CH 195

The girl in front of me looked familiar, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before…

Searching the memory of last year, which I had left in a corner of my mind, I was finally able to recall some information about the girl in front of me.

“…Was it Nakajima-san? But I only remember her as a student who was absent without permission, arrived late, and skipped class.”

“It’s Nakayama! …And I’ve always been weak.”

What do you mean by weak?

Your tanned skin is the perfect representation of a healthy body.

But, let’s not make assumptions based on superficial information, because it could hurt me later, so let’s just accept it as it is.

I shifted my gaze from Nakatani-san* to Yuuto and asked a genuine question.

“…Why did you invite her into your team?”

“Eh? Why, because she approached me to help.”

Yuuto’s reply, as if it should be a given, makes me let out a sigh.

Even do-gooder could sense hypocrisy if someone goes this far out of their way and does something unusual.

Accepting any student who steps up to the occasion cannot be considered something good.

A good student is one who is able to establish appropriate relationships based on his or her own personality and the school’s rules.

In this regard, students like Nakazono-san and others have not only their hair colored which isn’t allowed at our school, but are also wearing flashy ornaments and flashy shirts instead of the school’s designated white uniform.

If I remember just the last year, she also had bad behaviour.

“Can anyone…?”

“You cannot disrespect the people who support you, can you?”

I don’t know what she’s thinking, but she’s continuing on her parallel conversation.

I asked Shiraishi to ask the students to return to their classrooms so as not to be influenced by the situation.

It was afternoon, a time when activities were allowed and candidates could exchange words face to face.

That might be one of the reasons why Shiraishi’s words had no effect and why some students remain here.

“Shiraishi …that’s enough.”

“Eh, okay? …You shouldn’t have asked me to do it in the first place.”

I can hear you complaining, you know.

Shiraishi returned and stood next to Shizuku with a displeased expression on her face, and without a trace of apology, I turned my attention back to Yuuto again.

Behind him, Nakamaru-san and several other students are glaring at me with hostile eyes.

“So …back to the topic, how was it a private use of the Student Council?”

“I’m just saying that if you’re going to broadcast on campus or release a video, we’d like to be treated the same way.”

With a smile on his face and a gentle tone, Yuuto sounded no different from usual.

He probably has no other thoughts in his mind.

He is saying this because he truly wants to be treated equally.

“If you want to broadcast inside the school, …you can ask Sudo-sensei and he will let you do it, and if you take a video with your phone or camera or something and edit it and submit it to the student council, your video will be made public in the same way.”

It’s not that I was hiding it or wanted to monopolize it.

I knew there would be a reaction if I tried to do something about it, anyway.

All I wanted was a response from the student who said I started this.

“Ogiwara-kun doesn’t need your permission. What we’re trying to say is, why are you doing this without telling us?”

“Who in the world would be stupid enough to tell someone about a plan that they themselves thought of, got permission for, and laid down the groundwork for…?”

I’ve had to deal with some really troublesome students.

I wonder if she does not consider that her statements could be perceived as Yuuto’s words by those around her.

Anymore words that instill a negative image any more can affect the outcome of the election between Yuuto and me.

Well, I’m not going to tell her though because I didn’t have the plans to stop her from the very beginning…

“What about the student council-led camp? I thought the student council was neutral and not beholden to any individual.”

“It’s not student council-led, it’s individual-led. …Of course I’m not forcing them to do anything, and each one of them is cooperating with me of their own free will.”

I shrugged my shoulders and looked back.

Behind me were Shizuku, Kirasaka and Shiraishi.

I don’t have the kind of popularity that attracts people around me, like someone.

Quality over quantity is the obvious answer.

Yuuto himself knew what was going on inside our team, so he didn’t have anything more to say.

However, the students behind him who supported him did not even try to hide their dissatisfied expressions.

“By the way, could I ask you something?”

“Ah, no problem.”

The baton of questioning was passed to me without any concerns, as if she believed she was in a position to do so.

I asked her questions in the same way she’s been doing so far.

“You …have been expecting these girls to come to you since when?”

“Wa…?”

“No, not just Shizuku and the others, how long have you thought that the members of the student council and the student body would support you?”

Have you ever thought or wondered why you would have support for yourself?

Are you making assumptions based solely on your words and those around you?

I don’t have that kind of confidence, which is why I asked for a survey from the students.

Sure, I used my position as a student council at the time.

But, thanks to that, I was able to clearly realize the difference in votes between myself and Yuuto.

Also, did you make the effort to check that difference for yourself?

I can assure you, you would definitely not have done so.

So, thus the difference in behaviour.

Grievances arise in election campaigns that are taking place over the same period of time.

She thought that she had an overwhelming advantage, which is why she let her guard down.

“You asked Shizuku and Kirasaka to help you with the student council, but did you also ask them to help you get the votes?”

“That’s…”

“Did you take direct actions, knowing that the student body has so much influence?”

If he had tried to invite them to his side or had taken some action against the student council members, he wouldn’t have made such ridiculous statements about the private use of the student council as he did this time.

After all, Yuuto, a strong person, would not consider my, a weaker person’s position.

In an attempt to get a bite out of his opponents at any cost, he never looks at the possibilities.

He just puts up pretty superlatives and looks down on his opponents, taking advantage of his high position…

He has always been capable of doing everything out of his talent, and he has no understanding of what his weak opponents are thinking.

He assumes that the other person could naturally do the same things that he could, and he usually speaks so to people who feel inferior to him.

He truly believes that this world is equal.

Therefore, he mistakenly believes that if he is having fun, the other person is having fun too.

“You said earlier that you wanted to fight me straight up, but there was no fairness or equality when we started …and you and I competing equally, such a thing doesn’t exist.”

“That’s not true! At least at the start we were certainly equal.”

“…When was that, when it was announced? If you really believe that, you’ve got quite the flower garden in your head.”

Our gazes meet, and for the first time, Yuuto’s smile is gone.

The dark face containing emotions similar to frustration and irritation made Nakayama’s group look anxious as well.

The noisy students around them also changed their mood to a commotion different from before.

The prince of all, the popular and always smiling Ogiwara Yuuto was no longer here.

“…If you thought we weren’t equal, then why did you run for the elections!”

“…Because I wanted to win against you.”

Yuuto asked me with a sad face, and I answered with a bitter smile.

It’s an impure motive, just like a child’s.

The people around us must have been astonished.

However, this is the honest truth.

“Well, in reality, you have the upper hand, so I’ll just accept it as a challenge …and I’ll just do my best as someone inferior.”

As if to relieve the tension that had been building up, he told me this in a voice that lacked his usual enthusiasm and motivation.

He waved his hand in the air, signaling that this was the end of it.

“If you think what I did was unfair or unsatisfactory, you could tell the teachers or the election commission.”

I turned around and proceeded to break up the place, which had already started to become something big.

I turned to the people I was facing one last time, and to the students behind him, who were flustered, thinking they were the best group in the school.

“Don’t disturb me…”

“Now you’ve done it, Shinra-senpai.”

After seeing the senior who had escaped from the crowd, Shiraishi said to the two girls standing next to her.

However, there was no response and the two did not move even though they looked at each other sideways.

That being the situation, she turned her gaze to the senpais next to her with a reserved gaze and found an unexpected sight.

“…”

“…”

Kanazaki Shizuku had her hands on both cheeks, and Kirasaka Rei had her fingertips on her mouth and her cheeks slightly flushed.

Their gaze was directed in the direction of the students, in which he had already disappeared into.

At the sight of them, she let out an involuntary sigh stating out her true feelings.

“The two of you have quite unusual tastes…”

Still, the kouhai was far from understanding their state of mind.