I, the mastermind behind the scenes at Soubu High, refuse to be caught in a bloodbath.

“I like you very much too, Yaozi-nee. I will talk to Mother about it.”

Himeko closed her phone and sighed softly, "Ah, peaceful life...it's so comfortable."

The peaceful life lasted for two days. On Thursday, after school, it was time for club activities. According to the rules, student council members should do their work first and then participate in club activities.

"Kyoya, give a report on today's work. Is there anything I need to pay attention to?"

Ji Xiaolu glanced up at him, then lowered her head to work on the documents.

"Everything that needed to be handled was handled in accordance with regulations, and there's nothing particularly that needs to be reported."

Kyoya was actually a little uneasy because Ms. Mori (or her mother) had once again rushed into the school on her motorcycle today, but Kyoya kept this a secret.

The next day, in a modern Chinese literature class, the teacher asked the students in the front row to pass a stack of documents down the line. When it reached Ji Xiaolu, he realized, "Oh, I almost forgot, there was this part in the story."

Each person received a form with the words "Professional Observation and Learning Hope Survey" printed in bold black letters at the top. It was essentially an internship observation intention form, or something like that. Himeko couldn't remember what Hikigaya filled out back then, only that he ended up getting punched by Hiratsuka Shizuka. Just as she was thinking about this, the teacher clapped her hands on the stage and said, "Attention everyone, fill out this survey now and hand it in before this afternoon. Since this was originally supposed to be distributed by Hiratsuka-sensei, each class's Japanese language teacher is distributing it to you. The important thing to note is that the internship date is next Friday, which is the last day before Golden Week. I hope everyone will take it seriously. Well, I don't need to say anything to your class, do I?"

Because Class J is recognized as the best class, there are generally no problem students. At least, even if there are problems, they are at the level of Yukino Shino. The problems of those who are not mediocre are not mediocre at all.

It's Wednesday now, and everyone already knows about the internship program. The only question is when the application form will be sent out, so some people have already started contacting their partners before then. It's just that Himekoji has been too busy with work to notice.

"Those with similar intentions should form groups of three, arranged from A to N, and write their names on the blackboard behind them. That's it. Let's begin class."

After the teacher finished speaking, there was a brief murmur in the class, but the murmurs disappeared immediately after she said "Let's begin class," as if they had never happened.

Chapter 034 This is too much trouble! [Himekoji Haruto] decides not to go to work!

So the problem is that since he doesn't want to become a working professional, the job internship intention survey is useless to him. For this reason, Himekoji did not fill out the survey. As a result, the teacher reported this to Hiratsuka Shizuka, and Himekoji was called to the interview room by Hiratsuka Shizuka. To his surprise, Hikigaya was also there.

But clearly, Hikigaya was more surprised that Himekoji was called to Hiratsuka Shizuka's talk room.

"Please have a seat when you arrive."

Hiratsuka crossed her arms and gestured with her chin to the seat next to Hachiman. Hachiman, facing Himekoji, gave a forced smile and nodded, probably thinking to himself: Ah, I've given in to this guy again.

"Hachiman, do you know what I'm trying to say?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka's expression turned ferocious. She crossed her legs and slammed them onto the coffee table. Then, she stretched out her left hand, clenching her fist and retracting her fingers one by one, staring at Hachiman with an air of dominance. Hachiman, on the other hand, quickly shrank into a ball, trembling and curling up on the sofa, clutching his head and saying, "Please don't hit me! I'll rewrite it, I'll rewrite it!"

"Hmph, of course!" Hiratsuka Shizuka pulled her leg back, sighing with disappointment, "I was so naive to think you could change. Did the time you spent in the Service Club have no effect on you?"

"My motto is to never repent, hehe."

As he spoke, the guy tapped his head with his right hand, making a gesture as if he had been knocked silly, with his tongue lolling out at the corner of his lips. Then, Hikigaya remembered that Himekoji was still sitting next to him. Just as he was about to change his expression or try to salvage the situation, Hiratsuka Shizuka's iron fist struck him instantly, making him look like Naruto who had been bumped by Himawari.

With a "thud," Hachiman collapsed onto the sofa, seemingly unable to breathe any further.

"Hmph, then it's your turn." Hiratsuka Shizuka picked up a nearly blank form with only a name on it and waved it in front of Himekoji, asking sharply, "So what do you mean by this? Are you looking down on working people who are working hard?"

Half-dead from the beating, Hikigaya struggled to open his eyes and glanced at Himekoji's application form. A feeling of admiration welled up inside him, and he thought to himself: This guy is even more amazing than me. He didn't even fill it out! Isn't he afraid of Hiratsuka Shizuka's annihilating iron fist?

Please don't misunderstand, I don't look down on any profession.

Ji Xiaolu casually shrugged and leaned back on the sofa.

