CH 145

Why am I going to help Shiraishi?

It should be rather weird to help someone with whom I have no relationship with.

Still, if I were to give a reason for helping her, it would be because of the two faces that flashed in my mind.

I can’t say for sure that I have learned from my past mistakes.

So, let’s just call it a whim.

It’s not that I have any personal feelings about helping Shiraishi.

Let’s just say that for now.

“I-is that true?”

“Calm down …we’re just talking about possibilities.”

When I told her that there were ways other than the student council that I could help, Shiraishi’s eyes lit up and she tried to move the conversation forward.

I put my left hand out in front of me to stop her.

There was something I wanted to confirm before proceeding with this conversation.

If I didn’t make that clear, this method might end up making her get her hopes up.

It was still early in the summer vacation.

There is still about a month to go before the first day of school.

The student council elections will start in the second semester, so if we fo by the method I’m thinking of, there’s no problem even if we don’t act immediately.

“Let’s call it a day …I have a few things I need to look into.”

“B-but you haven’t told any specifics yet…”

“Talking about an idea without certainty might only raise expectations. …so that’s it for today.”

I managed to persuade Shiraishi, who looked unhappy and unconvinced, and then left.

Shiraishi went home, and I walked once more to the student council room of Sakuranaoka Academy.

When we parted ways, I gave her my phone number and asked her to call me later when she was free, so she shouldn’t have any problems getting in touch with me.

No, I thought about exchanging contact information first, but for some reason I was reluctant to ask for a girl’s contact info, so I just gave her my phone number instead, which was extremely inefficient, needless to say.

Summer days are long.

The sun was just a little over my head, and the kids were still running around.

Perhaps that person is still in that room.

Probably sitting there like the master of that room.

It isn’t certain, but I know.

I thought it was just a rumor, but it was only a few minutes ago that I came to the conclusion that president knew the name of every student who attended the school, and I wondered if it was possible for her to even know something that I was unaware of.

That’s exactly what I noticed when I was having a conversation with Shiraishi at the coffee shop.

I thought it was an excessive speculation, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about it.

In spite of racking my brain, progress was slow.

There was no point in running to reach the student council room if I couldn’t make a calm decision.

Slowly but surely, I walked back to the school in about twenty minutes.

The school was still quiet.

There were no students in my line of sight.

I went back the way I came and arrived in front of the room I wanted.

I knocked on the heavy iron door, making a loud sound, and opened it without waiting for an answer.

The air in the room was cool and pleasant from the hot and humid summer temperature.

I closed the door quickly to keep the cool air inside, and turned my gaze to where the boss this place was.

There she was, after all.

“Shinra, you’re back earlier than I expected.”

“I don’t remember saying that I was coming back. …Well, I guess the president already knew that I would come back.”

Akane Hiiragi, the head of the student council, was sitting on her seat with the same smile on her face as when she sent me off.

She was seated just like the last boss. I sat down at my seat in the student council room, which was empty except for the president, and looked at her.

“So, how did the conversation go?”

“Well…”

I knew without being told that she was referring to the conversation between me and Shiraishi.

In order to explain, I had to find out how much president knew before I could go any further.

“How much does president know?”

“How much… well, at least I don’t know what Shiraishi and Shinra talked about today.”

In other words, she know everything else.

She knows the true character of Shiraishi.

“Does that mean the way she was acting when she came to the student council room yesterday was also an act?

The surprised look on her face, the slightly angry tone of her voice, if it was all an act, it was a genuine performance.

I couldn’t see through it.

“I’m proud to say that I’m a little better at this than most of you…”

From the expression with a bitter smile, president probably didn’t mean to know about it either.

Sometimes a position requires us to hear or know something that we don’t really mean to.

And when we didn’t see it coming, it was our fault too.

I’m not going to say anything because president had her own ideas and intentions.

“I’m investigating what kind of student Shiraishi is, not to mention her lifestyle and her academics …I immediately noticed that she was acting differently than her usual self.”

“So …do you know what motivated her to run for the position?”

“No, as I said earlier, I only know what I heard yesterday.”

She asked again, ‘What did you talk about today?’

How much should I tell her?

I had to sort through the information and find the correct words.

It’s going to take some time.

“No problem, we have plenty of time.”

President smiled and said so.

If I talk too much, it will be difficult to understand.

The first thing I said was my idea of how I would lend her a hand.

“I’m thinking of having Shiraishi run for the head of the executive committee of the Sakura Festival*.”

(TL/N – Cherry Blossom Festival)

President nodded happily at these words.

<Author>: The Sakura festival will be continued in the next chapter.