They all have hidden attributes!

"Personal matters? Is it convenient for me to come with you?" Takahashi Makoto turned his head to look at her profile, a little curious about the life of a "maid" popping into his mind.

"Anything that has nothing to do with the Tachimi family is a private matter."

That sounds a bit pathetic.

Reiko Kashima continued, "Coach Shirakawa asked me to help take care of her daughter, who is currently staying with the student council."

Coach Shirakawa's daughter is the female protagonist in the gossip that Nekoya Hina shared this morning, right?

Saying something like "I'm never playing badminton again" sounds like saying "I've never enjoyed playing in a band," and might indicate a girl with a somber personality.

Makoto Takahashi dislikes oppressive and heavy atmospheres, so he decides to take advantage of the time he has alone with Reiko Kashima to quickly find out about Yuki Tachimi's attitude, so that he can run away immediately if things go wrong later.

"Kashima-senpai, can you guess what Tatsumi-senpai's ideas are about the band?" he asked directly.

"Young lady, you only allow me to help you. Keep it a secret."

"Especially keeping it a secret from Uesugi-kun, right?"

Kashima Reiko nodded, giving her an approving look, as if to say, "[This child is teachable]."

The two went down the stairs, changed their shoes at the shoe locker, and walked out of the teaching building together, as the summer heat hit them.

The dazzling sunlight scorched the pavement in the courtyard. Kashima Reiko reached out and tugged at Takahashi Makoto's sleeve, pulling him into the shade cast by the cedar trees, and then walked towards the detached building where the student council was located.

"Everything I've said is based on my understanding of the young lady and is just speculation. It's not true, specific, or accurate information. Is that alright?"

Amidst the tireless chirping of cicadas, her calm tone offered a sense of reassurance that relieved the heat.

Makoto Takahashi smiled and looked at Reiko Kashima with trusting eyes, saying in a deliberately relaxed tone, "I think Kashima-senpai is definitely one of the people in the world who understands Tatemi-senpai the most, there's no problem with that."

“I guess the young lady wants you to quit the light music club. She said she wanted to teach Uesugi Maya a lesson,” Kashima Reiko said.

"Let me back out...what does she intend to do?"

"Based on the text messages you received and the conversation at the art museum, it's possible that you deliberately lost to Uesugi Maya."

Whether it's Uesugi Maya forming a band or making Takahashi Makoto fall in love with her, the common starting point is to defeat Tachimi Yuki. Once the goal is achieved, there is naturally no reason to continue.

"I see." Makoto Takahashi nodded thoughtfully.

No wonder Tatsumi asked herself if she liked the band; she probably needed information to manipulate the outcome of the archery competition.

The young lady is rational enough that she won't suffer any loss by being Uesugi Maya's slave for a whole day. As long as the gains are enough, she doesn't care about deliberately losing.

However, even if he really liked the band and wouldn't quit the light music club after Uesugi Maya won the competition, Tachimi Yuki might still have other alternatives.

Thinking about it this way, the matter of Kashima Reiko joining the light music club was more complicated than she had imagined.

The future of NiceFold and its future members have become increasingly uncertain.

Seeing Takahashi Makoto's thoughtful expression, Kashima Reiko remained silent.

Not long after, the two arrived at the parking lot on the side of the student council building. The wind band had not yet started practicing, and only the noisy chirping of cicadas vibrated through the summer heat.

After Kashima Reiko took the three bento boxes from the driver of the black sedan, Takahashi Makoto followed her to the student council on the third floor.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a blast of cold air hits you. Inside the spacious and luxurious student council office, a little girl dressed in a blue and white sailor uniform with black pigtails sits on the sofa.

With her back straight and hands resting on her knees, she looked very well-behaved, and her expression of looking around and her curious purple eyes were also quite cute.

Upon seeing the two enter, she immediately stood up and bowed slightly: "Good afternoon, Kashima-senpai."

Her voice is delicate, with a youthful innocence that matches her figure. Her petite frame and delicate, small face make her almost too cute.

Having grown accustomed to Tsurumi Sawa's Western-style uniforms, her sailor suit is also quite beautiful.

The "Kanto collar" sailor uniform has a high neckline, but most of them are still paired with a breast cover to cover the collarbone, thus giving it an exceptionally innocent look.

After Kashima Reiko responded, the little girl straightened up, looked up at Takahashi Makoto, and introduced herself with grace and poise:

"Hello, senior. I am Hanakawa Kaori. I have been accepted into Tsurumizawa ahead of schedule. Please take care of me from now on."

"Makoto Takahashi, nice to meet you."

Makoto Takahashi didn't mean to be aloof; he was just not good at dealing with strangers, and being called "senpai" for the first time made him unsure how to respond.

He sat down on the sofa opposite Hanakawa Kaori, across the coffee table, and gave her a quick glance, moving from her cute black twin tails to the youthful chest of her sailor uniform and her slender white socks, finally drawing a conclusion.

—Hanakawa Kaori's height is definitely no more than 155cm.

So how did such an adorable little girl manage to score two 21-0 victories and break down Nekoya Hina's mentality?

With a puzzled look, Takahashi Makoto accepted the bento box and disposable chopsticks handed to him by Kashima Reiko. At that moment, a system panel popped up in front of him.

[Received a new assistance card]

Chapter 44 Cooking temperature and...spices?

[Perception: Soft-hearted and sweet girl, Hanakawa Kaori]

[Morality: Moderate probability of triggering friendship training, perception increased by 10%]

[Girlish Heart: When resting or playing together, there's a small chance that your existing skill level will increase by 1. When triggering Friendship Training, there's a small chance that you'll gain a new skill.]

