After the evening shift is over, it's time for school to get out again.

After saying hello to Naruse, Naoko hurriedly packed her things and prepared to go to the ministry.

Next week is the cultural festival, and the club is getting busier.

Before she could go downstairs, she met Hikaru Takikawa at the corner of the stairs.

The latter was more anxious to bury herself upstairs than she was to go downstairs, stepping two or three steps in one step, and the two almost bumped into each other.

“…… Light. ”

"Naoko! I'm sorry, I'm sorry~"

Hikaru Takikawa stood on the steps of the lower staircase, and he could also look at her, "I forgot my phone in the classroom." ”

"I see." Naoko grabbed the handrail, "But be careful when going up the stairs." ”

"I see." Takigawa Hikaru smiled slightly, "Is Naoko going to the ministry?" ”

"Hmm."

Those who went upstairs continued to go upstairs, and those who went downstairs had not yet walked through the corner of the stairs when they were suddenly stopped again.

"Naoko—"

Naoko turned her head, and before she could see it clearly, Hikaru Takikawa had already come to her, as if she was stepping on a skateboard, and under the skateboard was not a stairway, but a smooth slope.

She lowered her voice as she spoke, and her body naturally leaned in, "I heard from a friend that Naoko has been in some trouble with the handicraft club recently. ”

“……”

Naoko gave her a surprised look.

"Are you alright?" Hikaru Takikawa then asked.

Naoko shook her head, "It's okay. ”

Takikawa Hikaru thought for a while, and then said, "If there is any misunderstanding, I know quite a few people, so I can say a few words for Naoko." ”

"Thank you."

Naoko straightened up, then bent over her again, and looked up again with the same smile on her face that she couldn't have been more familiar with.

"The kindness of the light, I feel it. If I need it, I'll definitely come to Hikari for help. ”

Hikaru Takikawa also smiled, "That's good." ”

The two parted ways again.

Watching Hikaru Takikawa disappear above the stairs, Naoko also continued to descend the stairs.

"Even the light noticed...... Have you been making too much trouble lately? ”

Went down to the second floor, through the connecting corridor between the main building and the annex building, and came to the department of the handicraft club.

Some of them looked at her with kindness, either softly or warmly.

"Naoko is here."

"Good afternoon~"

"Naoko Naoko, come and see my ...... here"

Some eyes are full of undisguised malice, disgust and disdain, but they have been pestering her and refusing to let go.

"Look, Minister Naoko of the Handicraft Society is here, everyone get up and bow down-"

Takahashi waved to the left and right, signaling them to do what they said, but he sat down and raised an eyebrow at Naoko, who was looking at him.

"You don't have to bow, you just shut up, people who don't know still think it's a cloaca."

Rina Ogawa squinted at her, then ignored it and took Naoko's hand.

“……”

Takahashi Tomoyo's face turned cold all of a sudden, and then he quietly asked the first-grade girl next to him what the cloaca meant.

"That, senior sister...... I don't know! ”

Naoko didn't care about the movement over there, said a few words to Rina Ogawa, and then came to her place and sat down.

The gaze that came from it gradually decreased, but it was not completely gone, and Naoko sighed inwardly.

The closer you get to the cultural festival, the more turbulent the craft society becomes.

In the past half a month, the various factions divided by different hobbies have basically merged into the two new camps, either actively or passively;

One faction is the "This Flower Department" headed by her, and the other faction is naturally the "Takahashi Department" led by Tomoyo Takahashi, who is the most active in targeting her.

I don't know when the rumors that she will take over as the next minister have intensified, and the dissatisfied Takahashi Tomoyo has become more undisguised against her, which naturally has caused more fierce resistance from "this flower system".

The Handicraft Society has not yet been divided, and it has already been divided.

Of course, the struggle, although fierce, was limited to words and attitudes.

What has changed is the atmosphere in the community, and what has not changed is that all members of the craft club still have to work together for the cultural festival.

Retracting her thoughts, Naoko took out the fabric she had brought and began to sew the task that had suddenly been assigned to her last week—to sew some small animals for the paper apple tree as a foil.

A figure slowly approached and stopped beside her.

Naoko looked up, "Minister." ”

"How's it going?" Ritsuko Sugiyama gestured to the puppet in her hand.

"By the end of the week, it's all done."

"Yes. It's important, but it's also important to take breaks. ”

"Okay."

She didn't stay long, but quickly walked over to the other handicraft officer, and said something about the same.

Naoko looked at her twice more before bowing her head and continuing.

In this turmoil, only Ritsuko Sugiyama, the current head of the Handicraft Society, has always been neutral, and rarely speaks to the evil words on both sides, as if she is wholeheartedly preparing for the cultural festival;

As for her to take over as minister, no one has ever asked openly in the community, and Ritsuko Sugiyama has never publicly given any clear answer.

"Naoko—"

Suddenly, a girl on the other side of the department called her, "Come and see this." ”

Naoko got up and walked over, picked up the fabric in her hand and looked at it.