"Then why didn't you write anything down? You just filled in your name and handed it in. Are you provoking me? Declaring war? Sending a challenge?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka spoke louder and louder, making the poor piece of white paper rustle loudly.

"This society is made up of people from all walks of life. It is because of these differences that it can function properly. In my opinion, the word 'profession' primarily means 'work'. No, it's not that I don't want to work, but 'work' itself is just a contract given by people at a higher level with more resources to people at a lower level in exchange for various types of labor. Do you think that I, as the giver of countless contracts, need to learn how the recipients of those contracts live?"

Himekoji's explanation sounded plausible, but the more Hachiman listened, the more uneasy he felt. If he himself were to utter such a twisted logic... no, firstly, he couldn't bring himself to say something so arrogant, but even if he did, he would only be met with Shizuka's adorable iron fist. Why was he...?

"Kid, don't get too cocky. You're not one yet."

Hiratsuka Shizuka frowned deeply, fiddling with her cigarette with a hint of discomfort. She felt inexplicably irritated by Himekoji's words, yet struggled to find a valid theoretical basis to support her own assertions. It was like Himekoji's belief that "all men are created equal"—everyone knew this was the truth, but no one could say it aloud. Instead, they would deliberately contradict it by saying "all men are created equal." His words today were no different.

"Ah, that's right. I'm not yet, but I'll be after I finish my PhD."

Himekoji shrugged easily.

In any case, it's ridiculous for a high school student to take over a business, so for both reasons and morally, Himekoji should continue studying. Even if the golden hairpin falls into the well, what's meant to be will be.

"Hey kid... this is a must for class activities."

Hiratsuka Shizuka took several deep breaths, her anger palpable.

“If you’re not satisfied, teacher, then just report it. No one but you will care that I didn’t fill in this pointless thing. You can also mark things like ‘disobedient and unruly’ in my file, but that won’t do any good. In other words, you’ve just wasted your time getting angry today because I’m not going to fill it in. No matter what other efforts you make, it won’t work. You might as well just pretend you didn’t see it and let it go. You’ve made a point of calling me into the meeting room and making yourself angry. No matter how you look at it, it’s not worth it.”

As Ji Xiaolu spoke, she started laughing at herself.

"why are you laughing?"

Hiratsuka, his forehead veins bulging, clenched his fists and said this.

"Teacher, you are clearly the one who controls the resources, yet you insist on coming here to be a teacher. I really admire you and understand you, but understanding is one thing, I won't fill out the form."

Before Himekoji entered high school, Hiratsuka Shizuka's information was neatly arranged on his desk, even including details of how many boyfriends she had dated and why they broke up. However, because Hiratsuka Shizuka always encountered pretty boys and young men, very few people broke up with her because of her violence.

"Um... I... I'll take my leave now."

Hikigaya shrank back and tried to slip away. He thought that the conversation between Himekoji and Hiratsuka Shizuka was like a battle of gods, and that Hiratsuka Shizuka hadn't used her iron fist of love to punish Himekoji yet. He was convinced that Himekoji had some kind of leverage over Himekoji.

"sit down!"

On the verge of exploding in rage, Hiratsuka Shizuka yelled at him, and Hachiman immediately cowered on the sofa like a weak little lamb, letting out a soft "woof..."

"You're hopeless."

Hiratsuka Shizuka slammed the blank form on the table with a "bang!", pulled out a cigarette from her pocket, lit it, rolled her eyes, and took several puffs before gradually calming down her incredibly messed-up mood.

Chapter 035 Therefore, [Hiratsuka Shizuka] must compromise.

The two stared at each other in silence for a long time. Hiratsuka Shizuka crumpled the blank watch into a ball and threw it like a basketball at the corner trash can, but she didn't throw it in yet.

"I think you'll definitely turn into a monster who squeezes the last drop of surplus value from workers in the future."

Hiratsuka calmly propped his legs up on the coffee table and smoked.

“I have always put in several times more effort than others since I was a child, and I should be rewarded accordingly. Oh, no, there is no such concept as ‘should be’ in this society. What I mean is, it is precisely because I have several times more resources than others that I have been able to work so hard since I was a child, and that I must work so hard. That’s the right way to put it. I got it backwards before.”

Himekoji's lips curled up. He was very satisfied with Hiratsuka Shizuka's actions. He didn't want to do a childish, play-house-style apprenticeship; it was a complete waste of time.

"This society... huh? This is school, high school. You're still a long way from stepping into society," Hiratsuka Shizuka finished her cigarette, slowly stubbed it out in the ashtray, and stared blankly at the white ceiling. "That's why I wrote down before that I didn't like you doing things that are too advanced for your age. But I don't really have the right to judge you. I hope you won't always talk to me like you're negotiating with me, your teacher, okay?"

