Lately, Kaoru felt his life was fulfilling.
He didn't miss Tachibana Akane's birthday, and he made a habit of taking Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami out together.
Sometimes, he would go out alone and return to 283 Production.
Since his return, the very soul of the agency seemed to have returned with him. The idols who had been clamoring to retire or quit found their pillar of support.
They followed behind him without a word; wherever he went, they followed.
They had probably stalked him, as they already knew about Tachibana Akane's existence.
He decided to just bring Tachibana Akane over, making her the first girlfriend to meet all the idols of 283 Production.
As expected, Tachibana Akane was shocked, looking back and forth between them and Kaoru.
You perverted harem maniac!
Tachibana Akane seemed to lose her mind.
She couldn't understand why someone would have so much energy. Even an entire agency wasn't enough to satisfy Kaoru; he was actually eyeing these schoolgirls too.
Tachibana Akane was angry.
She felt Kaoru would die at the hands of women sooner or later, but then she heard that not a single one in the entire agency was his girlfriend in name.
So they were all just a bunch of former losers who couldn't even keep their man.
Despite this, Tachibana Akane gritted her teeth and accepted Kaoru's past.
At the same time, she felt dissatisfied with his actions, believing his sudden departure in the past was irresponsible.
Kaoru had to listen to her scolding for a long time. Upon returning, his head was filled with her voice, leaving him in a daze.
"President!"
Nanase Tsubasa had to call out again, "I said I've made my decision. Did you hear me?"
Kaoru finally snapped out of it.
He was in the Student Council office.
Ichinose Honami had just stepped out, leaving only him and Nanase Tsubasa.
Today, Nanase Tsubasa wore her neat student uniform as usual. Her modest chest plumped up her shirt, lacking much of that green, immature feel; her full and alluring figure could rival a mature woman's.
A small section of snow-white thigh peeked out from under her skirt, and the curve of her calves outlined by black over-the-knee socks caught the eye.
She radiated the vibrant energy of youth.
Her serious gaze gave Kaoru the fleeting illusion of facing a large dog, its tail wagging in anxiety, ready to break off its leash at any moment.
"I heard you, but have you thought this through?"
Kaoru said, "I have no confidence in my self-control. With a cute junior like you wandering around me, I might subject you to the casting couch."
His gaze lingered on Nanase Tsubasa.
He seemed unscrupulous, disregarding her feelings. In the past, such a lewd gaze would have put her on high alert.
However, Kaoru's candidness, coupled with him mentioning the casting couch every day, made the girl feel accustomed to it.
"If I quit the Student Council and try to deal with Ayanokoji-senpai, will the President stop me?"
Nanase Tsubasa stood before him. Regardless of his gaze, she maintained a serious demeanor.
He couldn't scare her with talk of the casting couch. She didn't believe Kaoru would do anything to her; this was a school, after all.
"No. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to have Ayanokoji expelled."
Kaoru shifted his gaze from her thighs. "The school was doing fine, but then a few White Room students sneaked in, acting like the whole school is their stage."
Nanase Tsubasa felt her intuition was correct. She keenly sensed that Kaoru's relationship with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was fragile, though she couldn't yet understand why Kaoru was helping him.
"Do you want to quit?"
Kaoru asked again.
"No, I want to stay."
Nanase Tsubasa's attitude was resolute. "Since the President is cooperating with Ayanokoji-senpai, and my identity is exposed, it will be difficult for me to take action against Ayanokoji-senpai in the future."
She had a decent reason, but it sounded like a proactive surrender.
Believing she couldn't handle Ayanokoji Kiyotaka surprised Kaoru. He didn't know if she was self-aware or overly cautious.
"If the President can let me meet Ayanokoji-sensei, I am willing to follow you."
Nanase Tsubasa clenched her fists. Her mood was far from calm. "So, I've made my decision. I want to stay here."
"Even if I subject you to the casting couch?"
Kaoru smiled. The topic had circled back.
Nanase Tsubasa fell silent. She didn't know if her decision was correct, even though she had reassured herself that this was a school and Kaoru wouldn't want to do anything to her.
If Kaoru made an unreasonable demand, she could refuse him. Nanase Tsubasa felt she could hold her bottom line at the critical moment.
"If it's not unreasonable..."
Nanase Tsubasa appeared hesitant, stammering her words. "I can... I can agree to it..."
"What defines unreasonable?"