[Hidden Attribute: Not Yet Unlocked]

Surprisingly, she wasn't a girl with a serious personality, but rather a petite junior schoolgirl full of girlish charm.

The attributes of the assistance cards are more focused on skill enhancements than on numerical improvements, but unfortunately there are only 3 assistance card slots available, which feels a bit redundant.

With these thoughts in mind, Makoto Takahashi shut down the system, disassembled the disposable chopsticks in his hand, and then opened the bento box.

Kashima Reiko's bento box wasn't fancy, but it looked nutritionally balanced and definitely healthy—boiled broccoli, cherry tomatoes, roast beef, shrimp, and rice balls.

With such a healthy bento box, I don't need to worry about how delicious it is.

He picked up a floret of broccoli, popped it into his mouth, sprinkled it with black pepper, and found the flavor to be just as bland as he had imagined; in fact, it was perfectly seasoned.

"Thank you, senior. I'll start eating now."

Sitting opposite, Hanakawa Kaori solemnly clasped her hands together in gratitude to the god of food before taking apart her chopsticks and eating her lunch in small bites.

In contrast, Kashima Reiko was much more casual, quickly stuffing food into her mouth without saying a word.

The three sat around the sofa in the student council president's office. The bright midday sun shone in from the closed glass doors of the terrace, landing on the black slate coffee table and creating a quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

In less than ten minutes, Kashima Reiko finished her lunch first.

She threw the disposable chopsticks into the trash can, pulled two tissues from above the coffee table, gently wiped her pink lips, then opened a bottle of mineral water, took a sip, and stared intently at Hanakawa Kaori.

Are you going to the gym for training this afternoon?

Hanakawa Kaori swallowed the food in her mouth, put down her chopsticks, and then answered, "I'm not going."

As she spoke, her delicate face was filled with resistance, and her purple eyes stared directly at the speaker with great politeness.

"I never want to play badminton again."

"why?"

Makoto Takahashi swallowed the food in his mouth and looked at her with a curious gaze: "I heard from a friend that you are very good, and you shut out her in the regional tournament."

Upon hearing this, Hanakawa Kaori lowered her head as if she didn't dare to meet his gaze, and pursed her lips, which were stained with a little bit of grilled beef sauce.

After a brief silence, she said in a timid voice, "The shuttlecock hits the ground too fast, there's too much to do to properly feel it."

Makoto Takahashi didn't understand, but he sensed a deep sense of loss and sadness, so he didn't ask any further questions.

"Is there anything you want to do?" Kashima Reiko asked calmly.

Her task was to look after Hanakawa Hanaori. As long as she was safe and didn't leave Tsurumizawa, she could do whatever she wanted.

"I want to explore other clubs and cultivate new hobbies," said Hanakawa Kaori.

Do you need me to keep you company?

"I can do it myself, and it doesn't matter if you have time, senior."

“Take a photo every 15 minutes and tell me the location.”

"clear."

Seeing that Kashima Reiko had calmed down, Hanakawa Kaori picked up her chopsticks again to eat lunch. No matter how you looked at it, she was a good child.

Nekoya Hina said she was a bit naive and somewhat gloomy, but Takahashi Makoto thought to himself that she showed no signs of such traits.

After he finished his lunchbox, he waited for Hanakawa Kaori to finish her lunch as well, then struck up a conversation with her and asked, "After being accepted early, will you stay in Tsurumizawa for the second and third semesters after summer vacation?"

"Yes, because there's nowhere else to go."

A dazzling, joyful expression lit up Hanakawa Kaori's face, like a flower in full bloom, her purple eyes brimming with anticipation for the future.

“My hometown is in Izu, and I don’t want to live with my mother. I’m not confident enough in my ability to take care of myself if I rent a place.”

"Fortunately, the academy assigned me a dormitory room. I plan to stay at the academy during the summer vacation. If I can make friends in Tokyo, I might have a completely different vacation than before."

"In the past, there was nothing to do during holidays except play badminton. Looking back, it was so boring..."

As she spoke, a happy smile naturally appeared on her face. Makoto Takahashi was a little surprised that a single question could elicit such a long and detailed explanation.

Perhaps it's because she's usually too lonely and has no one to talk to, or maybe she's just always had this cheerful and noisy personality.

Of the two reasons that immediately came to mind, Makoto Takahashi's intuition told him it was the former, but that sounded too pathetic, so the latter was more believable.

After listening to Hanakawa Kaori chatter for a while, Takahashi Makoto got up to say goodbye to the two of them and went back to the teaching building for class when the lunch break was about to end.

As I was heading to the light music club after school, I received a text message from Tachimi Yuki.

[Hey Takahashi-kun, are you free tonight? I need your help with something about archery.]

Helping Tachibana Yuki correct her problem of shooting arrows too quickly was something she had promised Kashima Reiko, so she couldn't refuse. Takahashi Makoto asked for her address and they agreed to meet after the club activities.

Aside from archery, it seems that Ritsumi-senpai's main purpose was to test her attitude towards the band.

As Makoto Takahashi pondered this, he walked through the elevated corridor on the third floor and arrived at the Light Music Club's office.

Pushing open the door, he saw Uesugi Maya sitting by the window reading a book, a scene he was all too familiar with. Seeing her smooth, black, long hair even made him feel a little at ease.

"Can I have lunch at the community office tomorrow at noon?"

Makoto Takahashi closed the door behind him, picked up the bass guitar from the corner stand, pulled out a chair, sat down, and looked up to admire her beauty:

"Because the future development of the band has become more complicated, I need a delicious lunch to soothe my fragile heart."

Sensing the risk that "the bassist might become withdrawn at any moment" from his words, Uesugi Maya quietly closed the book in her hand, slowly raised her face, and stared straight at him with her beautiful caramel-colored eyes.