Arc 2 – Episode 5: The New Student Council

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After dinner, while lounging in Ichigo’s room—Rina's cooking, as always—Ichigo suddenly spoke up.

“Hey, Kyo-kun. You thinking about joining the student council?”

“Nii-san, are you really joining the student council?”

Rina perked up at Ichigo's question, sitting beside me.

“Kyo-kun, Aria-chan asked you to join today, right? Her grandfather's the chairman, so she's basically guaranteed to be the next student council president without an election.”

Ichigo jumped in before I could say anything.

“Wow, that's straight out of a manga…”

Yeah, it really is.

“So, are you joining or not?”

“Honestly, I'd rather not. I don't need a bunch of guys getting jealous over me.”

“What?! People actually get jealous of you, Nii-san?!”

Rina looked like she couldn't believe it. Unfortunately, it's a thing—especially with other guys.

“Oh, they're out there. Even Nagaoka told Kyo-kun not to join today.”

“What?! How rude! I'm so sorry, Nii-san. I can't believe my idiot brother said that!”

Rina bowed her head like it was somehow her fault.

“It's fine, Rina. Don't worry about it.”

She lifted her head when I said that, and Ichigo picked up where he left off.

“I actually think Kyo-kun should join. Aria-chan even asked me to join and said you should.”

“You too, Ichigo? …Alright, I'll think about it.”

If it were just me, I'd pass. But if Ichigo was in, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Plus, if Ichigo was going to be around other guys during council stuff… Yeah, no thanks. I trusted her, but that didn't mean I trusted them.

The next day, all my indecision didn't matter.

When I got to school, there was a notice on every bulletin board.

The following students have been appointed as student council officers for the second half of the year:

• President – Aria Kakyoin (First Year)
• Vice President – Kuzuha Kyoichi (First Year)
• Vice President – Yorifuji Ichigo (First Year)
• Secretary – Saito Yuka (First Year)
• Treasurer – Matsuura Satomi (Second Year)
• Public Relations – Kato Kazuhiro (Second Year)

Objections will be accepted in the staff room until the end of today.

So yeah, apparently I was a student council member now. No one even asked me. And the deadline to object was today? Real considerate.

Whatever. If Ichigo was part of it, I didn't really have a reason to complain. No clue who this Saito Yuka was. The name sounded like a girl's, but I'd find out soon enough.

The whole school buzzed about it all day.

“Kuzuha-kun! I heard you're vice president now!”

“Should I congratulate you?”

“Should we celebrate? With Kuzuha paying, obviously.”

“No, this one's on us!”

Ito, Yoshida, Kobayashi, and Suzuki swarmed me the second I walked in. Before I could figure out how to shut them up, Aria-san cut in.

“Kyoichi-san, there's a meeting after class to introduce the new council members. Come to the council room with me.”

Translation: Don't hang out with Ito and the others today.

Ichigo got the same treatment.

“Now that I think about it, Yorifuji-san's in our class too, huh?”

“Yeah, but I didn't expect her to join the council. She and Kakyoin-san don't really seem close.”

“Right?”

In response to Suzuki-san's question, Yoshida-san raised her hand.

“Apparently, during the entrance exams, Yorifuji-san tied for top marks with Kakyoin-san. She let Kakyoin-san give the speech at the entrance ceremony, though.”

“Wow, really?”

Yoshida-san always knew the weirdest details. I'd heard that directly from Ichigo, but where the hell did she hear it? A teacher maybe?

“By the way, does anyone know who Saito Yuka is?”

The thought popped into my head, and I threw the question out. Yoshida-san raised her hand again.

“I heard from a friend in another class. She's in 1-C. Apparently, she's childhood friends with Nagaoka-san—the guy who confronted you yesterday.”

Hmm, Nagaoka’s childhood friend, huh. I wonder if she knows Rina too.

“And why did Kakyoin-san pick her?”

“No clue. Haven't heard anything about that. You could ask her directly.”

