The arrogant young lady in the class works as a maid in my house

"Okay, thank you!"

Haruru immediately took a big bite and smiled happily.

"Ah, so delicious~!"

After seeing the innocent and beautiful girl's satisfied expression, Himeno went back to eat with her friends.

Haruru leaned close to Shinnosuke's ear and whispered:

"Hey, Agatsuma-san, did you do something to make Hime-chan dislike you?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"I think Hime-chan is pretty strict with you."

Shinnosuke suddenly realized.

After interacting with Himeno more frequently, he was already accustomed to her cold yet assertive demeanor. Not to mention the conversation just now, Shinnosuke knew she was doing it to save him from his own helplessness. So, he didn't think she was overbearing at all.

"Hmm...I don't think so."

"Right……"

Haruru looked at Shinnosuke and Himeno with a puzzled expression.

(After all, Nanfeng saw me leaving the library earlier, so I have to be careful not to arouse her suspicion.)

Shinnosuke's nerves tensed.

*

After everyone finished their lunch boxes, they each spent the rest of their lunch break.

Several girls were flipping through idol magazines. They suddenly started whispering to each other while looking at one of them. Then, for some reason, they glanced at Himeno, who was sitting a distance away from them. Then, after reading the contents of the magazine, they exclaimed, "Really?"

What are they doing?

Shinnosuke was a bit curious, but Himeno herself didn't seem to notice and was chatting with her friends.

Haruru seemed to have noticed it as well, she stood up and walked over to the gathered girls.

"Hey, what happened? Is it something funny?"

"Ah, Minamikaze-san. Look at this."

"Hmm? What?"

The girl was holding an idol magazine that had just been released yesterday.

"Don't you think the maid above looks like Nishikawa-san? Could it be her?"

Shinnosuke was shocked when he heard the word "maid". He was really interested in what they were looking at.

Haruru denied the girls' words and said, "Really...it can't be her." After hearing this, the girls also said, "That's true" and laughed.

I thought the topic would end here, but the boys heard the commotion and came over.

“What what?”

"Hey, show us too."

After taking the magazine from the girl, it was the boys' turn to flip through the magazine.

"Oh, really. They're exactly the same!"

"Oh, this can't be her."

"So cute!"

The classroom became noisy.

In order to stop everyone from making a fuss, Haruru shouted:

"Everyone, stop talking. Isn't it rude to Hime-chan to say such things casually?"

Things had developed to this point, and Jino also realized that everyone was talking about her, so she walked towards where everyone was gathered.

Shinnosuke, who had been pretending not to know, also approached the gathering place as if nothing had happened.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ah, Nishikawa-san. We were talking about this."

After seeing the magazine handed over by the girl, Jinai froze in place.

Shinnosuke also peeked over from the side.

Published in the magazine was actually an advertisement for a maid-style company.

The idol magazine's target readers are young women, so they placed a recruitment advertisement in it and included photos of several employees wearing maid outfits.

One of them is undoubtedly Ji Nai herself.

To Shinnosuke, it was Himeno, who looked very familiar with the maid outfit.

Compared to others, he thought Himeno was particularly cute. But now was not the time to leisurely ponder such matters.

Jino seemed to be completely unaware of the advertisement and her eyes widened.

"Hey, Nishikawa-san. I think it's impossible, but is this you?"

The girl who brought the magazine asked. Jino shook her head in panic.

"How, how could it be me?"

"That's true. It can't be a princess."

As expected of the unattainable and adored Jine. As long as she firmly denies it, no one will continue to ask if it is her.

However, because they were so similar, and Jinai's panicked denial, some people in the distance began to talk in low voices.

"Even though she denies it, it's actually her, right?"

"The princess's attitude is very strange. It's really suspicious."

"It's so outrageous that the young lady is actually working as a maid. I really want to see it!"

Although these words were not spoken directly to Jino, the content of the conversation also reached Jino's ears.

Seeing everyone's heated discussion, Jinai became even more flustered. Her face turned pale, her lips trembled, and she stood there, not knowing what to do.

(Oh no. If we continue this discussion, Injichuan will really become suspicious.)

Shinnosuke walked up to the boy holding the magazine and snatched it from his hand.

"Let me take a look too. Oh, it really does look like it."

"I'll tell you what I'm saying."

The students around him were surprised to see the usually low-key Shinnosuke's sudden action.

