*

Or so it seemed, until a firm grip caught her by the shoulder.

"Since you're here, why don't you stay a little longer... I remember your mom was a good seamstress, right? If I recall, when we were kids, you used to brag that you could patch your clothes so perfectly your mom wouldn't even notice, right?" Tadano said with a gentle tone.

Najimi had a bad feeling and tried her best to escape, but couldn't shake off Tadano's firm arm.

"Hehe, since I've been taking care of your student council work for a while, it's only natural that I ask you to help with the maid costumes, right?" said the young man, smiling a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"Huh? Are you kidding? This lady left such outdated things behind a long time ago! Plus, there's nothing worse than working! I, Najimi, am a free spirit!" Najimi exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"Is that so? Tell me, what do you think about those declarations... Yamai?" Tadano said in a threatening tone.

At that moment, another hand tightened on Najimi's other shoulder.

She slowly turned and saw a smiling Yamai.

"Y-Yamai-chan... h-how are you... um, the thing is... AH!" Najimi had no time to respond before Yamai pulled her aside, along with a group of her followers.

Tadano watched the group leave with a smile.

"Ha, serves you right for being so arrogant," Tadano teased before entering the classroom and starting to help with the heavy lifting.

"For some reason, Yamai has been acting strange these past few weeks... But she's still obedient, so I don't think she's going back to her bad habits... I wonder if I'm overloading her with work?" Tadano wondered to himself as he casually carried the frame of a provisional wall they had finished assembling.

Both the boys and girls were amazed at how easily Tadano placed the frame into position.

One of the delinquents in the class stood there, stunned. He had been planning to help Tadano with the frame, but it seemed unnecessary now. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he went off to find another task that needed his help.

…

As the sun set and the moon began to rise, the group of girls returned with snacks for everyone.

The boys cried out in frustration, seeing the man surrounded by beauties.

"That lucky bastard..."

"Damn it, not only does he have Komi-sama, but also his own personal harem of beauties..."

"I'm so jealous... So envious..."

The smell of jealousy was particularly strong on the boys' side.

On the girls' side, thanks to Tadano's title effect, and the fact that he was letting a small part of his stats slip, the girls had gained a new understanding and appreciation for him.

However, upon seeing the unrivaled beauty that was Shouko standing next to the handsome guy, they decided to give up.

What girl didn't know how dazzling Komi-sama was?

As Tadano ate with the rest of his friends, he noticed someone was missing.

"Huh? Yamai left?" he asked curiously.

"Eh? Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her in a while," Kaede replied.

"I remember seeing her working on the costumes with Najimi, she should know more..." Nene added.

"Najimi's over there..." Shouko pointed out, gesturing to the carefree Najimi playing with her phone.

…

"Uhmm? Yamai... I think she left halfway through. Maybe she felt sick? Now that I think about it, isn't she your secretary? That's not good, Tadano-kun, you shouldn't turn into a boss who overworks his employees so young..." Najimi scolded.

Tadano scratched his head, thinking that maybe he had gone too far with his orders.

He had become so used to delegating a large portion of the workload to Yamai, but it seemed this wasn't working out well.

Whether good or bad, Yamai was his right hand in all this, so if she fell, it would be really bad—not to mention that Ai-chan would be very sad.

With this in mind, Tadano helped out a bit more before leaving to check on Yamai.

Nene looked at Inaka beside her with her onigiri, and at Shouko, also holding her own. She placed a hand on both girls' shoulders.

Shouko felt sad for not being able to give Tadano the onigiri she had worked so hard on.

Inaka, on the other hand, was even more somber. She wondered if perhaps being from the countryside meant she wasn't worthy of Tadano's attention.

Nene sighed as she looked at the downcast girls, and an idea came to her.

"Alright, if that big bad guy didn't take your onigiris, then this big sister will!" With that said, Nene took both onigiris and stuffed them into her mouth before running away.

Shouko and Inaka were stunned for a moment, but when they saw that their onigiris were gone, they quickly chased after Nene with vengeful eyes.

"You better give me a good reward for fixing this, Hito-kun!" Nene thought to herself as she saw two angry cats chasing after her.

Kaede, nearby, waved a pair of colorful sticks as she cheered Nene on to keep running.

…

Author's Note: "Well, here's another chapter... dealing with a bit of writer's block and some mental fatigue, but here we are. That said, remember to drink lots of water, and I love you all very much. Sincerely, your favorite depressed author."

--------------------- nwnr