Chapter 32


TL: Akabane


***


The day after I read all the manga my sister had, the next day began.


The series of quizzes that took place almost every day, began to quiet down for the time being.


In addition, I heard from those two that they didn't understand a bit of what was being taught in the extra class that many students also participated in.


That was exactly what I expected.  Since I had already done too many small quizzes and was always prepared for the real thing, so I could relax now.


I couldn't help but be impressed at how wonderful it was to take the class and go straight home afterwards.


While I was relaxing like that, the chairman approached me.


"Looks like we'll be gathering after school today.  You don't have anything else scheduled, right?"


"Yes, I don't have anything else scheduled.  It looks like the committees of the other classes will be decided in the near future."


"Oh, is it a coincidence that everyone is already planning it?   When the holidays come, everyone must be busy, so it seems like they have to decide sooner."


"Alright.  Do you know where the gathering place is?"


"Yes, I was just told earlier."


"Then, you lead the way, chairman."


Based on yesterday's conversation, Rin-chan's class was still undecided, so after hearing that we had to gather immediately today, should I tell Rin-chan first?


"I mean, I haven't heard anything about Rin-chan's class at all..."


I had never seen Rin-chan except after school, and there was no one I knew other than her.


And I also didn't ask "Where's your class?" or anything like that, so I never heard about Rin-chan's class.  If she had a homeroom teacher similar to ours, maybe she would have talked to me about it, but she didn't.


"Should I look up her class..."


I didn't want to do anything suspicious in front of the first-years.


Taking advantage of the break time, I decided to look around the first-year class area and somehow, I muttered something.


"Even though Rin-chan always comes to see me without hesitation, but I feel this nervous...."


While walking down the hallway, I thought like that.  Instead of getting confused while looking for her, it would be better to directly accuse "Don't you know where my class is?" but she would probably just say, "It's fine." while smiling.


It would probably be easier if she criticized me openly like my sister.


Well, after all, dealing with my own family would be easier than dealing with others.


From the second floor where my class was, I went down to the first floor where the first years' classes were lined up.


Since it was break time, there were many students chatting in the hallway as well as students flocking to the restroom.


"I won't be able to find her if she goes to the toilet... but, I'll still try to look for her."


While watching the students in the hallway, I checked the inside of the classroom from the open windows one by one.


If Rin-chan was there, I definitely wouldn't miss her.


"Hmm?"


I looked back as I felt like I had been lightly stabbed in the back.


"What are you doing?"


And Rin-chan was there.


"Ah, thank you.  I didn't know where your class was, and I was also worried if I couldn't find you, but thank goodness you found me."


"I see.  I think it would be good if you knew a little about me, don't you?"


"I don't have the words to answer that...."


I felt a little happy that she finally criticized me.


"It seems like you've come all the way to see me, what's up?"


"I heard that there will be a committee meeting today.  So I thought maybe after this, there would be an election in Rin-chan's class, so I wanted to tell you in advance."


"Thank you very much!  If I get elected to the committee, we'll be able to meet after school! But, what if I don't get elected?"


"You can wait for me at the usual place or go straight home, since I don't know when the meeting will be over."


"Then, if I don't get elected, can you come to the usual place after your business is done?"


"Alright.  Then, I'll be back as soon as possible."


Since we were talking in a fairly crowded place, so of course we attracted quite a lot of attention since my interlocutor was Rin-chan.


"Yes!  Ah, please remember where my class is!  I'm in the same class as Onii-san, okay? Class 2!"


"Yes, I'll remember it well."


"Ah, Rin-chan!  That guy... could he be your boyfriend?"


Just before our conversation ended, the person who was probably Rin-chan's friend approached her.


Because her friend is the same type as my sister.  So I wanted to get out of here quickly.


"No, no.  He's my best friend's brother.  My best friend is going to another school, so he's the one taking care of me here."


"Hehe, I see!  Good job, Senpai!"


"You're quite an energetic junior, yeah.  It's nice to meet you."


"Yes!  Nice to meet you too, Senpai."


No, no.  It's hard for me to communicate with her.  She's much more animated than my sister.


Rin-chan, do you always get along with people like that?  But, I was also happy to see Rin-chan having friends and having fun with them.


When I returned to class and hadn't had time to breathe a sigh of relief, the bell for the start of class rang.


***


I was relieved that the quiz was over, so I had a looser class than usual for six hours and it was time to go home.


"Alright.  Let's go, Touma!"


"Okay."


Behind the chairman who was carrying a large bag, we headed to the meeting place.


After going up to the third floor, the chairman without hesitation went straight into the special room next to the third-year class.


"Excuse me!"


"Yuka, you're early!"


"Haha, nice jokes, president!  You sound sarcastic!"


"No, no.  I'm serious!"


Once inside the special room, in front of the prepared teacher's desk, was our high school student council president, Tanaka Tagami.


Our student council president is a clean and neat woman with sunglasses.


To be honest, you could say that the aura she gave off was the opposite of the chairman's.


"Really?"


"That's right.  It would be perfect if you were to take over as the next student council president right after my term as student council president ends, right?"


"I don't want to.  Being told what to do by so many teachers is so troublesome."


"You should get rid of that thought.  Besides, there are a lot of people who trust you a lot, right?"


"Don't say that!  I mean, don't tease me!"


"Yes, yes.  Okay!"


......I was surprised by this warm atmosphere.  I mean, they felt very close to each other.


"Oh, sorry.  We were both too excited.  I'm Tagami, the student council president.  So this time, it's the committee from class 2, you two, huh?"


"That's right! Touma is reliable, so don't worry!"


