Super Important Announcement! (April Fools Day Chapter) (1/2)

!!!NEW!!! Chapter 14 ~Part 3~

Needless to say, I couldn’t really focus on the afternoon classes. Though to be perfectly honest, I never paid that much attention to them to begin with. My sleepless condition left me with plenty of free time to study whenever I wanted to take my mind off of certain things, which happened quite often these days. There was only one problem this time: I was trying to study, but I couldn’t. I had no idea why, but I had a sense of foreboding rising in the pit of my stomach and it always broke my concentration. It must have been the stress; I concluded.

At last the final bell rang and I couldn’t help but sigh in a mixture of relief and exhaustion. The princess in front of me sprung to her feet before the chime even finished, which would have been rude to the teacher if she didn’t immediately cut herself off as usual. I almost smiled about it. I got so used to her cutting the lessons short that I didn’t even take note of it under normal circumstances.

Anyways, as I was saying, the princess stood up and glanced back at me. When our eyes met she gave me an indignant “Hmpf!” and she stormed out of the classroom. It reminded me of her behavior when she transferred, but after all the time I spent with her, her cold shoulder felt especially chilly and even a bit distressing.

I tried not to dwell too much on it and instead I waved to Judy, signaling for her to wait for me. The others left while I was packing my bag, probably expecting to meet us by the lockers, but I had other plans. I waited for my assistant to come over before I stood up as well.

“Are you available this afternoon?”

She gave me a quizzical look in turn.

“Date?”

“No,” I said while trying to keep exasperation from showing in my voice. “I’m still thinking about that.”

“You see chief, this is your problem. You are indecisive.”

I sent a critical look in her direction and followed it up with a mocking little nod.

“Noted. But back to the actual reason I wanted to talk to you: I wanted you to tell me what the princess and Snowy were fighting about so that we can figure out a way to defuse the situation.”

Judy shook her head. “I told you I promised…”

“I know,” I interrupted with a hand raised to stop her. “I know, but I cannot deal with this situation without knowing why it happened. If you cannot tell me outright, at least give me a clue.”

Judy looked around, probably to see if there were any placeholders that could overhear us talking (though I didn’t know why, those guys were still as flaky as ever and letting them hear anything wouldn’t have meant much), and gestured for me to move over to the windows, out of earshot. Once we were there she hesitated for a few seconds, but at last she took a deep breath and spoke in a hushed, though still deadpan voice.

“You are aware that Eleanor likes you, right?”

I nodded immediately. “Yeah, she is tsundere about it, but it makes it all the more obvious. What of it?”

My assistant looked at me like I just said something incredibly dumb, so I wiggled my eyebrows to urge her to continue.

“If you know that much, how can you not figure out the problem? Chief, you are supposed to be smart.”

I grimaced and rubbed my face before I spoke again.

“Fine, let’s just presume I’m an idiot. How is her liking me and her fight with Snowy related?”

“It’s because she likes you, and you are stringing her along.” My assistant finally spilled the beans with clear disapproval in her voice.

“No I’m not,” I denied immediately. “I’m just being friendly.”

“No chief, you are flirting with her. Constantly.”

“No, I’m definitely not.”

At last she shook her head and leaned even closer.

“Even if you don’t think you do, that’s what it looks like, and she certainly takes it that way.”

“But… Even if what you say is true, it shouldn’t matter. She loves Josh.”

Judy stayed silent for several seconds after this. At last she took out her phone and began tapping on it. I waited patiently for her to finish, and at last she turned the screen in my direction. It was a page from her notes, one about the tropes related to romance stories, with ‘Love Triangle’ being highlighted. I let out a scoffing laugh and shook my head.

“Oh please… Like that would happen.”

“Chief,” Judy cut me off with the utmost seriousness as she crossed her arms under her chest. “This world runs on archetypes and tropes. Can you really say this is implausible?” I opened my mouth to answer, but I thought better of it and closed it again. She was right. Damn, she was right. As if waiting for the moment to deliver the coup the grace, Judy added; “If you are still unsure, I can tell you, with one hundred percent certainty that you are in a love triangle. There is no question about that.”

I looked her in the eye and my shoulders dropped in resignation, as if on their own.

“So, that means that I am the one who caused this whole mess? Marvelous.” I exhaled sharply and shook my head to clear it. “But how am I supposed to fix that? And how is that related to Snowy? Don’t tell me she…”

And then, right in the middle of that question… suddenly Angie kicked the door in.

”Wait, how did you do that?” I asked as I looked at the aftermath. ”It's a sliding door…”

”It doesn't matter!” The not-at-all supernatural (let alone angelic) girl exclaimed with arms akimbo. ”I need to tell you something!”