SH – Chapter 20 – The man who starts a club

After saying our goodbyes at the orphanage, Maria and I returned back to the school. 

Right now it was after school, so there weren’t as many people around to see us. I quickly brought Maria to an empty classroom.

This classroom had been prepared for us by the student council at my request.

It seemed to have been cleaned properly as if they were welcoming us.

“Um, do we have some business in this empty room? …Huh?! Maybe this is a confession?!” (Maria)

“No, it’s not that. I mean, I do think you’re cute, Maria, but it’s not a confession.” (Louis)

“Oh… So that means you’re going to attack me, right? You’re going to strip me down and say, ‘Guhehe, sis (nee-chan), you’ve got some good stuff there,’ aren’t you?” (Maria)

…You know, I have gradually come to understand something recently—Maria has some wild fantasies sometimes.

Due to her position as a saint, she has been practicing abstinence¹, which seems to have led to her developing these twisted fantasies.

The stress from her constant volunteer work might have also pushed her further in that direction.

I suspect that the reason she brought me to her room and nursed me when we first met was also because of these fantasies.

Even in the games, she didn’t display this part of her personality much, but now that I think about it, she did subtly hint at it from time to time.

“I would never do something like that…! And are you aware of what ‘good stuff’ even means?!” (Louis)

“I thought my first time would be with someone I love, but to be taken in such a forceful and tainted way…” (Maria)

“Did you hear what I said!? I told you I am not going to do that!” (Louis)

When I panicked and shouted, Maria tilted her head with a bewildered expression.

“Eh? You won’t do it? I didn’t think Louis-san was such a pushover.” (Maria)

“I’m sorry for being a pushover! Or rather, are you purposely encouraging me to do it?” (Louis)

I never thought I would end up playing the straight man in this situation…

After hearing my words, Maria inexplicably blushed and looked away.

“Louis-san, you shouldn’t say that. These things are better left unsaid even if you secretly desire them. It adds to the atmosphere.” (Maria)

“What kind of atmosphere are you talking about?! Isn’t this the atmosphere of an R-18 doujinshi!” (Louis)

After making that retort, I took a deep breath and sighed.

I realized that I would be spending a lot of time in this room with her in the future.

If this continues any longer, my sanity won’t hold out.

“Well, for now, let’s forget about it. We’ll leave that for next time—” (Maria)

“You sure are looking forward to it.” (Louis)

“—So, what are we going to do in this room?” (Maria)

My retort was smoothly ignored as Maria asked the question I was waiting to hear.

Finally, we were getting to the main topic.

I took a deep breath and stood in front of the long table at the back of the room.

“We’re going to start a new club from here! I’ll be the club president, and for now, the only member is Maria!” (Louis)

“…What kind of club is it?” (Maria)

“The club name is still temporary, but it’s called the ‘Saint-sama’s Advice Club.’ In essence, we’re going to turn what Maria has been doing all this time into a club, helping everyone with their problems.” (Louis)

There are two benefits to turning this into a club.

Firstly, Maria herself can add structure to her volunteer work. She has always seen her volunteer work as part of her daily life. However, by turning it into a club activity, she can perceive it as being part of club activities instead. Hopefully, this will somewhat help in changing her thinking process over time.

Secondly and most importantly, it will be easier for me to manage all the requests that Maria receives. After all, I’m the club president.

This means that any requests she receives have to be filtered through me first.

However, Maria tilted her head with a somewhat confused expression as she listened to my words.

“Is it really necessary to turn it into a club?” (Maria)

For now, I don’t need to honestly explain all the benefits I’m thinking of to Maria, so I evade the question.

“Well, this way, Maria’s actions will become more recognized, and there will be more people to seek your help, right?” (Louis)

“Indeed, that makes sense… Alright, let’s do our best then!” (Maria)

Wow, she accepted it so quickly.

But it really worries me how easy she is.

I do think that Maria should be a bit more sensitive to other people’s intentions.

Anyways, for now, I took out a large stack of blank sheets of paper and some pens from my bag.

“Now then, let’s get started with some club-like activities!” (Louis)

“Ohh! That sounds fun. It feels like we are living our youth to the fullest.” (Maria)

It certainly feels incredibly youthful.

Ugh, that thought is reviving some old scars from my previous life…

It reminds me of my gray high school days.

“…First, let’s start with making posters. We need to make everyone aware of our activities.” (Louis)

“That’s a good idea. It’s time for me to make good use of my artistic skills.” (Maria)

For some reason, Maria suddenly seemed motivated.

But, when you think about it, it kinda fits with the saint-like image so she probably does have some artistic skills.

I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of posters she’ll create.

“Alright then, let’s each make a poster! We can show each other what we made later.” (Louis)

“Hehe, please look forward to it, Louis-san.” (Maria)

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TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

Somehow I feel that Maria was serious about the MC pushing her down thing. 

In other news, I didn’t expect NU to already transfer to my new website so soon. Anyways, how is it? Since I hard-coded this (except the theme) there is still some buggy stuff like the sidenav constantly disappearing and appearing when click the green comment icon thing below. Idk how to fix it, it’ll probably take some time to diagnose.

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Footnote:

1. Abstinence means not doing any kind of sexual stuff with anyone