Did she just… say that?
That was the voice in Kanade Natsukawa's head. Loud, confused, and accompanied by the cartoonish sound effect of a giant question mark popping over his head. He blinked. Once. Twice.
He was, in a word, baffled.
It wasn't every day someone like Kaguya Shinomiya said something like that to him—"If you're concerned, wouldn't it be better for the president to check himself?"—a phrase that carried the weight of flirtation, provocation, and innocent ambiguity all rolled into one. His brain immediately started spinning like a hamster wheel on turbo mode.
What… was that supposed to mean?
Was she teasing him? Testing him? Or was she being serious and just didn't think twice about the implications? Maybe she really didn't mind that level of contact. After all, back during the challenge when she got injured, he had carried her on his back without her protesting too much.
Compared to that, checking her foot wasn't a big deal… right?
"Haa…" Kanade let out a quiet breath, brushing the back of his head awkwardly. "Okay then… I'll help you check it out."
With that simple nod, he crossed the invisible line of no return.
Kaguya Shinomiya's mind, in contrast, was in total panic mode.
Ehh?! He actually agreed?! Wait wait wait—what am I supposed to do now?!
She had only said it on impulse! A stray line that slipped past her usual iron-tight self-restraint. It wasn't like she had prepared herself for the president actually responding seriously!
Her heart beat like a taiko drum in her chest. Doki doki… doki doki…
Yes, he had carried her before. Yes, he had treated her injured hand. But this—this was different! This wasn't some forced circumstance or medical emergency. This was pure choice. No narrative excuse. Just two people in a quiet room and the invisible tension thickening in the air like a fluffy shoujo manga panel full of sparkles.
Still… she couldn't back down now.
If she let this opportunity go to waste, what would all her courage up to this point even mean?
And besides… wasn't it said that some people had that kind of ashi fetisshu? (Foot fetish) Not that she was implying anything about Kanade-senpai, but… if it helped them grow closer, maybe it was okay to gamble just a little bit… just a little!
So, swallowing her nerves like bitter medicine, Kaguya Shinomiya gave a barely perceptible nod.
"Mm..."
She agreed.
Well, sort of.
She agreed in that Kaguya way where her entire body language was screaming "please don't look at me," while her pride forced her to act calm and collected. Taking initiative was out of the question. Absolutely impossible. Even thinking about it made her ears turn red.
Luckily, Natsukawa Kanade was not the kind of guy to rush things. He wasn't the type to say "Come on, hurry up," or make any weird requests. He was the president, after all—a man of culture.
Since the coffee table had already been cleared, it would've been awkward to examine her foot on top of it, so Kanade simply stood up, circled the table, and sat down beside her on the sofa. He even made sure to leave a small space between them, clearly showing he had no pervy intentions.
It was now or never.
Kaguya gulped silently and tensed like a soldier on the battlefield. Then, as if operating under remote control, she slowly reached down with trembling hands and slipped off one of her indoor shoes.
Thud.
The soft noise echoed in the quiet room like a gunshot.
Then came the second one.
Thud.
Kanade Natsukawa blinked. His gaze flicked from the floor to Kaguya's legs, and a small frown of confusion tugged at the corner of his lips.
Wait... wasn't it just one foot that was injured?
Why did she take off both shoes?
Before he could ask, Kaguya, as if trying to seal her own fate, slowly extended both legs toward him. Not dramatically, not seductively—just with the careful stiffness of someone trying not to die from embarrassment.
Kanade didn't say anything at first. He simply stared, a slow realization dawning on him.
Wait… shouldn't she also take off her socks?
For some reason, she had stopped halfway, leaving the short white socks on, and now her toes—delicate, elegant, and somehow expressive—were twitching slightly inside the fabric. They tapped rhythmically, like they were playing out a secret message in Morse code.
It was… oddly cute.
Those toes… they're kinda flexible. Could they… do math?
An absurd thought. He pushed it aside. They were in high school, after all. Mental arithmetic using toes was already out of date.
Kanade inhaled slowly, then exhaled. He remained silent for a while longer, not because he was unsure of what to do, but because he didn't know how to say it without it sounding weird. Surely Kaguya must've just forgotten about the socks. That had to be it. But she was still staring at him like he was the one who was supposed to do something.
Was she waiting?
Well, in that case…
Kaguya is smart, he told himself. She must have her reasons.
With that thought anchoring his mind, Natsukawa Kanade brushed aside his lingering doubts and got to work.
