CH 214

October. The sun was setting sooner than usual, and the residential area was lit by pale lights when I returned home after the after-school student council activities were over.

I parted ways with Shizuku at the front door and stepped into my safe haven.

A place I return to and leave every day.

When I opened the door to the living room, warm light and an appetizing aroma greeted me first.

Soon, I hear footsteps rushing toward me after adjusting the stove in the kitchen.

“Welcome home, Nii-san. Thank you for your hard work today.”

Kaede, my healing angel, runs up to me, smiles, and extends her hand in front of me.

I don’t need to ask that if it is a gesture of receiving luggage, and I can’t help but fantasize in my brain that we are like a newly married couple.

“I’m home. …I’m going to go change first.”

“Okay!”

I handed her my handbag containing all the work related things I wanted to get done today, and quickly returned to the hallway.

I went into my room and changed into some casual clothes, then went back to the living room and sat down on the sofa.

There is a bag by the table in front of me, from which I take out some documents.

My thoughts immediately switch to the document that lists last year’s expenses and this year’s budget.

I compare the budget before the first joint proposal was put forward with the revised budget and sigh at the situation, which is still very close to the margin.

I know that expenses are minimal for a student festival, but it is difficult to make ends meet when you are presented with a figure and told to make do with just this much.

It’s as cold as my pocket money, which is limited every month.

As for the baseball team’s cosplay game, I asked Shizuku and Yuuto to persuade them to get together a group of volunteers and we came to a consensus that they would do it.

The problem is the cost of the vague joint proposal.

There was no way to come up with a budget for this.

In addition to the fact that there had never been a joint event in the past, there was a vague obsession with this joint event thing.

Even I felt uncomfortable talking with the other party.

The scene that came to mind was an exchange with President and Sera.

I can only think of one person who would know the answer as close as I know it.

“Kaede …what is the president of your school like?”

I turned to my left and ask my sister standing in the kitchen.

Kaede only pokes her head out and turns her gaze upwards.

“President Sera, is it? …She’s a good senior, but…”

I thought she was acquainted with Kaede from the time her name came out of Sera’s mouth, but it seems that they are not that deeply acquainted.

She put her fingers to her temples with a difficult and groaning sound.

However, Kaede showed a surprised expression before she reached to the question.

“Why is it a woman again…?”

“What do you mean again?”

The cold gaze that was directed at me pierced.

…Again, I can’t understand it.

Shizuku is a childhood friend and Kirasaka is a classmate.

The two were brought together by chance, and President was also an arranged marriage partner for the convenience of my parents.

This time, it isn’t a relationship that Kaede should be concerned about at all since it’s just a matter of information.

“Look, we’re having a lot of discussions with your president about the school, and I would like to gather as much information as possible.”

I reply to Kaede in a way that is convincing and avoids any specifics.

I had expected a similar exchange to take place a couple more times, but surprisingly Kaede’s reaction seemed to be agreeable.

“I also heard through rumor that we are considering a joint event with Sakuranaoka Gakuen. So my brother in the student council is interested about that huh.”

Kaede nodded her head in agreement.

It’s easy to avoid the need for unnecessary explanations, but I have a feeling that something is being interpreted a little differently, but at this point I don’t really care.

“So what kind of person is she?”

I asked my sister again.

This time, without letting her thoughts go off on a tangent, she mentioned her reputation at school.

“Academically, she is an impeccable person. I heard that her name was ranked quite high in the mock exams she participated in every time. Oh, just…”

As the information was steadily being disclosed, I was at a loss for words.

She gives a look that is hard to say and is surely not very good.

I turned my body toward my sister as well as my gaze to see what was going on.　

She groans while thinking, as if wondering if she should talk or not.

After watching her for a while, her eyes open and her expression turns serious as if she has made up her mind.

“I’ve heard rumors that Sera-senpai failed the high school exams at Sakuranaoka Gakuen and that she and Hiiragi-san don’t get along.”

“…”

Kaede, who spoke with difficulty, hid her head, which was sticking out from the kitchen, and resumed making dinner.

Kaede is probably not comfortable talking about rumors without her consent.

She told me because she trusted me as a family member.

I for one think that information should not be wasted.

It is hard to imagine that a student who regularly ranks high in mock exams would fail our high school.

I can’t say that there is no possibility of a success story …where a student hated studying in middle school, but something triggered his or her academic talent in high school. But the chance of it happening is very small.

In fact, it is hard to believe that someone who has risen to the position of president would not have studied hard in middle school.

