Tokyo Soft Rice King.

Anri Hitomi's expression revealed a hint of helplessness and indulgence. Her eyes seemed to be looking at her own naughty child, whom she couldn't bear to scold, with a touch of pampering and compromise.

"I really don't know what to do with you... If Shiori is really angry, I'll plead for her again."

"Hehe, don't worry, class monitor, I'll handle it myself."

Kuroba Akira took eight more books from the novel shelf, mostly Chinese novels. He was really curious about the current state of Chinese novels.

"By the way, aren't there any books here that you contributed, class monitor?"

"Um... I bought the bookshelf."

"That's fantastic! As expected, Minister, you are the cornerstone of the Arts and Literature Department."

"Seriously, Kuroba-kun thinks I'm an idiot."

"As the last student in the grade, I have no right to laugh at the class monitor who is the top student."

"No need to flatter me like that. I know I do read too few extracurricular books, but it's not that I don't like reading. It's just that I spend more time reading reference books for studying and rarely read works that cultivate my mind."

"Class monitor, you really love learning!"

"My mother said that I'll have more free time to watch these good works later, but I should focus more on my studies during my student years. Each age has its priorities, and I think my mother is right, so I'll still focus more on my grades..."

The class monitor is a mama's girl, but she's not the kind of puppet mama's girl who has no independent thoughts.

Rather, it was the mother's words that subtly influenced the class monitor's personality.

It must be said that the class monitor's mother was really shrewd. She didn't force her child to do things according to her own requirements. Instead, she reasoned with him, talked about the facts, and used "correct arguments" and "real-life examples" to guide the intelligent class monitor to understand the "right path".

Then she told the class monitor, "You choose for yourself," but did she really mean for the child to choose?

Even though you already know the right path, why do you still stubbornly insist on going down the wrong one?

As long as the class monitor is a 'smart kid,' she can't possibly 'make the wrong choice.'

This is another manifestation of the invisible pressure and controlling nature of the class monitor's mother.

If things continue like this, the class monitor's rebellious phase probably won't even arrive until adulthood. She'll always be a "good daughter who listens to her mother," eventually becoming a personalityless girl who "has no thoughts of her own" and only knows "correct thoughts."

It's a bit of a shame... Kuroba Akira still hopes that the class president can find 'something he wants to do' rather than 'something he should do'.

This was out of concern for his good friend, which is why he offered this rare piece of advice.

"Well, it's true that students' duty is to study, but they should also enjoy life while they can. Some works are just suitable for people of this age to watch. If you watch them when you're older, you won't have the same insights that belong to that age."

"I see, what Kuroba-kun said makes a lot of sense. I'll try to read some of these extracurricular books from now on... Kuroba-kun, do you have any recommendations?"

"Not yet... I'll make recommendations after I've read through these."

"Okay, it's settled then. I'll wait for Kuroba-kun."

Anri Hitomi accepted with a smile, her heart filled with anticipation.

Kuroba Akira was also pleased. It's never too late to start now. Let the class president start asking himself what he really wants to do, just like he wanted to save the Literature Club.

Unbeknownst to Akira Kuroba, it was because of him that Hitomi Anri had found a new purpose in life.

Although the starting point of this goal is distorted, the values ​​it pursues are also distorted.

He became the second person, after Hitomi Anri's mother, to have a significant impact on Hitomi Anri's personality.

Even Kuroba Akira's words carry more weight in Anri Hitomi's heart than her mother's. When she disagrees with her mother, Anri Hitomi will choose to listen to him first.

And this influence will continue, shaping her future life... making what is right no longer right.

The correct path in life that Hitomi Anri had always followed suddenly led her down a wrong and distorted path.

Chapter Ninety-Five: One Matter at a Time

After a while, Aizen Moe and Shirai Shiori walked into the Literature and Art Club's activity room together.

When Aizono Moe saw Kuroba Akira, she was stunned for a moment, and then secretly observed the reaction of Shirai Shiori beside her.

She was a little afraid that Shiori would go berserk like yesterday, even throwing her shoes at her. It was the first time she had ever seen Shiori so angry, and she was quite startled.

As for Aizono Moe herself, she didn't have any ill feelings towards Kuroba Akira. Although she was startled when he held her hand yesterday, she was still a little tempted when Kuroba Akira invited her to draw illustrations for light novels. After all, it had always been Aizono Moe's dream for her to have her drawings become official works.

But I didn't expect Shiori to hate him so much... Maybe it's because she thinks Kuroba is lying?

However, Kuroba-kun was brought by Hitomi-chan... so he should be someone trustworthy, right?

Moe Aizono really couldn't figure it out, but she was self-aware enough to know that she wasn't good at discerning people's hearts, so she simply stopped guessing and left it to Hitomi and Shiori to judge.

To her surprise, Shirai Shiori didn't react. She simply kept a straight face as always, walked over, put down her schoolbag, and looked at the pile of books on the table, asking a question.

"Are you... organizing books?"

Kuroba Akira had only taken the comics and novels he wanted to borrow from the bookshelf, and hadn't put them in his bag yet. After all, he still needed to get the owner's permission; it would be too impolite to just take them away.

However, he deliberately did not answer Shirai Shiori's question, but instead smiled at Aizono Moe who was still standing at the door and asked her in a very friendly manner.

"Oh, Aiyuan, you've come at the right time. May I take these comics home to read? I promise I won't get them dirty or damaged."

"Y-Yes, you can! Please feel free to use my comics!"

Perhaps due to excessive excitement, Aizen Moe missed a key word in her speech, resulting in a poorly delivered line that could be misunderstood.