Strangely enough—though he hadn't once harbored strange thoughts during moments like these—this would now be the third time he had helped remove a girl's socks or stockings.
First, it was Kasumigaoka-senpai's tights. Then Yukinoshita's black stockings. And now… Kaguya's cute, short, black socks. It sounded ridiculous when he laid it out like that. Was this some kind of hidden route in a dating sim game? He could almost hear the ding! of an achievement notification in his mind: "Achievement Unlocked: Sock Collector Lv.3."
Honestly, it was getting hard not to feel like he was unintentionally building a very niche résumé.
Of course, the vibe had been completely different in each situation.
Kasumigaoka-senpai's was… a bit intense. He'd been slightly irritated at the time, and his movements reflected that—decisive, a little rough, definitely leaning into the "ecchi" zone. And with tights, the act felt dangerously close to committing a crime. Just pulling them off had felt scandalous.
Then there was Yukinoshita. That had been an emergency. He didn't have time to think about anything other than his fear and concern. There was no room for unnecessary emotion, only a head full of frantic thoughts and urgency.
But this time… this time was different.
He had mental space. Emotional bandwidth. And that was dangerous. Because it let his thoughts wander—just a little.
"I never noticed before, but Kaguya's socks are really tiny and cute.""Oh? There's even a little animal face embroidered on the ankle… is that a rabbit?"
These small, almost mundane observations began popping up in his head like idle background noise. His hands, however, moved steadily. When his fingers made contact with the soft cotton of her sock, he gave it a firm but gentle tug.
It might've been a bit too abrupt.
Because the moment the fabric started sliding down, Kaguya flinched, her leg instinctively twitching in retreat. The muscles in her calf briefly tensed—so much so that Kanade could feel it under his palm.
He paused.
Thankfully, she didn't reflexively kick him in the face. That would've been the real achievement unlocked: "KO'd by a Classmate's Roundhouse."
"Lift it up a bit. I can't really see clearly like this," he murmured, his tone neutral but kind.
Kaguya's injury had been around the ankle area, and the way they were sitting—facing each other—made it a little awkward to examine.
"Mm…" Kaguya responded softly, voice barely above a whisper.
Her face was already a healthy shade of red, but now it deepened to full anime heroine blush mode. The shame hadn't gone away at all. In fact, with Kanade's hands actually touching her bare skin, it was intensifying at alarming speed.
To be honest, she hadn't planned on having him take off her socks. She'd just been too nervous to move, too distracted by what came next. By the time she noticed that Kanade's hand had slid up her calf to do the job himself, it was already too late.
Her heart melted at the warmth of his palm. Her limbs turned to jelly. Before she knew it, she was just following his pace.
Still, she obediently lifted her leg slightly, keeping her balance with practiced ease. She had some yoga experience and decent flexibility, so holding a single raised leg pose wasn't hard.
From her perspective, it was only natural that the president—her president!—would support her leg for a better look.
But from her point of view…
"!"
Wh-What is the president doing?!
Why was he suddenly gripping her calf like that?!
W-Wait… he's not going to kiss her foot, is he?! That's going way too fast! Shouldn't they at least wait until she's washed it properly first?!
Her thoughts spiraled wildly as Kanade leaned closer—unintentionally closing the gap between them as he focused on inspecting her ankle. His head tilted slightly, eyes narrowing with serious concentration.
Kaguya was nearly hyperventilating.
This pose… this proximity… it was far too dangerous!
From the outside, it looked like a scene straight out of a romantic drama anime—one of those moments that happened right before the "accidental kiss" trope hit full throttle.
Just as the tension peaked…
"WHAT are you two doing in the student council room?!"
BAM!
A shout exploded from the doorway like a flashbang.
The two stiffened immediately, like deer caught in the headlights. Kanade and Kaguya turned sharply toward the source of the voice—and sighed in mixed relief when they saw who it was.
It was just Iino Miko, another member of the student council.
Phew… at least it wasn't a teacher. That would've been an instant game over.
Still, Kanade couldn't help the creeping embarrassment rising up his spine. Why hadn't he thought to close the door? Aah, baka…! But wait—why should he have to close the door in the first place? They hadn't been doing anything indecent!
Totally. Innocent. Situation.
Right?
"I think you're misunderstanding," Kanade said quickly, trying to sound composed. "I was just checking Kaguya-san's injury. She twisted her ankle earlier."
