First Job

Although news concerning the club continued to be a popular topic even when school was over, my true(?) identity was somehow still safe.

Considering that my name was literally out in the open I wasn't sure if I should be too happy about this fact, but it was true that I preferred it this way. 

Once school was over, I thought I could finally take a break but then I realised that I was wrong. Our clubroom wasn't posted on the website, but as long as someone followed one of the other members it would be easy to find it.

'Tch, I have the get there before anyone else so that no one notices me.'

One gIance was enough for me to notice the crowds in front of Arisugawa's and Kirisaki's classes. I was close enough to sneak into the clubroom, but I was worried about what the others would do. I hadn't seen them since the website went up, but I was sure that they were also feeling the effects of the reveal. I wasn't the only one suffering here, right?

Part of me wanted to check up on them, but that sounded too risky so I decided against it. Either way, I would receive an answer in the clubroom.

"Good evening," I quietly said when I opened the door to the clubroom. But while I closed the door, I noticed the three pretty girls that were already here in their usual spaces.

'They're already here? How? How did they make it past the crowd?'

"Good evening, Akishiro."

"Good evening!"

As I nodded my head at the greeting returned by Arisugawa and then Kirisaki, my mind was still plagued by questions of how they managed to get here before I did, and it must have shown on my face as Kirisaki pointed it out.

"Akishiro, are you okay? You look like you're confused about something."

Noticing Arisugawa also lifting her eyes from her laptop to glance at me for a moment, I tried to explain myself.

"Uh well, I was just wondering if you faced any trouble getting here. You know, since everyone's curious about us and all."

Once they heard my explanation, Kirisaki nodded while Arisugawa went back to her laptop and answered me.

"It was a little noisier than usual, but as soon as I politely asked them to move aside they eagerly did so."

At first it sounded too good to be true, but then I remembered that I was speaking with a veteran at crushing the spirits of men, who always had a scary queen behind her. Especially if they were her fans, no one would dare disobey her orders.

Moving on from Arisugawa, I turned to Kirisaki.

"What about you, Kirisaki?"

"Oh, it was the same for me. Everyone was eager to talk about the club and who was in it, but once I told them that I needed to leave they immediately let me go. They're all such nice people."

In Kirisaki's case, I was sure that one pout would be all she needed to get her way so I didn't doubt her answer. She might be the same age as us, but for some reason she could easily stir our protective instincts with her innocent aura.

Zakushi wasn't here yet, but I was sure that he wouldn't have a problem getting here either. 

'So I really was the only one suffering, not that I didn't expect it.'

The worry that someone was watching the entrance to the clubroom was still there, but for now I decided not to think about it. I didn't know if a day would be enough, but with this I would have time to prepare myself for becoming infamous as the one normal dude on a team of good-looking teens. 

With my worries put aside for the moment, I focused on work.

"So, have we decided on our first project yet?" I asked.

Arisugawa responded, "No. Since it's our very first task I want to pick the most suitable one, but even though there are measures to prevent spamming we've amassed quite the amount of requests, and the number is still growing."

"I see, let me help then."

"Me too," added Kirisaki.

"Thank you. I sent a new link in the group chat, with it you'll gain administrator access to the website."

I was worried that she would reject my help again, but this time was different. Happy that I could be useful to her, I quickly took out my phone and started scanning through the requests. 

'Wow, I should have expected as much from this school.'

Within my first few minutes of going through the requests, I didn't see any spam but I couldn't deny that there was a large percentage of requests that could only be called jokes or ones that were basically confessions. A few examples were:

{I wish that the Queen could please sit on my face.}

{Please add a soda dispenser in front of every classroom.}

{How can I get a harem?}

{Could Ms. Amakawa please dress up in a maid outfit?}

Considering that both Arisugawa and Amakawa were in this club, this amount was hard to believe, but the anonymity likely gave the students a big boost to their courage. Fortunately, the requests were mostly PG, but it was still a headache.

"Looks like we need to pick out the serious requests first before we can get to choosing one."

By nodding their heads, Arisugawa and Kirisaki also agreed with my comment. There were times when Kirisaki in particular looked embarrassed just reading the requests, but since it was cute and kind of funny I didn't say anything. While we continued checking out the requests, Zakushi entered the clubroom and joined us. I was surprised that he would help out instead of reading, but I figured that he just wanted to finish things as quickly as possible. 

On a side note, Amakawa still seemed to be idle but no one said anything about it. As far as I was concerned, she was a ghost member possessing Arisugawa and I couldn't find the urge nor courage to confront her regal presence. 

Eventually, Arisugawa found a request that satisfied her requirements.

{I'm a first year but I haven't made any friends since the start of school. Would you be willing to help me?}

"What do you think?"

It seemed like a normal request that I could see us taking, but for a reason I couldn't put my finger on, I couldn't agree on it being our first job. 

However, Kirisaki agreed with Arisugawa, "I like it. It would be nice if we could help this person find friends." 

I was wondering if I should say something, but without a clear reason I didn't want to risk upsetting Arisugawa. That was when my knight made his move.

"No, this can't be our first job," said Zakushi.

Both Arisugawa and Kirisaki looked at him in confusion. Rather than Arisugawa, Kirisaki cocked her head and asked with an innocent expression, "Why not?"

Despite it not being directed at me, I felt my heart skip a beat and so I hastily turned towards Zakushi who still kept a cool face. 

"The conditions for success are unclear. What we determine to be friends may not be the same to her, and vice versa."

"Is that all?" Arisugawa asked in a challenging tone.

"No, that's just one minor point. Our first job will become the foundation for our club, therefore we can't take a request which can easily go poorly after we complete it. Even if we somehow helped this person make friends, if something goes wrong with those friendships there would be nothing stopping our client from blaming us."

I wanted to nod in agreement at Zakushi's splendid logic, but I stopped myself as I checked the expressions of the girls. Kirisaki seemed to reluctantly accept his argument with an adorable pout which I subconsciously smiled at, but the moment I glanced at Arisugawa that smile was erased.

Her eyes were still narrowed as she kept a pensive expression. One thing I had noticed about her was that although she could accept differing opinions, it took a while before she was able to let go of her own plans. In other words, she was stubborn, but I was glad to know this new side to her.

Seeing that Arisugawa still wasn't convinced, Zakushi sighed and continued to explain why it was a bad idea to accept this request as our first job.

"Arisugawa, are you even sure this person is being sincere?"

For a moment, Arisugawa's eyes widened in sudden realization.

"...What do you mean?" she slowly asked.

"We're all, well, most of us are fairly popular."

That was kind of unnecessary but, proceed.

Zakushi continued, "So I imagine that just saying that they got help from us would boost the average student's status in class and make it easier for them to make friends. But it's more than likely that those will be fake friends who'll only be there when it's convenient. It's not impossible for them to find true friends by using our names, but it's very unlikely."

After listening to Zakushi's explanation, Arisugawa closed her eyes and I waited anxiously for her response. Soon after, she opened her eyes again and spoke her decision.

"You're right. Thanks for the advice, Zakushi."

"Mhmm."

As we went back to searching through requests, there was a weird feeling stuck in my chest. After thinking about it for a couple seconds, I chuckled at the reason.

'So I wanted to be a part of that? I sure have gotten greedy.'