"Hmm, it's rare that you praise a boy like that.  So, has it been confirmed that he's the one who will be giving the support speech for the student council president election?  Getting a recommendation from the opposite sex is a difficult thing to do, so it would be interesting if you had one."


"I don't want to answer that!"


I was surprised at the fact that the student council president really wanted the chairman to replace her.


That meant she understood the specifications of the chairman very well.


"Please take a seat and wait until all the class representatives have gathered."


"When you're ready, I'll help you, okay?"


"No, there's no need, since we won't be doing much today, so it's fine.  You guys must be tired too, so please sit down."


Hearing what the student council president said, we sat down on the seats allocated to our class.


"You guys are so close."


"Yes.  We're always together in various places.  At first, I thought we would never get along."


"I'm the same.  But, on second thought, it's funny how it's so coincidental, so we ended up becoming good friends."


"Just like Touma, she's a reliable senior who you can talk to about things that are hard to talk about.  But she always told me to join the student council."


"That's because student like Yuka are precious.  I'm sure you must think so too, right?"


"When you're done with chairman duties, you deserve to be the next student council president.  Well, hang in there."


"Touma too?!  Please deny it!"


Unfortunately, this happened because the person who was supposed to take responsibility was pushed on by those around her.  The chairman was completely involved in that flow.  So I'll just watch it quietly.


While we were talking about that, other students gradually began to arrive.


We could talk casually when there were just the three of us, but when strangers started coming, then everyone became quiet and waited until everyone had gathered.


Within 10 minutes, most of the class representatives had gathered.


There were only empty seats for first year in the front row.


"There are only a couple seats left for first year... are they still not here yet?"


Shortly after, in the quiet classroom, two footsteps could be heard running from the hallway.


"I apologize.  I got lost, that's why I'm late."


It was Rin-chan, the one who had just arrived and apologized for being late.


It looks like she managed to become a committee member according to her wish.


"No, it's okay.  Don't worry.  First-year students haven't been coming here lately.  So please take a seat over there."


Without complaining, the student council president smiled and told her to go to the designated seat.


Rin-chan and a male student sat down while panting.


"Isn't she the girl who came to see Touma before?"


"Yes.  She said she wanted to try it if she could, and it looks like she succeeded."


"Besides looking mature, she's also an active person, huh?"


"Hmm, she said she was just interested.  But, since her friends are mostly active students, so yeah."


Whispering in hushed tones, we listened to the student council president's words.


As mentioned earlier, there was an explanation of what we would be doing overall, as well as the preparation before the event and the response during the event.


The student council president spoke for about 20 minutes.


"The division of roles and preparatory activities will be taken seriously after the exams are over. Maybe we won't get together until the exams are over, but don't forget that you are committee members.  Now, let's disperse while handing in the forms filled out by each class.  Thank you."


The chairman went out into the hallway after handing in the forms that she had written in a bad mood yesterday.


"Ha!  I'm relieved now!"


"Are you going to do club activities?"


"Yes.  It ended sooner than I expected, so I'll be going now."


While we were chatting like that, Rin-chan came out into the hallway too.


"Good job."


"Ah, good job too ....... I got lost so I came late."


"That's okay.  After all, you're not that late.  So, don't think too much about it."


"That's right!  Don't think about it!"


"Who is this girl?"


The chairman broke into the conversation between me and Rin-chan.


Rin-chan who was surprised by that, asked in a slightly lower voice.


"She's the class president of my class.  She's the perfect woman, Mikami."


"I'm good friends with Touma, my name is Yuka Mikami!  Nice to meet you!"


"Yes, nice to meet you .......... umm, you guys call each other by first names?"


"Yes! That's because we're friends!"


"Actually, it was only about three weeks ago that we started getting really close."


"Hey, time can't describe how close we are, can it?!"


I was hit where it hurts, and I was pushed with the momentum.  Rin-chan could only stay silent as she stared at our exchange like that.


"You were carried away by class rep's momentum."


"Oh, did I scare you?"


"No, no ....... are you two really that close?"


Without being pushed by her momentum, Rin-chan asked the chairman a question.


"You know, it's because he's a lot more considerate than other boys! That helps me a lot!"


"I think the best way to put it is because you don't have to worry that I'll have romantic feelings for you."


"Yeah, that's what I meant ....... and there's also no way I'd say something like "I'm so popular!" to a girl I just met for the first time! ...Ah, I said it, hahaha!"


"What does that mean?"



"She's always involved in romantic relationships, and she's fed up with them.  She's very sensitive to men who look like they're in love with her.  So she approached me because I don't have that kind of risk."


"Hey, I want to look like a cool senior, so don't say anything unnecessary! ....Actually, I'm a little embarrassed about my love affairs, even though I've studied them a lot.   I'm sorry that I don't look cool when I say these things."


"No, no.  I thought you were pretty cool, uh-huh...!"


"Oh my, what a good girl!"


"I don't have any senior girls I can talk to because I don't join club activities, so please be friends with me, Mikami-senpai!"


"Ah~, how cute!  Of course I want to be friends with you!"


The chairman gave a warm hug to Rin-chan who was bowing her head.


"You can count on me, my dear junior!  You can count on me many times more than that guy over there!"


"You can't say something like that to someone who helped you."


"You know, Mikami-senpai.  That guy, he didn't even know where my class was until today."


"Heh, impossible!  It's been almost a month already!"


Oh no, Rin-chan has found another senior she can rely on and I'm going to be her subtitute player!  Moreover, that senior of hers is the most reliable person in our batch!  If I have to compete with her in the future, then there won't be much I can do for her!


However, I was also concerned about the fact that Rin-chan, who didn't participate in club activities, didn't have a senior of the same gender.


I thought that if the chairman and Rin-chan could be friends, then they would be able to rely on each other.



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