He kept his tone professional, his expression sincere. Iino's sharp eyes softened just a touch, but her face still wore that I'm not entirely buying this expression she was famous for.
"Even so… even if you're checking an injury… isn't this kind of posture a little too much?" she said, gesturing vaguely toward them.
Kanade blinked, then instinctively glanced down at his hands—which were still gently supporting Kaguya's raised leg—and then at Kaguya herself. From his angle, it looked perfectly fine. Completely normal medical care. No big deal.
But then—oh.
From where Iino stood, all she could see over the back of the sofa were their upper bodies… and the way his hand seemed to be lifting Kaguya's leg. The rest of the context was hidden. Yeah. That would definitely look suspicious.
"I swear, it's really not what it looks like," Kanade began to explain, scratching the back of his head. "The injured area is near her ankle, so unless she lifts her leg a bit, I can't see it properly…"
"Then why didn't you just change your position?" Iino countered, arms crossed. "You could've checked it just fine from the side, couldn't you?"
Kanade opened his mouth to respond… and no sound came out.
She had a point. A completely reasonable, hard-to-refute point.
"…You're right," he finally muttered with an awkward chuckle, nodding sheepishly. "That was… not my brightest moment."
The plan had been simple. A quiet, uninterrupted moment. But now that a third party had entered the scene, there was no salvaging the mood. Kanade quickly wrapped things up, his voice calm and clinical.
"There's no major swelling. The redness has gone down, so with a bit more rest, it should heal completely. Just don't do anything too intense for a few days."
He stood up smoothly, returning to his usual seat. As he did, he tossed Kaguya's socks back to her with a casual flick of the wrist—an elegant little motion that somehow still held a trace of awkward charm.
In the shadow of the couch, where Iino couldn't see, Kaguya lowered her head slightly. Without saying a word, she quietly pulled her socks back on, her elegant, composed aura noticeably dimmed.
The truth was, when the shout had echoed through the door moments ago, her heart had nearly stopped. A sudden surge of guilt had risen—like a child caught red-handed. But there had been a strange thrill in it too. A weird, fluttering excitement she couldn't quite explain.
And now… she was still caught in that lingering aftertaste.
Of course, Iino Miko couldn't read all that from her expression alone.
Once she settled on the couch, Iino subtly scanned the room again. She noted that everyone's clothes were intact, no buttons askew, and there was no questionable scent in the air.
But still… this atmosphere.
It was off.
Something wasn't adding up.
She tried to shake the strange feeling in her chest—a bubbling discomfort, as if watching two people become close stirred something unpleasant inside her.
Hmph!
Well, she was the disciplinary committee's shining star, after all. And she had sworn to crack down on all impure relationships—no exceptions! Even if the offenders were two of the most respectable senpai she knew.
It was lucky she'd dropped by today, really. Who knows what this sacred student council room might've become without her divine intervention? Hah… these shameless senpai!
And so, for the next several minutes, she launched a full surveillance operation, her gaze bouncing from Kanade to Kaguya like a security drone set to maximum vigilance.
Kanade felt the hairs on his neck stand up. That stare… It brought back memories. Painful memories. Back when Iino had first joined the council, she'd watched him like this too—as if she were one step away from slapping handcuffs on him.
He hadn't forgotten.
He'd even spent her birthday with her, hadn't he?! A nice, peaceful afternoon… and yet, here she was again, treating him like some two-bit delinquent. Why? What had he done to deserve this eternal suspicion?
She doesn't even call me senpai anymore… This is bullying!
Thankfully, before the tension could escalate into another awkward scene, salvation arrived.
"Yaho~! Secretary Fujiwara has entered the building!"
Like a walking burst of cotton-candy chaos, Fujiwara Chika burst into the room with sparkles practically trailing behind her. Her bright smile immediately shattered the heavy atmosphere.
"Huh? Why is everyone so quiet? Did something happen? Were you fighting?!"
Her eyes darted between the trio, head tilted like a confused puppy.
"Fighting's no good, you know! We're student council members—we should all get along!" she declared, puffing her chest proudly.
"Anyway! It's times like these when a game is absolutely necessary! To lighten the mood and strengthen bonds!"
Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief as she clapped her hands together, practically bouncing on her heels.
"So, conclusion? Let's play a game!"
Kanade stared at her, deadpan.
"…You know, that atmosphere just now? It actually wasn't so bad."
Can you go back out, Fujiwara-san? Just for five minutes? Onegai…