"Um..."
Suddenly, Nakano Azusa raised her hand and carefully asked Tojo Nozomi, "Why do Kosaka-senpai and the others call you Vice President?"
Hm?
The members of the Light Music Club also turned to look at Tojo Nozomi curiously, successfully having their attention diverted.
Senpai, leave this to me!
Seeing the faint look Nakano Azusa gave him, Sato could not help but breathe a sigh of relief, feeling as though he had narrowly escaped disaster.
As expected, juniors really were adorable!
Tojo Nozomi also shifted her gaze away from Sato and looked at the curious girl in front of her.
The petite girl stood there gracefully, looking like an exquisite doll. She had bright eyes and jet-black hair, while her adorable face made people want to reach out and pinch it.
"That? Guess."
Tojo Nozomi blinked at Nakano Azusa, her eyes filled with amusement as she tossed the question back to the adorable girl.
Nakano Azusa froze. She shrank her neck and nervously moved her lips, looking somewhat flustered and at a loss.
"T-This..."
Seeing Nakano Azusa's expression, Tojo Nozomi covered her mouth and giggled softly before reaching out to rub Nakano Azusa's head.
"Haha, what an adorable junior. Actually, I'm the vice president of the Otonokizaka student council!"
Ah, what a wonderful texture!
Her eyes narrowed into crescent moons, her expression one of pure enjoyment. In her hands, Nakano Azusa was like a docile little cat.
Everyone watched the scene with strange expressions.
It was one thing for Tojo Nozomi to enjoy stroking Nakano Azusa's head, but why did Azunyan look like she was enjoying it too?!
Everyone could not help complaining inwardly.
Under Tojo Nozomi's gentle caress, Nakano Azusa slightly closed her eyes. Her long eyelashes trembled softly, and her face was filled with relaxation and contentment.
The scene looked no different from a cat enjoying being petted by its owner.
Even so, everyone was still quite surprised after learning Tojo Nozomi's identity.
Ritsu could not help asking curiously, "Why would the student council oppose Kosaka-san and the others' idea?"
"Eh?"
Tojo Nozomi looked up at Ritsu in surprise, then gently shook her head and lifted the hand that had been resting on Nakano Azusa's head.
Nakano Azusa opened her eyes again. Her face was flushed, and she looked somewhat shy and embarrassed.
"Our student council has never opposed Kosaka-san and the others' idea."
"Eri simply doesn't approve of it. Actually, Eri has a lot of feelings for the school too, and she's always been thinking about how to save it. She just doesn't want this matter to have a negative impact on everyone else."
"Eri?"
Sato suddenly let out a surprised sound.
Hm?
Tojo Nozomi stopped and looked at Sato with some surprise in her emerald-colored eyes.
"You know Eri?"
"No."
Sato shook his head and rubbed his brow.
"I just misheard you. I only know someone named Erina."
"Hehe, perhaps they're the same person."
Tojo Nozomi looked at Sato with a teasing smile.
"Definitely not her. She's a chef, so she wouldn't be attending an ordinary school. Please continue..."
"All right!"
Tojo Nozomi nodded, though a hint of probing appeared in her gaze toward Sato.
After composing herself, she continued.
"Besides Erena, I actually support everyone in Muse quite a lot. Come to think of it, I'm the one who came up with this name!"
"Eh?!"
This time, it was Kosaka Honoka and the others who exclaimed in surprise.
Minami Kotori covered her mouth and stared at Tojo Nozomi in shock.
"Vice President, you came up with the name Muse?"
"Mm-hm!"
Tojo Nozomi smiled and nodded.
Nakano Azusa chimed in from the side.
"Then did you know what Muse means, senpai?"
"Of course I did. Muse refers to the collective name for the nine ancient goddesses of the arts in Greek mythology who preside over the various arts. I spent a long time thinking about the name back then!"
"Wait! If you knew Muse referred to nine goddesses of the arts, why did you still use this name?"
Ritsu exclaimed in surprise.
"That..."
Tojo Nozomi suddenly took out a stack of cards resembling playing cards and smiled.
"Of course I divined it using tarot cards. My tarot reading told me that the group would eventually have nine members, so I used that as a clue and thought about it for a long time!"
"Actually, all of this is the guidance of fate!"
At the end, the purple-haired shrine maiden spoke in a mysterious, almost secretive tone.
The atmosphere around them suddenly fell silent.
Everyone exchanged glances. Apart from Sato, almost no one believed what Tojo Nozomi had said.
In fact, if he did not have the system's profile cards, Sato would not have believed it either.
Finally, Ritsu was the first to complain.
"You're a shrine maiden, yet you use tarot cards for divination. Did something go wrong somewhere?"
Sato looked at Ritsu with considerable relief.
Finally, someone understood exactly how he had felt when he saw that third-rate tarot fortune-teller introduction earlier.
No matter how he looked at it, this combination was incredibly strange!
"Oh, it's fine! It's fine! Anyway, whether it's a shrine maiden or tarot cards, they're both mysterious and supernatural. There's no difference!"
Tojo Nozomi covered her mouth with one hand and giggled softly.
There was a huge difference!
Everyone complained inwardly in unison.
Sato looked at the smiling girl, a hint of suspicion suddenly flashing through his eyes. He suddenly asked, "Then did you divine whether you would join Muse?"
Eh?!
Tojo Nozomi's expression suddenly froze.
Kosaka Honoka looked at Tojo Nozomi in delight.
"That's right! Vice President, didn't you say we'd have nine members? Could you be one of them? Hurry up and calculate it!"
Tojo Nozomi glanced at Sato.
"That... if you can get Erina to join you, then I'll join too!"
Kosaka Honoka's eyes immediately lit up.
"You mean the student council president will join us too?"
"I never said that!"
Tojo Nozomi's expression became unusually helpless.
Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Sato's face.
As expected, what goes around comes around...
"But weren't you hinting at that?"
Kosaka Honoka asked excitedly.
Minami Kotori and Sonoda Umi stared at Kosaka Honoka with their mouths open.
When had Honoka-chan become so... clever?
Tojo Nozomi said helplessly, "I didn't say anything. For now, you should come take a bath with me. Don't you feel uncomfortable right now?"
Only then did the three girls realize it. They looked at themselves and hurriedly nodded.
Tojo Nozomi breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and led Kosaka Honoka and the others toward the shrine's bathroom.
Suddenly, she stopped.
Turning around, Tojo Nozomi looked at Sato and suddenly asked with a sweet smile, "You know my name now, but I still don't know what your name is."
"Me?"
Sato looked at Tojo Nozomi and smiled.
"Sato, Nohara Sato."