Chisato, following Seika to the office, listened to her report on all the company's internal matters and quickly found himself with a pounding headache.
Halfway through, he raised a hand in a time-out gesture.
"…You can actually make these decisions yourself, Seika-neesan. If anything feels difficult or unclear, you can talk it over with Miss Kudou. If that doesn't work out, then you can come to me."
Chisato's thinking was simple—after all, Kudou Miyoko was a highly competent assistant dispatched by his mother-in-law. Might as well make full use of her.
The same went for Seika.
Though they had originally discussed her managing the band when she joined the company, Chisato had ended up giving her the title of Assistant to the President when she officially came onboard, along with a monthly salary higher than what they'd first agreed upon.
She'd had a few complaints about that, but after grumbling a bit, she didn't push it further and ultimately handled the job well.
Chisato figured they had a pretty good understanding between them by now.
After working together for this long, she should more or less know where the boundaries of her duties were.
But just now, with the way she rattled off such a long list of topics in one go, Chisato began to feel uncertain again.
Things like the process for producing the band's new MV, year-end salary adjustments, selecting a location for the holiday party, even the individual shift schedules of certain staff—she laid all of it out on the coffee table in front of him.
She reported every tiny matter in the company, top to bottom. But honestly, even if she did report it, it wasn't particularly useful.
Most of those things would proceed how they were going to anyway.
Take the shift schedules she mentioned. If someone's taking a day off, then let them. There's no need to specifically report it to him. Isn't that the HR department's job?
It just felt odd—like Seika had deliberately called him over just to say all this… without any real reason.
Was it that she thought he, the president, had too much time on his hands and felt resentful about it?
"I see. Got it."
Seika didn't react much—no emotions hidden under the surface—just casually gathered the documents from the table.
Seeing this, Chisato stood up and walked around the back of the sofa, placing his hand on her shoulder.
Seika flinched. The sudden physical contact made her jolt as if shocked. The documents nearly slipped from her hand and scattered on the floor.
She stiffened, quickly stood up, hugged the documents tightly to her chest, and turned to face Chisato.
Her eyes flashed with uncertainty and alarm as she looked at him, clearly on guard, arms awkwardly frozen in midair.
"Uh…"
Chisato awkwardly lowered his hand and scratched his head.
He hadn't expected that kind of overreaction from Seika.
But really, there was no reason for it.
He only wanted to massage her shoulders to help her relax.
She'd been running around nonstop lately—handling Kesshoku Band's rehearsals, dealing with endless company affairs. He thought she deserved some relief.
Back when he was just a part-timer at STARRY Hall, she had often asked him to give her shoulder massages.
It was a little strange…
Was she just too exhausted?
Seika saw the awkward look on Chisato's face and realized she had overreacted. But it was too late to take it back—her reaction had already made everything obvious.
Luckily, Chisato seemed to think she was simply worn out, that the stress and constant tension had made her overly sensitive. So he kindly said,
"You've been really busy lately—promoting the new song, interviews, all kinds of shows—it's all piled up. No wonder you're feeling tired.
My finals will be over in a few days.
When that's done, I'll take over for a while. Seika-nee, you can go home and take a proper rest, sort out your personal stuff, go shopping or whatever."
Seika was just worrying about how to explain her earlier reaction, so she let out a pretend sigh and replied,
"Thanks, that really helps a lot."
"But I still need you to hold the fort for the next few days."
"You don't need to tell me that."
"Alright then. If there's nothing else, I'll go check on the girls."
"Mhm."
Once Chisato left the office, Seika let out a long sigh and sat back down on the sofa.
After a moment of silence, she rubbed her head with one hand in frustration.
What was that just now…?
She looked at the stack of documents she had hastily prepared to show Chisato.
Grasping at straws in conversation… and ended up getting rattled by that guy…
He's just some brat the same age as Nijika!
But… even though he's a brat, he's way taller than me, and his hands are ridiculously big. As much as I hate to admit it, he really is the president…
A president who hasn't even graduated high school…
Haaah…
The more she thought about it, the more restless she felt. In the end, Seika dialed her friend's number.
If she didn't go out for a drink tonight, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep.
…
Back in the recording studio, Chisato noticed that the members of Kesshoku Band were looking at him with subtly strange expressions—not as natural as usual.
He touched his face.
"Do I have something on my face?"
All four shook their heads.
"You still look super handsome, President,"
Ryo added with a thumbs-up.
Chisato crossed his arms and smugly replied,
"What a superficial thing to say. My looks are the least of my admirable traits. Anyway, break time's over.
Let's get back to practice. Once we get through this end-of-year rush, things will get a lot easier. Just like I promised before—you'll get a proper long vacation."
He clapped his hands, encouraging them.
Hearing this, the members of Kesshoku Band stood up with renewed energy and filed past him into the recording booth.
As Hitori passed by last, she received a light pat on the butt from him.
She quickly covered her butt with both hands, her cheeks flushed pink—unclear whether it was from embarrassment or joy—and scampered off with tiny steps.
Before they knew it, it was already past 7 p.m.
Since she had plans with a friend and Chisato was still in the office, Seika made sure the driver knew to get the Kesshoku Band girls home safely, then left early.
Not long after, once the group practice had gone on for a while, Chisato announced the end of the session for the day.
They were finishing up much earlier than usual. Everyone sighed in relief and began packing up their instruments.
Ikuyo finished first. After stretching and saying hi to Chisato, she went to borrow the shower in the president's office.
The recording studio's heating was on full blast, and as the vocalist, she naturally worked up a sweat.
Anyone who'd seen a singer at the end of a solo concert knows how physically demanding it is.
After every practice, the group would stick around to do some school work together. Being drenched in sweat during that time was simply uncomfortable.
So borrowing the president's shower for a quick rinse had become her daily routine.
Sometimes, if someone had gym class that day, they'd use it too.
Anyway, the shower in the president's office was just sitting there. Might as well make good use of it.
And of course, what really let her do it so guilt-free… was that she trusted Chisato wouldn't mind.
Ikuyo arrived at the president's office and pushed open the door to the partitioned room.
Aside from a large potted plant by the window, there was nothing else in there—just an empty space.
At the back was a sliding door. Behind it was the shower and toilet.
When Chisato had first rented this office, the partitioned room still had a foldable bed and a nightstand.
The nightstand contained unspeakable R-18 items, and under the bed were torn black stockings and several pairs of women's high heels.
One look and you could guess the previous occupant's lifestyle—wild and debauched.
Realizing that, Chisato threw away everything he could.
Who knew what weird substances might've been on them?
_______
50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
_______
If any of you noticed an error, please point it out in comments!