This differed from her usual composed behavior but that only gave it more intensity Her solemn and dignified eyes grew further angled and frightened the boy
Meanwhile Mutsuki wanted to cry
Thinking he had impregnated a girl he liked he had gotten carried away and pressured her into peeing in front of him And then his first love had seen it
He felt like his own self-loathing would crush him
Ren also seemed somewhat unsure what to do She paced back and forth in front of him until she sat down to try to calm down but she only fidgeted there until she hopped back to her feet
I-I thought you had more sense than this
I’m sorry
What good is apologizing It isn’t going to fix this problem
That was all he could say Just as she said he wanted to go prostrate himself before Machina right this instant
Once Ren finished shouting angrily at him she sat down again and placed a hand on her greatly wrinkled brow
Anyway we both need to calm down
She cleared her throat She said they needed to calm down but Mutsuki was feeling downright depressed and she was the only one panicking
She continued with a nervous tone to her voice
I am aware you hold a special position due to the Serpent’s Eye But this is a more fundamental problem I have to question your humanity in this one
Lecturing him was no good when his self-loathing caused her words to go in one ear and out the other
Picking up on that Ren realized yelling at him any longer was not going to help
You leave me no choice
Adolescent Adam 6 Chapter 3 - Dark Visit
The Fujita family tended to be low energy but Mutsuki did not have trouble getting up in the morning
But just because he did not have trouble did not mean he was particularly good at it
Rinng rinng
Yet again he got out of bed at 5 AM at the insistence of his ringing cellphone
Are you up
Yefh
We meet in the Student Council Room at 0600 again Don’t be late Got that
His groggy mind managed to answer yes He suppressed his desire to dive right back into bed and got dressed He put on his gym clothes instead of his uniform
He had 3 pairs but it was a little damp because he had been wearing them every day lately and his laundry rotation could not keep up
The sun had yet to color the eastern sky so the living room’s eastern window was dark He sighed and prepared breakfast like usual
I’m back
Oh Hee hee hee You’re up early again
Welcome back Micha
After having fun on her motorcycle all night Micha returned at around half past five He had already explained the situation to her so she chuckled at the tired look on Mutsuki’s face
Was her name Ren She must really like you
This isn’t easy
Don’t blame her Mutsuki You give off this aura that makes older girls want to take care of you
This was nothing as kind as taking care of him so he could only sigh
Is Ange in her room
YesI think She left yesterday like you did I went to bed at 10 and haven’t
seen her
He had no time so he ate his breakfast while preparing the food and placed Micha and Ange’s portions on plates After brushing his teeth and finishing getting ready he grabbed the bag with his school supplies and uniform in it I’ll be going Make sure Ange doesn’t sleep in
Will do
To arrive by the promised time he left the house when the September sky had only started growing bright
He arrived at school at 5 50 He left his bag in the classroom before heading to the Student Council Room
0555 You made sure to arrive 5 minutes early Well done
She was already there
Ren also wore her gym clothes and she nodded when the boy arrived
To hone your charitable heart let’s get to work preparing for the cultural festival
She stood straight and directly faced him Mutsuki was fully awake now but still weary She however exuded motivation and eagerness from her entire body
Are you ready Fujita Mutsuki
Show me more energy than that
3 days had passed
Mutsuki was being punished for his deviant sexual behavior on campus but for Machina’s sake they could not make a big deal out of it and so President Shirohara was personally overseeing the punishment Plus Machina had not been all that angry in the first place so it was more an issue of Ren’s feelings
The personal punishment given to Mutsuki was to assist with Student Council business until the cultural festival
Basically he did odd jobs to prepare for the festival
It seemed simple but it was rough Mutsuki alone had to take over all the help for a festival held by the entire gigantic school
Ren had made a number of comments
Listen Fujita Mutsuki I once monitored you so I don’t think you are a vulgar person to the core I think you merely lost your way in the 5 months I was gone
You hold an important position as the bearer of the Serpent’s Eye I understand how finding yourself in that position during adolescence can blind you to what is right But that is why I wish to guide you to a pure and wholesome life A wholesome mind is built upon wholesome deeds Regain your pure self with volunteer work
Don’t worry I will work with you
It was unclear how she viewed this but Mutsuki had never been able to say no and this was Shirohara Ren-senpai He could not defy her
Today we will be weeding the area around here I want the lawn to look nice for the festival
He was entirely unable to complain as she had him wake up at 5 in the morning to do all sorts of odd jobs
Today it was weeding The schoolyard and edges of the sports ground had not been maintained over summer break so there were plenty of weeds growing
Even if it was still cool so soon after sunrise it was heavy labor He was sweating after only 15 minutes Sweat stained his work gloves and some rough dirt got inside them
At the very least this was not a job for a normal student to be doing at this hourHe frowned while the smell of the weeds pricked at his nose
But this was the 3rd day Mutsuki was more or less voluntarily participating in this harsh early-morning work
He was not obligated to do this so he could skip it if he wanted
Then why was he doing it Part if was his easily influenced personality Part of it was self-punishment because he felt bad for what he did to Machina even if she was not saying anything about it Part of it was Shirohara Ren’s charisma that allowed her to force through some fairly ridiculous demands Oh Look Fujita Mutsuki
Ren called him over while crouched down next to the school building
Her work gloves were even muddier than Mutsuki’s and she pointed at a pale crimson color mixed in with the green summer grass
It’s a cosmos In Japan it’s also calledan autumn cherry blossom isn’t it
Yes I see it’s still a bud
It must have wandered in here from somewhere It would be a shame to uproot it There’s a flower bed in the courtyard that isn’t in use so let’s move it there
She smiled happily and carefully dug around it
And part of it was because she would spend time with him
President Shirohara Ren had a strong sense of responsibility so she had begun monitoring because she had ordered him here in the name of providing guidance
Just as she had said she performed all of the odd jobs alongside him from weeding to cleaning the school building She was always here early in the morning
She had no obligation either but she put in the same work in the name of providing guidance He could hardly complain about that
And there was one last part of it
Time to carry it overOh the dirt is falling away Fujita Mutsuki hold it in
Oh yes yes
Ren made a bowl out of her hands and tried to carry the cosmos and the root ball below it
Mutsuki wrapped his hands around hers from below to catch any dirt that fell out
They were wearing work gloves but he still felt his cheeks grow hot from holding her hands Fortunately he was sweating so she did not notice
The last part was of course that he had feelings for her