I Accidentally Built a Harem of Girls Who All Hate Each Other

Leaving the library felt like walking out of a minefield I had just actively helped to arm. Shiori's radiant smile followed me, a beacon of her newfound happiness that was, to me, a flashing red warning light. Ms. Kimura's intrigued, analytical gaze felt like it was still pinned to my back. I had gone into the library seeking sanctuary and had instead blundered into another diplomatic incident.

I made it back to the classroom just as the bell rang for lunch, collapsing into my seat with a groan. My body was a wasteland of fatigue, but my mind was a screaming vortex of panic.

The moment the teacher left, Yui was at my desk. Her face was a thundercloud. She didn't say a word. She just grabbed my arm, her grip like steel, and began pulling me from the room.

"Hey! Where are we going?" I protested weakly, my legs stumbling to keep up.

"To the command center," she hissed, her voice dangerously low. "For an immediate and mandatory mission debriefing."

She dragged me through the crowded hallways, her expression so fierce that students practically dove out of our way. We ended up on the rooftop, our usual spot, the door slamming shut behind us with a definitive bang.

She finally released my arm and spun around to face me, her hands on her hips, her eyes blazing.

"'Study together'?" she quoted, her voice dripping with acid. "'I'd like that'?"

"She caught me by surprise!" I defended myself, raising my hands. "I was tired! I accidentally said something smart, and she just... invited me! I didn't want to be rude!"

"Rude?!" Yui's voice rose in pitch. "Noodle, our operational security is at stake! You are a high-value asset, not a social butterfly! What part of 'socially inert rock' was unclear to you?"

"The part where I have to crush a shy girl's feelings!" I shot back, my own frustration boiling over. "Look, Yui, I appreciate the help, I really do. But you can't micromanage every single conversation I have! I'm not a robot!"

"No, you're a harem-building black hole whose gravitational pull of 'kindness' is threatening to tear the fabric of our peaceful existence apart!" she retorted, jabbing a finger into my chest. "Miyamoto-san is already a rogue agent. Now Akiyama-san has been activated. And you were seen by another teacher! Do you have any idea how badly you compromised the mission today?"

I deflated, all the fight going out of me. She was right. From a purely strategic standpoint, I had failed on every conceivable level.

"I know," I sighed, slumping against the rooftop fence. "I'm sorry, Angel. I messed up."

Seeing my genuine exhaustion and defeat, Yui's anger seemed to dissipate, replaced by a weary sigh of her own. She walked over and stood beside me, leaning against the fence.

"I'm sorry for yelling," she said, her voice softening. "I'm just... worried. This is getting bigger than we thought. Kujou is one thing. But now you have all these other people watching you. It's too many variables."

"Tell me about it," I mumbled. "I feel like the main character in a badly written light novel."

She managed a small smile at that. "Well, at least you have a good handler." She opened her bento box. "Here. Eat. You need to keep your strength up."

She handed me a perfectly fried piece of chicken karaage. As I ate, we fell into a comfortable silence, the silence of two soldiers in a foxhole, catching a moment of peace between battles.

"So, what's our next move?" I asked after a while. "Regarding Shiori... Akiyama-san."

Yui tapped her chin thoughtfully. "We can't just tell you to ghost her. That would be cruel, and it would raise suspicion. So, we control the narrative. If you have to 'study' with her, it will be in the main library. In public. For a clearly defined and limited amount of time. And I," she added, her eyes glinting, "will be nearby, providing covert tactical support."

"You mean you're going to spy on my study date," I deadpanned.

"I mean I will be ensuring my agent's safety and maintaining mission integrity," she corrected primly.

Before I could argue, the rooftop door creaked open. My heart leaped into my throat. We both spun around, ready for a confrontation.

But it wasn't Reina. It wasn't Asuka. It wasn't even a teacher. It was one of Reina's two student council cronies, a severe-looking boy with glasses.

He walked straight up to me, ignoring Yui completely. "Tanaka-kun," he said, his voice flat and robotic. "The President requires your presence. Immediately."

Yui stepped in front of me, her body language instantly protective. "He's at lunch," she said, her voice cold. "He'll go to the Student Council office after school, as per the arrangement."

The crony did not even look at her. His gaze remained fixed on me. "The President's summons supersedes prior arrangements. You will come now."

It was a royal command, delivered by a herald. Arguing was pointless.

"It's okay, Yui," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be fine."

She looked at me, her eyes filled with worry. "Be careful," she whispered. "Remember the plan. You are a rock."

I nodded and followed the crony, leaving Yui alone on the rooftop, a silent, worried guardian watching me go.

The walk to the Student Council office was nerve-wracking. What did she want? Was my report so bad she was going to punish me further? Was it so good she was suspicious?

I entered the office. Reina was there, standing by the large bay window, looking out over the school grounds. The massive stack of my report was sitting on the corner of her desk.

"You wanted to see me, Kujou-san?" I asked, my voice cautious.

She turned around slowly. Her face was an unreadable mask, but her crimson eyes were burning with an intensity that made the hair on my arms stand up.

"I have read your report, Tanaka-kun," she said, her voice quiet and even.

"And?" I prompted, bracing myself.

"It is, without question, the single most illogical, poorly-researched, and stylistically atrocious piece of academic writing I have ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes on," she declared.

My heart sank. "Oh."

"Your translations are clumsy and rife with syntactical errors. Your analysis of Cantor's diagonalization argument is fundamentally flawed. And you seem to believe that 'existentialism' is a relevant framework for discussing axiomatic set theory, which is, frankly, laughable."

Each criticism was a perfectly aimed dart, puncturing my sleep-deprived pride.

"However," she continued, and my head snapped up.

She walked over to her desk and picked up the report. "Despite its myriad, spectacular failings... you did it. You took an impossible task, a task designed to be a lesson in futility, and you completed it. You did not quit. You did not beg. You delivered."

She looked at me, and for the first time, I saw something in her eyes other than anger, amusement, or suspicion. It was a flicker of genuine, grudging respect. The respect of one impossibly stubborn person for another.

"The debt is paid," she said, her voice firm. "And my methods have proven... ineffective. Your resilience is... anomalous."

She walked over and dropped the report into the recycling bin with a sense of finality.

"Therefore," she said, turning back to me, "the terms of your sentence are being altered. Simple supervision is no longer sufficient. Your 'detention' is hereby rescinded."

A wave of disbelief and elation washed over me. "I'm... free?"

"No," she said, shattering my hope with a single word. "You are being promoted."

"Promoted?!" I squawked.

"Your ability to inadvertently cause chaos and attract unwanted attention is a liability," she explained, her mind clearly having worked this all out. "But under controlled circumstances, it could also be... a tool. From this moment forward, you are no longer my prisoner."

She paused, letting the words hang in the air before delivering the final, devastating blow.

"You are now the provisional, probationary, acting Special Assistant to the Student Council President. You will report to me, you will carry out my direct orders, and you will be at my side for all official functions. Your chaos will now be my chaos to command. Welcome to the Student Council, Tanaka-kun."