The same thing happened to Jino. She stood there in a daze, not knowing what was going on.

"But you said this is the Nishigawa River? Hahaha, that's impossible!"

"Why are you so sure it's not her, Azuma?"

"Because Nishikawa is a very proud young lady. There's no way she'd be a maid, even if the world were turned upside down!"

Shinnosuke spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.

After listening to this, everyone said in agreement, "Yeah" and "That's right." But right after that, the previously noisy classroom suddenly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

(Huh? What's going on?)

Confused, Shinnosuke looked around and saw that his classmates were all looking behind them for some reason.

“Eh…?”

Shinnosuke turned around to look at where everyone was looking, and saw—

Ji Nai stood there with his hands on his waist, looking fierce and aggressive.

"Azuma-san, what did you mean by that?"

“Ah… uh…”

Jino asked in a tone as cold as a blizzard, and the classroom seemed to have suddenly entered an ice age.

"Rest in peace, my wife." "My condolences." "I will never forget you."

Mourners for Shinnosuke were heard from all over the classroom.

(Am I dead?)

Ding-dong-dang-dong

Although Shinnosuke had already made up his mind, the bell for the end of lunch break rang at that moment.

Fortunately, everyone dispersed and returned to their seats.

"Never mind, I'll let you off this time. Don't ever say that again."

"Okay... I understand."

Shinnosuke shrugged and lowered his head.

Seeing how angry Jino was, the classmates no longer had the energy to doubt whether she was a maid.

On the other hand, Shinnosuke's opinion was quite convincing, and no one in the class talked about the magazine ad since then.

◇ ◆ ◇

It's next Sunday, and today is the day that Jinai comes to serve.

Although Shinnosuke's actions were intended to dispel everyone's suspicion that Himeno was a maid, his actions angered Himeno. This was the first Sunday since the incident.

Shinnosuke didn't get a chance to speak to Himeno after that incident, so it's unclear how angry she was.

(Ninshigawa must be very unhappy... Oh, this makes me depressed.)

Shinnosuke waited for Himeno's arrival with this feeling, just like a prisoner counting down to his execution.

(But it's been a while now, so maybe Jinshikawa's mood has improved. Besides, I did that to keep her part-time job secret, so she probably won't be too angry. Yeah, that must be the case. There's no doubt about it.)↑

(No, but maybe there’s a better way. If I criticize Nishikawa in front of everyone, she’ll definitely be unhappy no matter what… Ahhh, so depressing.)↓

(Illustration 012)

(Ah, but… no, there’s no point in overthinking it. Apologize properly if you need to. Even if she’s still angry after you apologize, give her a good scolding like a man.)↑

Shinnosuke's mood goes up (↑) and down (↓), as busy as a roller coaster ride.

Time soon came to eleven o'clock as usual, and the doorbell rang.

Shinnosuke unlocked the door from the inside with a click, and Himeno opened it from the outside. By this point, they were both very familiar with the procedure and performed it in perfect sync.

Himeno stepped into the entrance hall, raising Shinnosuke's tension to its maximum.

"Hello there."

Jinai was still wearing her coat, and her expression and tone were very cold.

It was still impossible to tell what Himeno was feeling at this moment, which only made Shinnosuke even more nervous.

"Ah, um, hello."

"Azuma-san, I want to ask you about that incident..."

"W-What?"

Shinnosuke stood straight and motionless like an elementary school student being scolded by his mother.

"Nishikawa is an extremely proud young lady. There's no way she'd want to be a maid, even if the world were turned upside down. Do you really believe what I'm saying?"

Jino's cheeks and temples twitched.

(I did ask! She's really angry about what I said. This is bad.)

"I, I don't think that at all. In fact, Nishikawa has always been doing her maid work for me with dedication, right? I said those words just to dispel everyone's doubts. Although there may be a better way to put it, I can't think of it at the moment. I'm sorry to upset you!"

Shinnosuke didn't know if Himeno would forgive him, but after telling her his true feelings, he suddenly lowered his head and apologized. He maintained this posture for a long time.

"Well, since you've come this far, Azuma-san... I'll forgive you."

Although her tone was a bit condescending, her voice was trembling.

Shinnosuke looked up in surprise. Himeno's words had been forceful, but now she looked as if she was about to cry. No, her eyes were indeed watering.