"Because in my opinion, the things that cannot be compromised are the absolute bottom line. My belief is like that of a Soviet soldier, firmly nailed to the position." Ji Xiaolu helplessly spread his hands and said, "Teacher, you want me to fill out a form, which I think is unnecessary. If you insist on making me fill it out, it means you want me to back down. This is where the conflict arises. One of us has to compromise in our conflict."

So... don't adopt that attitude...

Hiratsuka Shizuka's tone softened even more, perhaps this was her persistence as an educator, and it was also one of the things that Himekoji admired and liked about her. She looked like she was about to plead with him. Himekoji stood up, took a few steps, turned his back to Hiratsuka Shizuka, and whispered, "I'm sorry, Hiratsuka Shizuka-sensei, I didn't mean to do this... Personally speaking, from the beginning, I really like you."

"..."

Hiratsuka Shizuka fell silent, as did Hachiman. He had never seen Hiratsuka Shizuka back down when speaking to anyone before; this was the first time.

"So I probably won't make things difficult for you anymore. Consider the favor you owe me before as a return gift for your compromise this time. Goodbye."

Ji Xiaolu pressed her shoulder and leaned close to her ear, speaking softly.

As soon as Himekoji sat down back in the classroom, Yukinoshita struck up a conversation with her.

"You were called into the consultation room by Hiratsuka-sensei? As far as I know, only problem students like Hachiman get called in. You didn't write something weird on your schedule today, did you?"

Yukinoshita wore a haughty smile.

"On the contrary, I didn't write anything."

After Himeko finished speaking, Yukinoshita's arrogant expression instantly turned into astonishment. She stammered for a while, unable to come up with a suitable response.

Is your father a member of the Chiba Prefectural Assembly? ...If we're just talking about parental influence, Eriri could be your equal.

After school in the afternoon, Himekoji received a call from Hiratsuka Shizuka.

"Ha—, whoosh—"

Hiratsuka Shizuka seemed to find it difficult to speak, so she took a deep breath first.

"What's going on this time?"

"It's all your own doing."

Hiratsuka Shizuka retorted.

"I didn't do anything that left you speechless with such earnestness, did I?"

"The problem is, you've thrown this difficult question at me," came the "click" of a lighter from Hiratsuka Shizuka's end. She continued, "Because you changed the order of this year's cultural festival and sports festival, and allowed those idiots in the soccer club to organize some kind of school cup competition, now the entire soccer club is training like crazy. The first-year manager is completely overwhelmed by everyone's enthusiasm, and Hayama is the same—he said he'd successfully persuade the two schools to co-host the competition, but so far nothing's happened. Instead, he's been driven crazy by the harassing text messages from his class..."

"So when did I become your confidant, teacher? How could someone as strong as you call me to complain?"

"Ah, for no reason at all, I wanted to beat you up but I couldn't beat you, so I always have to tell you, the source of my troubles, when I encounter problems. If only you could understand my troubles and be bothered by them."

"Of course this doesn't bother me."

"...I was too naive. In that case, go and help out in the Service Department now."

Give me a reason.

"Ugh... Can't you leave me, an educator, some dignity?"

"...Why did your tone suddenly become so cute? Are you trying to be adorable with me?"

"Cute? Huh?! What nonsense are you talking about? You're not allowed to use 'cute' or 'adorable' to describe teachers! Listen carefully!"

Hiratsuka Shizuka was even cuter when she started rambling incoherently; Himekoji could almost picture her over there treating her phone like a hot potato.

"Beep beep beep—" Hiratsuka Shizuka unilaterally hung up the phone. Himeko stared at the phone screen for a while, then sighed and said, "No matter what, we have to get to work first."

She talked a good game during the day, but ended up taking on all the student council work herself. Just like in *1984*, the more rules you follow, the more freedom you gain. Himekoji benefited immensely from her student council work, but anyway, let's deal with the paperwork first...

As Ji Xiaolu stepped out of the house after finishing his work, he suddenly felt a humanoid walking weapon hanging on his back. The familiar scent and the tickling sensation of the hair on his neck made him feel a little... well, you know. Before he could say anything, Kasumigaoka grinned and tapped his cheek with her finger, asking, "Hey, where are you going, Haruto-kun? What kind of work are you going to do next?"

"I had a fight with Hiratsuka Shizuka today, but she called me afterwards, sounding really weak. To be honest, I felt a little guilty, so I'm going to help out at the Service Club now."

Himekoji strolled along, with Kasumigaoka hanging behind him, her soft breasts making rhythmic contact with his back as she walked.

"What about the Service Department? Speaking of which, could I create a small Service Department, just for you, Inspiration-kun?"

She was practically whispering in Himekoji's ear.

Chapter 036 So Mischievous! [Kawasaki Saki] Chooses to Work All Night!

"What the heck is a 'small, small service club'?"