"It feels good."

"yes. I want to use this fabric to sew the torso, what do you think? ”

"Okay. This fabric is also very elastic......"

"Hey." Tomoyo Takahashi, who was sitting two or three meters away, suddenly turned around.

Naoko tugged at the fabric lightly, without lifting her eyelids.

"Hey, this flower, call you."

Only then did she look over, "Senior Sister Takahashi." ”

Takahashi Tomoyo half-turned, his arm resting on the strangely shaped table in the back seat.

"Hasn't your concubine been here for a long time? Could it be that the last time I dated a dozen girls was discovered, and I didn't have the face to come, right? ”

Naoko lowered her head halfway and looked at the girl who called her over, "Did you buy this kind of material at the fabric store in Tashiro Town?" ”

Ignored by her like this, Takahashi's heart was on fire, and he suddenly raised his voice:

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Naoko glanced at her, "I don't understand what Senpai is talking about. ”

"Poof."

I don't know where an uncontrollable snicker came from.

Boom!

Takahashi slapped the table and stood up.

"It won't be because there are rumors that you want to make you the minister, so you are arrogant, right? I don't even pay attention to my predecessors. ”

The entire handicraft club was quiet, and its eyes were focused on her and Shangzi.

"I didn't fail to take my predecessors seriously."

"Then why don't you answer my question?"

"I told you, I don't understand what Senior Sister is talking about."

"You ......"

"—Zhishi."

Ritsuko Sugiyama, who had been watching from the sidelines for a long time, finally spoke, "Don't make trouble, time is tight now." ”

Takahashi turned his head and glared at her for a moment, gradually calming down.

"Minister, I heard that you plan to make this flower the next minister of the Handicraft Society, is it true?"

“……”

Ritsuko Sugiyama's face flashed with a moment of annoyance.

"I didn't say anything like that."

Her words fell, followed by the whispers of the entire department.

"Yes."

Takahashi seemed to have foreseen such an outcome, and glanced at Naoko with a smug face.

She still didn't look at her, but she fell silent, clutching the piece of fabric in her hand.

"The next minister of the handicraft club should be jointly elected by the next members of the handicraft club."

Ritsuko Sugiyama looked around the department's room, and her gaze finally fell on Naoko.

"—and that's next year. Do I need to emphasize the current focus? ”

Except for Tomoyo Takahashi, who responded in a strange tone, no one spoke.

Ritsuko Sugiyama took another turn in the department and left.

"Just use this." Naoko put down the fabric in her hand and said.

"Naoko......" The girl looked at her with some concern.

"It's fine." Naoko smiled slightly.

Returning to her position and sitting for a while, the phone vibrate, she glanced at it, and suddenly wanted to laugh.

Gathering her mood, she got up and prepared to leave the department.

"Naoko." Rina Ogawa grabbed her.

"Senior sister?" Naoko lowered her body, "I'll go to the bathroom." ”

Rina Ogawa looked at her again before letting go.

"You can't hide in the toilet and cry alone."

"What did the senior sister say......

"Go ahead!" Rina Ogawa slapped her on the buttocks.

When I came to the bathroom, Ritsuko Sugiyama was waiting inside.

"Do you want to be a minister?"

“……”

There was silence for a long time before Naoko nodded.

"I'm going to be a minister no matter what."

Her tone was flat, but it contained amazing determination, and the silent person became Ritsuko Sugiyama.

"But not now."

Naoko smiled slightly.

"Yes, Minister."

"Although I ...... just now," Ritsuko Sugiyama paused, "I'll stand by this side when necessary." I can guarantee that this flower will become the next head of the handicraft club next year. ”

Naoko smiled and didn't speak.

"But now, especially now, the craft society still needs 'peace,' you understand?"

"I think the minister should tell Takahashi-sama about this."

"I will." Ritsuko Sugiyama looked at her and said, "But, this flower is here...... Can't avoid her? ”

"Does the minister mean that I don't want to come to the ministry?" Naoko asked rhetorically.

"No ......"

Ritsuko Sugiyama hesitated, but said, "I mean, the attitude that this flower had before was very appropriate. ”

"If you can bear it, you can bear it......" Naoko whispered.

Ritsuko Sugiyama wanted to nod, but she held back.

In the last two weeks, this flower Naoko has been like a docile child who has suddenly reached a rebellious period, ignoring all kinds of provocations, and occasionally even picking out loopholes in the other party's words and ridiculing each other, and even Takahashi and them have been aroused even more anger - "this flower system" has become more united in this situation - the whole community is in the same place, and she is very suspicious that her previous hints have the opposite effect.

After a brief silence, Naoko nodded.

"I'll be careful."

Naoko looked at her, "For the upcoming cultural festival." ”

Hearing this, Ritsuko Sugiyama breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart.

She really didn't look at the wrong person, this flower Shangzi is the same as her, taking care of the overall situation, and it is worth entrusting.

"Well, for the sake of the cultural festival."