Kaoru asked in an offhand manner.
Many images flashed through Nanase Tsubasa's mind. She opened her mouth, holding it in for a long time before speaking in broken sentences: "Unreasonable... unreasonable means we can't do..."
The more she spoke, the harder it became to articulate. Kaoru found it amusing. It was his first time seeing this reaction from her, a stark contrast to her usual serious demeanor.
"I can't hear what you're saying."
Kaoru paused on purpose. "If I want to look, does that count as unreasonable?"
"Look at what?"
Nanase Tsubasa felt confused.
Kaoru thought for a moment, then said, "For example, I want to see white thigh-highs. Could Nanase-san wear white thigh-highs for me to see?"
Nanase Tsubasa breathed a sigh of relief. He just wanted to see that; it was simpler than she had imagined.
"Yes, that's not unreasonable."
"What about a gym uniform and a sukumizu? I wouldn't make you wear them outside, just for me to see. Is that okay?"
"I, I suppose so."
Despite sensing something amiss, Kaoru's demands did not exceed Nanase Tsubasa's psychological tolerance. She hesitated for a moment, then agreed.
It was a pity the girl did not know this was called custom cosplay. Today it was a gym uniform and a sukumizu; tomorrow it might be a bunny girl or a catgirl.
"Good."
Kaoru nodded in satisfaction. "Besides looking, what else can Nanase-san accept?"
Nanase Tsubasa became alert. Just as she was about to warn Kaoru, she heard an unexpected sentence.
"Can you roleplay a persona I want?"
"Huh?"
Nanase Tsubasa was stunned for a moment, then she became angry. "President! Eiichiro is not a persona I'm roleplaying!"
Matsuo Eiichiro was her childhood friend. She wanted revenge, which was why she... Wait, why did this sound like chuunibyou the more she explained it?
Nanase Tsubasa glared at Kaoru in embarrassment and anger. If his gaze weren't so strange, she wouldn't be acting like this!
"Okay, okay, he isn't your persona."
Kaoru pacified her. "I just want to know how good your roleplaying skills are."
Anger aside, Nanase Tsubasa was a calm girl. She couldn't understand why Kaoru cared about her roleplaying.
Did he take a fancy to her acting skills?
She didn't know what Kaoru wanted to do to her, but Nanase Tsubasa found her confidence. As long as Kaoru needed her for something, it was fine.
"What does the President want me to roleplay?"
Nanase Tsubasa puffed up her chest. She wanted Kaoru to realize she wasn't just eye candy.
Soon, her expression froze.
"Can you roleplay a little loli calling me a 'zako' loser with every breath?"
Facing Kaoru's expectant gaze, Nanase Tsubasa couldn't hold back anymore.
"President! Please take this seriously!"
"I am taking this seriously right now. It would be perfect if Nanase-san could step on my head in white thigh-highs while calling me a 'zako'."
"Unbelievable. Are you a pervert?"
"That look works too. A face full of disgust. Could you lift your skirt now?"
"Go die, you pervert!"
Nanase Tsubasa had never been this angry. Her full chest heaved. Her face flushed red. Her sanity nearly crumbled. She thought she finally had a chance to prove her worth, but this guy was just a pervert!
"You can't even do this?"
Kaoru frowned, carrying a hint of blame, as if to say this didn't even count as the casting couch.
Nanase Tsubasa felt her sanity breaking and gritted her teeth. "I am not your plaything. Please tell me, what can I actually do right now?"
"I don't need you to do anything. I can give you whatever you want."
Kaoru shook his head. He could leave the school at any time now; the White Room and such were no longer threats to him.
Nanase Tsubasa suppressed her irritation. She knew she had overreacted.
"What about Nagumo-senpai? He is close to certain first-year students and might pose a threat to you soon."
"I know."
"There are White Room students in the first year. Acting Director Tsukishiro is also an enemy."
"I know."
Nanase Tsubasa felt an indescribable sense of defeat, like punching cotton.
No matter how she racked her brain, Kaoru responded with a nonchalant phrase, as if he didn't care about the threats she mentioned.
"I've said it already. As long as you agree, I can help you achieve what you want."
Looking at the girl's defeated expression, Kaoru smiled. "Don't fret. You want revenge, that's fine, but don't rush it."
To him, Nanase Tsubasa rushed to prove herself every time. Her nerves were taut. It seemed like the moment she relaxed, she would be at a loss.
