Motivated to be lazy

Chapter 12

I am about to make a grave mistake. I'm about to do something that I swore that I would never do.

It's been two days since the luncheon with Ichinose where she adamantly stood up to me and insisted that she would help with Sudo's case regardless of what I thought. I reluctantly gave my blessing telling her not to get caught, but not for the reasons you would think.

I was concerned. Not for anyone else but for my own well being. You see, I was worried that if I put my foot down and told her she couldn't do it, she would do so anyway and perhaps stop working in protest. Forced between a rock and a hard place, I gave my blessing, telling her to not get caught for my own selfish reasons. So that she would be grateful and continue to do our work.

Which is why I have a problem. I am about to do something that I swore with every fiber of my being that I would not do simply out of concern for my beloved Secretary.

For lack of a better way of putting it, she was thoroughly exhausted. She was the leader of Class B, helping Eiichiro, Horikita and Kushida with Sudo's case and doing all of our office work. She had the slightest beginnings of bags under her eyes and she was dragging her feet when she walked in and took her seat at the desk today.

Observing her, I fought myself. This was a monumental task for me, it was incredibly difficult for me to make this decision. Would this set a precedent? Would there be expectations? How should I go about this if the proverbial ball started rolling?

I laid on my spot on the couch contemplating my life choices, wondering if this would be a terrible mistake. It would be the beginning of a sad existence if I made a poor choice without thinking it through carefully. I wasn't sure if this went badly, if I would be able to recover from such a monumental blunder.

I took a glance at Ichinose as she stifled yet another yawn. Not a single complaint. She was fighting to keep her eyes open. Should I do this? Could I do this? What would be the worst possible scenario?

Steeling my resolve, I made my decision. I could accept this. If this was the start of an expectation, at the very least it would be something I accept. She had started to become more than my Secretary, she was my friend. And in moments when they are in need, friends help each other.

It was impossible not to see her as such, I spent more time with her than anyone else at this point. Even more than Eiichiro. I stared at the Light Novel in my hands, wondering if I was really going to go through with this.

I started to make my move only to relax again. This was difficult. Incredibly difficult. Why was I being like this? I should just do it. Like one conquering their fear of heights at the edge, with a bungee cord attached, just go and accept the life experience and allow gravity to do the rest of the work.

It was as though I was a recovering alcoholic. My hands were shaking and my eyes were quivering wondering if this was really what I wanted to do. As mentioned before, it was an incredibly dangerous precedent to set.

The first step really is the hardest to take. Perhaps if I just force myself, then momentum would take over and it would be easy to just continue on to the next step and onward.

Realizing I was just being a coward, I made my decision.

I got up from the couch and moved to the kitchen area to make her coffee.