CH 176

It’s been a few days since the student body president election started.

Everyone was talking about who they would vote for, or whether they themselves should try to run for some positions…

Simply speaking, no one has yet come forward to run for any positions in the student council, so I guess they’re just joking.

At this rate, even if the student body president is elected, one of the unsuccessful candidates will have to take the vice president’s seat, and it will end up being a small organization with only Miura as treasurer and Hino-kun enrolled in general affairs.

The president might be troubled in this regard.

The entire campus is focused on the election, and it is the topic of conversation in class as well.

Who is going to vote for whom, that kind of talk.

It is not necessary, and they should just vote based on their own ideas, but when people are consults others in the class to decide on their votes, they are probably moving in a way that the two people who are actually the topic of concern cannot foresee.

I feel that it can’t be helped since it is a group election, and the vote casters are young ones at that, of students.

However, I wonder if it can really be called an election if one votes for Koizumi because everyone around him voted for Koizumi…

After all, isn’t it just a popularity contest?

The situation has turned out as I feared, or rather, expected.

The classes, on the grade level, and the school itself have started to show a trend.

It’s the trend in which people tend to follow others, putting their own wills on the back burner.

I am not saying that this is a bad thing.

This is another situation that inevitably occurs in elections.

But even so, those of us who are reasonably close to the two candidates would be inclined to think that they should make up their own minds and cast their own ballots, regardless of the intentions of those around them.

I know it is difficult to do so, but emotions well up against one’s will.

Today, their routine is to do a morning greeting campaign first, a speech activity in the lunch break somewhere, and also a big activity after school.

Their day goes something like this.

So today, after the morning greetings, they were busy with their classes.

After the fourth period, which is taking place now, the lunch break follows.

The students will be out of the classrooms all at once, probably somewhere on campus, watching the speeches and chatting over lunch.

I am one of them…

The bell rang at the end of fourth period, and I made sure students got up and left the classroom as if I were flowing out with the crowd.

Yuuto, Shizuku and Kirasaka were all in the classroom, but regardless, I headed to the rooftop.

“…You’re doing great.”

From the rooftop, I could see two groups.

The schoolyard side is Koizumi’s and the courtyard side is Shiraishi’s.

Behind Koizumi, who was giving a speech using the main path towards the schoolyard, I could see Hino-kun.

Next to him, Miura was handing out what looked like leaflets.

It is good to see the student council united as one.

If they win this election, this unity will change into something solid.

Shiraishi, on the other hand, was also making a speech with the help of her classmates.

She doesn’t have the big advertisement connections that Koizumi has, but she was still talking to the class, about how well known she’s for treating each student with care.

Even from the rooftop, you can see them going back and forth between students many times.

The number of people gathered around them doesn’t seem that different either.

If we are to believe the data at hand, it is probably a good competition.

The problem is, as I mentioned earlier, the number of votes cast by those around them.

I can’t make a prediction on this one.

What an unrelated scene to me…

I’m not even assisting, or even running for a position.

It’s time for me to decide which side I’m going to vote for. …As I was thinking this, I heard the door of the rooftop open.

“Guess, I’ll just have to wait and see, won’t I?”

“…It’s kind of sarcastic when other people say it.”

It was Kirasaka who appeared through the door.

She came to the rooftop with her lunch box in hand and sat down on a bench towards the back.

She removed the wrapping cloth from her bento and began to eat her lunch alone.

“Weren’t you asked to come and give a speech in support?”

“I don’t want to be a tourist panda(attraction).”

It’s very typical for her to say this.

I gave a wry smile at that and looked down again.

“Shouldn’t you be the one helping out?”

“Hino-kun is there, and Miura has been helping since the beginning, so… I don’t think there should be any problem in terms of manpower.”

“No, I was referring to Shiraishi-san.”

She told me clearly in denial.

I turned around and crossed my gaze with Kirasaka, when her icy sharp gaze pierced me.

This was the first time I saw her gaze in a long time. I fell silent for a moment, but then immediately spoke the words after some thought.

“That’s not necessary …I’m not who she’s looking for right now.”

She is seeking the support of someone who can influence the votes determining the outcome, in other words, someone who could influence the people around her to to cast votes in her favor.

This can only be achieved by someone who has a great deal of influence on campus.

That is why people like Yuuto, Shizuku, and Kirasaka are the best choice.

When I told her the facts, Kirasaka fell silent.

She probably can’t find fault with my opinion either.

“Still, didn’t she request your help because she was going to need your help?”

“…”

She connected her words in a way that was unusually aggressive for Kirasaka.

I sense some kind of personal feeling there, but I shouldn’t worry about that now.

I’ve already decided to do it.

“I told you before …I’m just a bridge to the three of you. I can’t probably ever replace the people around me ever, either in terms of ability or in recognition.”

In fact, it may even create a negative effect.

I’m not a showoff, for better or worse, but I’m disliked by the people who admire Shizuku and the others.

I’m sure they categorize me as a distracting presence.

When I told this to her, I felt the sharpness in Kirasaka’s gaze fade.

Instead, her eyes turned sad and lonely.

“Will you be alone again?”

“No, I’m just going back to the way things were before. …You guys have kept me more than busy enough for about six months.”

…It’s also true that I thought it wasn’t so bad.

As much as I said I hated it and found it troublesome, but even so somewhere inside I also thought it was surprisingly not so bad for a first time experience.

Still, I eventually figured it out.

I knew that there was a big chasm separating me and them.

It was difficult for me to cross that chasm.

Above all, my heart cannot gather the courage to do so.

I came here to eat my lunch, but decided to leave it for now.

I picked up my belongings and walked past Kirasaka to the doorway.

“…I’m not going to let you be alone.”

As I passed by her, Kirasaka muttered those words quietly.

Those words made me feel pain somewhere inside my chest.

However, I left the rooftop as if nothing had happened, so as not to be noticed.

On the remaining rooftop, only Kirasaka remained, not the dignified Rei Kirasaka, but as a lonely girl with a sad expression on her face.

<Author>: I’ll start making progress after we have conversations with the main characters!