Yoshida-san glanced at Aria-san.

“Nah, I'll pass. I'll ask in the council room later.”

I'd rather not draw more attention from the rest of the class.

After an uneventful day, classes ended.

“Kyoichi-san, Yorifuji-san. Let's head to the council room.”

As soon as homeroom wrapped up, Aria-san invited Ichigo and me to the student council room.

“Yeah, got it.”

I followed her, walking next to Ichigo. Even though I'd only joined today, the council room already felt weirdly familiar.

Two people were already inside when we arrived—a guy and a girl.

Kato Kazuhiro-senpai and Matsuura Satomi-senpai. They were from the previous student council, and I'd met them while helping Aria-san before. They were also dating.

“Yo, Kuzuha-kun. So you finally joined the council, huh? Guess it's just a matter of time before you start dating Kakyoin-san, right?”

Kato-senpai always talked like this to mess with me.

“I've told you, we're not like that.”

“You're not adding ‘yet’?”

“Nope. Too cliché.”

The truth was, we were already dating. But that was a secret.

While I talked with Kato-senpai, Ichigo and Aria-san were chatting with Matsuura-senpai.

“So, you're Yorifuji-san, right? I'm Matsuura Satomi. Looking forward to working with you.”

“….Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, stiff, huh? Shy? Kakyoin-san, are you sure she's good as vice president?”

“She's fine. We're already getting along in class, so no problem.”

Matsuura-senpai's eyes widened. Declaring it was a friends-based appointment right to her face. Bold move.

“Alright then. I'll leave it to you, Kakyoin-san.”

Honestly, this whole school existed for Aria-san. Her becoming president was basically decided by her family's influence. Matsuura-senpai probably thought one more friends-based appointment wasn't going to shake things up.

As we chatted, the door opened. A girl with twin-tails walked in, wearing the same tie color as us.

I figured she must be Saito Yuka. Following behind her was Nagaoka, who I had seen far too often lately—why the hell was he here again?

“Nice to meet you all. I'm Saito Yuka.”

She glanced around, her tone was quite assertive —probably because Aria-san was a first-year like her.

“Welcome. As you may know, I'm Kakyoin Aria, student council president. Looking forward to working with you. By the way…”

Aria-san narrowed her eyes at Nagaoka.

“You're Nagaoka-san, right? Why are you here?”

Addressed directly, Nagaoka responded energetically.

“I came to make a request. I want to join as general affairs officer.”

General affairs, huh. Now that I thought about it, the previous council had one, but we didn't this time.

“…Why should we appoint you?”

Aria-san's tone cut like a knife. Seriously, I couldn't blame her—Nagaoka's request was selfish. If we let anyone in just because they asked, the room would be packed.

“Well, last year there was a general affairs officer, but now there isn't one. I figured it might be tough without someone handling that. Plus, my childhood friend Yuka was on the council, so I thought I'd help out. Also…”

Nagaoka shot a glare at me.

“And I think someone needs to keep an eye on Kuzuha. Make sure he doesn't screw things up for the rest of you.”

Of course, he said that.

“I decline. The reason there's no general affairs officer is because we decided we could manage without one. And most of all, Kyoichi-san already proved himself by helping with student council work all semester.”

“I see… Sorry for the trouble. I'll get going then.”

Aria-san shut him down cold, and Nagaoka left the student council room without making a fuss. Well, almost. He still threw one last glare my way.

“Ah, Shuuji! Wait up! I only came for the introduction today, so I'm heading out too.”

Saito-san hurried after him. Like it was his call whether this was just an introduction or not.

“Whatever. I didn't plan for more than a quick intro today either.”

Aria-san muttered, clearly irritated, and with that, we all broke off. After the second-years left, Aria-san stepped closer.

“Kyoichi-san, Ichigo-san. Let's head home together. I'll be staying at Kyoichi-san's place tonight.”

Her smile felt a little too forced.

I guessed I was handling her stress relief that night.

Hopefully, Rina didn't catch us.