Please Let Me Live a Lazy Life!

Extra 1: In Another World and In a Different Life

The clock on the far side of the wall ticked by the second, in rhythm with the tapping of fingers against a computer keyboard. There was a creak of a chair as a young man around the age of seventeen shifted in his curled-up position, gazing absentmindedly at the woman across the room whose glass-covered eyes were intensely focused on the display of her monitor.

The atmosphere between the two was quite peaceful, even if the door next to the woman's workspace, and desk, leading into the principal's office was not.

Tanaka blinked once in time with the ticking clock and his expression slowly became more sullen as the minutes passed. Slumping against the arms of the stiff wooden chair, his gloominess seemed more distinctive with the blooming bruise on his throbbing cheek.

His entire body was sore, and Tanaka genuinely considered the pros and cons of escaping his soon-to-be scolding by taking a nap in his 50k yen gifted bed at home or in one of his coveted nesting spots around the neighborhood and in the school, but the nagging from Tarou-sensei afterward wouldn't have been worth it. Besides, it wasn't bad hanging out with the quiet and gentle Fujioka-san, the principal's one and only secretary. At least, it was probably better than subjecting himself to the principal's piercing glare in her office.

He could hear Tarou-sensei's, their principal's, low voice, and while he couldn't discern what she was saying to the other three students that had been escorted to the main office along with himself, there was a twinge of iciness in her tone that promised torment and pain.

As the headmaster of one of the most prestigious schools in the country, she took her job very seriously. Her strict, no-nonsense attitude made it hard for bribes, flatteries, and censures to be used against her. As an educator, she treated everyone equally and was known to love her students fiercely, but that didn't mean she wasn't strict with them as well. Tarou-sensei was one of the few adults that knew how to properly scold people when they were at fault.

Tanaka didn't know why he wasn't in the principal's office himself along with the other three students since he didn't deny pulling the first punch, but it was probably because his sister wasn't here yet.

His mom was currently inspecting one of her company's branches in Shanghai. His dad was busy with his book signing at a bookstore somewhere in Hokkaido this afternoon. And Daichi should be training some new personnel that had been recruited into the JGSDF (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force) outside of the city. The only one that should have been available to come was his sister, who was supposed to be in her office at the National Diet Building, but Fujioka-san was unable to reach her, not even through her personal cell phone, so Tanaka was stuck here in the meanwhile.

As he considered taking a nap regardless of the secretary's watchful eye, the hallways outside of the lobby suddenly grew noisier. He wasn't sure what was happening outside since the windows facing the hallways were frosted white, but the commotion was loud enough to where he couldn't fall asleep easily. Usually, he would be able to take a nap despite his surroundings, noisy or otherwise, but in combination with his sore body and throbbing headache, it was difficult for him to even shut his eyes.

He hoped whatever or whoever was outside passed by quickly. Weren't they in the middle of lessons right now? Why were they so many people outside of their classrooms? But then the door next to Tanaka leading out into the hallway opened, and when Tanaka gave the intruder a sour look, his face froze in mid-pout. Immediately, he took back his previous thoughts.

Standing tall above him was a dark-skinned man with night-dark hair, but his eyes were a piercing, golden-brown color. He was cleanly shaved -- which was unusual for Tanaka since there would usually be some hairs on his lower jaws and his upper lips, but it didn't make the man next to him any less handsome or good-looking. His dark grey three-piece suit screamed money and the way the man had forgone the tie gave out a casual rogue kind of feeling. Tanaka had no doubt that the other's shoes are probably just as expensive as his clothes, but he was more concentrated on the familiar scent the man eluded: cinnamon, mint, a touch of lemon, and some turmeric.