Kanna saw this and noticed Natsuya's true feelings. She now understood that her previous conjecture about Natsuya and Akatsuki had been incorrect.

"So there was a reason after all." Izawa smiled faintly. "s.h.i.+roysan is highly protective of his master, so it was an impulsive action."

"Even if I didn't interfere, Natsuya probably would have knocked him away, so it doesn't count for much in terms of protection," Seiji said. "I just acted on my impulse and beat him up."

"You shouldn't say that, s.h.i.+roysan," Kanna said with a smile. "Even if Yoruhansan has the ability to protect herself, she still needs a boy to protect her. After all, girls like that kind of thing."

"That's not what I meant. I'm not saying that Natsuya doesn't need protection, I meant that I didn't help Natsuya all that much. I just did what I wanted to do, and that's all there is to it."

"No, you were a great help to me," Natsuya said in a gentle voice. "You appeared at just the right time. I'm truly grateful, and your presence made me feel quite rea.s.sured."

Seiji didn't know how to react to the president's forthrightness and was a little embarra.s.sed.

"Wow, so sweet." Kanna felt like they were showing off their lovey-doveyness.

Izawa also noticed the atmosphere and blinked in realization.

After a momentary silence, Kanna spoke up. "Ryuuno, let's go back to the dining hall and grab some more food!"

Kanna decisively made the decision to stop being an unwanted fifth wheel.

"Eh? Milady, you're hungry again already?"

"Yeah, I didn't eat enough earlier, and now I'm starving again. Let's go! Let's go already!"

Kanna dragged the dense Izawa away without even saying goodbye. The ambiguous look she shot at Seiji and Natsuya said it all: 'We won't get in your way, so have fun being lovebirds!'

Seiji and Natsuya watched them leave before looking back towards each other.

Natusya took a long, good look at his face. Seiji was unable to bear it and averted his gaze, which made Natsuya smile.

"Can you accompany me outside for a walk?" she asked gently.

"Of course," he said.

And so, the two of them left their seats and went out for a walk. They arrived at the garden where the Spirit-branded Retainers had been waiting at earlier.

"This is a beautiful garden."

"The other Spirit-branded Retainers and I were waiting here at the beginning."

"What did you do here?"

"Not much. I just sat down in that paG.o.da, chatted with Izawsan, and borrowed a light novel from him to read."

"What type of light novel?"

"Its name is I Reincarnated to Another World and Became a Female Magical Swordsman! In the story, the protagonist, a male otaku, is killed by a truck and reincarnates into a different world as a beautiful girl. He trains and becomes a swordsman before embarking on a magical adventure."

Natusya was rendered speechless.

"It wasn't something that Izawa himself wanted to read; it was a book that Fujiharsan set for homework. She even forced him to write a five-hundred-word book report on it afterwards." Seiji sighed and continued, "Izawsan has it difficult, serving a master like her."

"Haha, indeed." Natsuya recalled Kanna's endless preaching about boys' love and couldn't help but smile. "Is it an interesting novel?"

"It's pretty interesting. Although some of the scenes are a bit exaggerated, overall it's still pretty good. If I had to write a book report about it, it would be quite easy."

"Oh, then I'll buy a copy and read it as well."

"Er, I don't recommend that one to you. Some of the jokes in it may be difficult for you to understand," Seiji said in a roundabout fas.h.i.+on.

This genre of the novel was specifically aimed at a male audience. In other words, it had lots of ecchi gentlemanly content! This was definitely not a good novel to recommend to a female reader, especially one who was only a beginner at light novels.

"Natsuya, you don't read light novels often, right?"

"That's correct."

"If you'd like to read one, I recommend you start with an excellent novel that most normal readers will find easy to understand and enjoy, such as Chronicles of the Demon Blade."

Seiji began to give her a detailed review.

Natsuya quietly listened to him talk. Actually, she wasn't interested in light novels. She just wanted to read what he enjoyed reading.

"Oh right, s.h.i.+kchan and I cooperated to write the story Brother Monogatari. It's already scheduled to be published. Although I don't know the date, it should be out soon." Seiji smiled. "This story has mysterious, mystical demons and spirits as the main topic. If you're interested, try reading it when it's available."

Natsuya blinked in surprise. She already learned from Mai that Seiji was writing a story together with s.h.i.+ka Kagura. However, she didn't expect that it would be published so quickly.

Natsuya smiled. "I'm quite interested in it, Idle Dimension by the Sh.o.r.e Sensei. You must tell me when it's officially published. I'll immediately purchase a copy on the first day."

"Eh, you know about it?" Seiji was surprised by this.

"Houjou-san told me about it. I've read your short story that was published in a magazine before. Should I give you my review?"

"Please, by all means."

"I thought it was wonderful; the best short light novel I've ever read," Natsuya said sincerely.

"Although you just admitted that you don't read this type of novel very often, I'm still happy to hear that. Thank you for your praise." Seiji bowed.

Both of them smiled.

"As long as it's your story, I'll read it. I'll become—no, I already am your fan, Sh.o.r.e Sensei."

"It's my honor to have such a great fan like you. It's even giving me pressure. Looks like I'll have to work even harder in the future."

The boy and girl chatted casually as they strolled through the grounds. After walking a circle around the garden, they sat down together in the paG.o.da.

A moment of silence fell between them.

As Seiji was silently observing their forested surroundings, Natsuya suddenly reached over and removed his sungla.s.ses.

He looked towards Natsuya and saw that she was grinning widely. She then removed his wool-knit hat and flattened his high collar.

"What's the matter?" Seiji asked.

"I want to see your face." There was a gentle expression on Natsuya's face, and her eyes were as still as water.

Seiji was rendered speechless. He was caught off guard by this sudden cannon attack!

This sentence combined with the beautiful president's current expression seemed just like cheating! A series of difficult-to-describe emotions welled up within him: his insides burned, yet he felt somewhat stifled, and even itchy.

"I… you're quite familiar with my face already. There's not much to look at." Seiji averted his gaze.

Natsuya's heart began beating even quicker when she saw how embarra.s.sed Seiji was.

She didn't know why she had this sudden impulse, but she did, and couldn't help but follow her heart and voice her thoughts.

Although she was somewhat embarra.s.sed inside a corner of her heart, at the current moment, the urge to follow her impulse had far surpa.s.sed her embarra.s.sment.

"Yes, I'm quite familiar with your face, but no matter how familiar I am with it, I can't get enough."

'Just what am I saying! Me of all people!' Natsuya berated herself even as she said this.

An embarra.s.sed voice protested from the corner of her heart. However, this voice was far too weak and didn't accomplish anything at all.

Seiji's body froze solid from this second sudden cannon attack. After that, he felt his head being pulled down by her hands, and he collapsed.

His head fell into something soft.

The soft sensation, faint aroma, and comfortable feeling caused Seiji's mind to go blank for several seconds. Finally, he realized what was happening to him.

This pose, this experience… could it be the legendary… lap pillow!?