Kuroba Akira almost couldn't help but tease him, but thinking of the class monitor's angry departure at noon, he quickly shut his mouth and swallowed, managing to refrain from saying anything frivolous.

At this moment, Aizen Moe also realized that she had said the wrong thing. Being as shy as she was, she couldn't just laugh it off, so she even waved her hands to explain her slip of the tongue.

"Ah, no, um, I meant... those comics, Kuroba-kun, you can use them as you like... um..."

Halfway through her explanation, Aizen Moe's level of embarrassment exceeded her limit. She raised her hands to cover herself and made an embarrassed sound.

If it were depicted in a cartoon style, her face would probably be as red as a tomato, and white smoke would be rising from her head.

Kuroba Akira wasn't very good at dealing with girls who were extremely introverted. Mainly, he couldn't use his three-piece set of 'teasing,' 'mocking,' and 'sarcasm' that he was good at. He could only speak like a normal person, which was really a bit frustrating.

"Haha... Anyway, thank you, Aiyuan-kun."

In the end, Kuroba Akira could only chuckle awkwardly, offer a polite thank you, and then quickly steer the conversation back to the novel.

"And Shirai-kun, may I borrow these novels too?"

When dealing with Shirai Shiori, Kuroba Akira was much less polite, ending his sentences with "Isn't that right?" instead of "Isn't that right?"

This wasn't asking for her permission; it was declaring, "I'm going to borrow these books today, so just say whether you'll give them to me or not!" It was nothing short of a shameless act.

However, Shirai Shiori still didn't react. She just glanced at the books Kuroba Akira had borrowed and said coldly.

"...It doesn't matter, take them if you want. I brought those books to the activity room to share them with everyone. You are a 'temporary' member of the Literature and Art Department, so you are entitled to borrow these books."

The deliberate emphasis on "temporary" indicates that even though others have already accepted, she, Shirai Shiori, has not yet accepted Kuroba Akira's entry into the club; this is her last act of defiance.

Kuroba Akira didn't react much; on the contrary, she thought Kuroba Akira was quite magnanimous.

He originally wanted to take this opportunity to provoke Shirai Shiori again, but it seems she isn't the petty, calculative type.

So she cherishes books, it's just a personal habit, almost like a germaphobia, not that these books are really that important... It's just that if they were really important books, she wouldn't have brought them to the literature department's activity room.

A book-loving literary girl like her would probably buy three sets of books: one for appreciation, one for collection, and one for evangelism. The ones she brought to the literature department were probably the ones for evangelism.

If you really want to anger her, the only way is probably to tear up these books in front of her... but Kuroba Akira wouldn't do such a beastly thing.

After all, Kuroba Akira himself is a book lover. Although he was used to reading e-books in his previous life, he would still buy physical copies of some of his favorite works to fill his bookshelf. However, the collection value outweighed the practical value, just like buying figurines.

Doesn't it give you a strange sense of accomplishment when you see your bookshelf gradually fill up?

"But remember to return them after you've finished reading them. Those books are now the property of the Literature and Art Department and cannot belong to you personally."

"Isn't that obvious? I can't possibly sell it, can I?"

"If you dare to sell it, I'll dismantle you and sell the rest."

Shiori Shirai glared at him and issued a vicious death threat.

"Ha... It seems that even for the sake of my own health, I can't treat these books carelessly anymore... So, is there a deadline for returning them?"

"...I'm just reminding you, you can watch it for as long as you want, but if other people want to watch it, you need to return it as soon as possible."

"That's no problem."

Although she disliked Kuroba Akira's attitude of belittling creation, one thing is one thing, and when it comes to books, she still trusted Kuroba Akira quite a bit.

After all, Kuroba Akira had been coming to the library to read books all semester, and he always put the books back in their original places properly, unlike some students who would just leave them on the table after reading them.

Moreover, Akira Kuroba never borrows books, so there's no need to worry about him forgetting to return them. He's much better than those forgetful students who borrow books from the library and never return them on time.

What angered Shirai Shiori the most was that when she went to the students to ask them to return the books, they had the audacity to say, "Sorry, I forgot I borrowed these books... Haha, could you extend the time? I still want to finish reading them..."

At that moment, Shiori Shirai wanted to slap him across the face.

How does a brain work?!

You can't even remember the books you borrowed?!

And what have you been doing all this time without watching?

Those children (books) are crying!

Shiori Shirai knows that not everyone treats books like precious items. She wears gloves when she reads, but she can't expect others to do the same. At the very least, shouldn't they have basic respect for books?

If you borrow something, read it as soon as possible and return it on time. Isn't that common sense?

From this perspective, Kuroba Akira at least has some basic common sense.

If he and Hitomi didn't have a close relationship, and he applied to join the Literature Club normally... maybe I would be willing to let him join.

Unfortunately, it seems his main goal was still to pick up girls... Humph, all men are the same! A collection of Xingyu's traits!

If you joined the Literature Club just for women... then don't even think about it!

Chapter Ninety-Six: Shirai Shiori's Delusional Time

However, putting aside the question of whether Kuroba Akira's motives were impure, his love of reading was probably genuine, and the books he chose also surprised Shirai Shiori.

Wow... they actually chose those books... they have good taste, huh?

She thought Kuroba Akira would read the youth novels she used to fill her bookshelf.

Those books were actually reference works that Shiori Shirai used to learn and imitate the writing style of popular novels.

The descriptions are decent, and the language is quite ornate, but the content is... well, not boring, but utterly boring.

I bought it, read it once, copied down some sentences, and then never wanted to read it a second time. It wasn't even worth keeping.

I originally intended to sell them at a used bookstore, but considering that the Literature Club that Hitomi Anri took over didn't even have many books, I decided to bring them to the clubroom to fill the bookshelves.