"I know you want to prove you are qualified for revenge, because you don't want to trade your body with me."
Kaoru paid it no mind. "It's fine to relax occasionally, even if you think it's easy for me to say."
It was strange coming from him.
After all, he had just been thinking about the casting couch, wanting Nanase Tsubasa to step on his head in white thigh-highs.
It made one suspect he had schizophrenia.
However, after spending time together, Nanase Tsubasa found she could understand him.
This guy talked about the casting couch every day, yet he had done nothing to her.
Knowing he was a pervert, it was hard to treat him like one. Nanase Tsubasa suspected she had been duped.
Was it because her expectations of him were so low that seeing his normal remarks made her feel pleasantly surprised?
Nanase Tsubasa didn't know how to describe her feelings at this moment, looking at him with complex eyes.
"Thank you."
Kaoru felt surprised. "Thank you" instead of "pervert" left him at a loss.
"I think I should be the one saying thank you. With Nanase-san here, the Student Council has gained another beautiful girl."
Kaoru laughed. "Are you not going to do what I asked earlier?"
Nanase Tsubasa's face darkened. "President, do you want to get scolded?"
"You can't just let me look, can you?"
Kaoru said in dismay, "Having a beautiful girl by my side, only able to look but not touch, I'm at a disadvantage."
Nanase Tsubasa shot him a sideways glance. Why was he chickening out now? Didn't he want to invoke the casting couch?
"If you want to be scolded, I can scold you every day."
Nanase Tsubasa didn't mind doing that.
"The reward is too small."
Kaoru said subtly, "Can I touch?"
Nanase Tsubasa hugged her chest by reflex. This action proved the girl's stance.
"I meant holding hands and touching your feet."
Kaoru added, afraid she would refuse.
Nanase Tsubasa blinked. She understood holding hands, but what did touching her feet mean?
"And if I refuse?"
"If you refuse even this, I will have to give up on you."
Kaoru spread his hands. "You have something I want. I want to collect some interest."
Making her wear white thigh-highs, gym uniforms, and a sukumizu, or roleplaying a bratty loli, was not Kaoru's fetish. Kaoru just wanted to fulfill her wish.
Nanase Tsubasa fell into a dilemma.
Compared to other things, Kaoru's demands were not unreasonable.
Considering Kaoru had frankly expressed his desire for a casting couch dynamic, holding hands and touching feet were simple requests.
She had prepared herself for worse. Holding hands was within her acceptable psychological range; touching her feet was just weird.
What was there to touch about her feet?
Nanase Tsubasa remembered there was a type of pervert called a foot fetishist. Could Kaoru be a perverted foot fetishist?
Thus, Nanase Tsubasa looked at Kaoru with a strange gaze.
"If it's just touching... it should be fine..."
The girl accepted Kaoru's demand in the end. She felt she could make the right judgment at the critical moment; if things went wrong, she would reject Kaoru.
Nanase Tsubasa believed in her judgment, unaware her bottom line was yielding.
Once a gap appeared in a bottom line, things would spiral out of control, making it hard to maintain any boundaries at all.
Fortunately, Kaoru harbored no malice towards her; he just wanted to fulfill the wish.
"Can we hold hands now?"
Kaoru smiled, reaching out his hand to her.
Nanase Tsubasa moved closer, holding his hand with a straight face.
The two looked at each other, shaking hands like successful people in a TV drama, giving off a businesslike vibe.
Of course, this was just her feeling. Kaoru felt the girl's small hands were soft, as if he could break them with a bit of force.
"Do you want to touch my feet too?"
Nanase Tsubasa couldn't hold back her question.
"If possible, I'd like to touch your legs too."
Kaoru looked at the legs under her skirt.
Thick black tights wrapped around the girl's calves, and the small section of exposed, fair, smooth thigh skin formed the perfect absolute territory.
Knowing this was wrong, Nanase Tsubasa hesitated before nodding in agreement.
Kaoru had her sit on the desk. The girl pressed down on her skirt hem, legs close together, shifting her gaze in embarrassment.
Her calves swung, as if indicating she harbored no ulterior motives towards him and was just satisfying his request, nothing more.
However, her cheeks flushed with a blush.
A girl's feet were considered a private area, even if they couldn't compare to other parts.
Feeling ashamed watching Kaoru's gaze rest between her legs, Nanase Tsubasa felt her face burning.
There had to be something wrong with her head.