And the fact that she doesn’t get along with Hiiragi Akane is also a rumor, which I think is far from the truth.

Not everyone can get along with everyone.

However, there are probably very few people who dislike Hiiragi Akane.

That is how much she is trusted and has the talent to be well-liked.

It would be impossible for someone who does not know her to dislike her.

I remember when I was about to think that, since they have nothing in common except that they are the same age, it is just a rumor…

President said …that she came in first in the last mock exam, I believe.

I heard that President was also ranked first in the national mock examinations held after she moved up to the third grade.

I had heard this several times during casual conversation.

Not only the last time, but also in the mock examinations in which President participated, she had dominated the first place as if it was a matter of course.

I was astonished, but I remember letting out a sigh when I realized that she was the Akane Hiiragi, that made it possible.

When I met Sera as a member of the student council, the eyes that were facing President were so dark that I could not read her emotions.

It was not that she was looking down on her, but if he had something else in mind.

This is speculation, a prediction, a theory that only I am convinced of.

But it is worth investigating, isn’t it?

My arm moves to my pocket on its own as I think of this.

From the phone-book section of the phone I opened, I tapped a familiar name among a small number of people and made a call.

A few rings later, the person on the other end of the line picked up right away.

[Shinra-kun, it’s nice to get a call from you.]

“Sorry for calling so abruptly …Kirasaka, are you okay with the time right now?”

I had a question, or rather a request, for the person I called, Kirasaka Rei.

[I’m okay 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, as long as it’s a call from Shinra-kun.]

“Is it OK all year round…”

Although I was taken aback by the unexpected answer, I moved on to the main topic.

“I have a favor to ask, can you look up the past few mock exams that President has participated in regarding the top performers?”

[I don’t understand the need for it though…]

“It doesn’t have to be all of the top students, I just need you to find out if someone named Sera participated.”

Before I could respond to Kirasaka’s words, I told her who I needed the information on.

Kirasaka on the phone pauses there and nothing can be heard over the phone’s speaker.

The phone is unnaturally quiet, and I look at the screen to see if it’s dead, but the screen of the call is still being displayed.

[You’re not going to tell me you’re interested in a woman called Sera, are you…?]

The voice I suddenly heard was a low and cold that seemed to come from the pit of her depths.

It is as if someone is whispering in my ear, and my whole body was covered with cold sweat.

I was so nervous that I felt as if a blade was being held to my throat, so even though I was on the phone, I vigorously shook my head and denied it.

“I’m not interested, really… I just wanted you to look up some information that we might need for the Sakura Festival, that’s all.”

[Well, that’s fine. I will instruct them to collect as accurate information as possible, but that said it’s difficult to gather perfect information, so do forgive me for that.]

“That’s fine, please then.”

I can hear her giggling over the phone when I requested her.

Kirasaka’s standard of fun is something that ordinary people can’t understand.

I was listening silently, wondering if there was something interesting about it this time as well, and just before the caller hung up, she left a short comment.

[You owe me one.]

A beeping sound repeats to let me know that the call has been disconnected.

Since I was the one who asked for the favor, it was only natural that I should owe her one, but when I thought about what she was going to ask me to do, I must have made a horrible deal.

A deal with the devil, yep that’s what it was.

However, I spent the day with a sense of hope that the information Kirasaka would bring to me might help break the deadlock in our discussions.

The next day, when I entered the classroom of the third class of the second year, Kirasaka was sitting in her seat as usual.

She had a paperback book in her hand, and the sunlight shining through the window created a picturesque scene.

With me sitting next to her, the scene turns into a drawing.

“Here’s the list of mock exams I was asked…”

“Sorry and thank you.”

I accepted the bundle of papers offered to me and thank her.

Kirasaka smiles and quickly returns her gaze to her book.

Shizuku, who came to school with me, put her bags on her seat and then sat down on the seat in front of me.

By today, I have already started to lose track of whose seat is in front of me.

“What is this for?”

Shizuku asked me as I was flipping through and roughly checking the contents.

I took a breath after confirming the contents without giving an immediate answer.

Then I began to explain, on the assumption that it was just a prediction.

“This is a list of the results of the mock examinations President took and the results of Kikyo’s Sera. I asked …Kirasaka to look them up for me.”

“I’m curious as to how she looked it up, but since it’s …Kirasaka-san, I dare not ask.”

Yes, let it be like that.

I’m curious too, but there are some things in this world that are better not to ask.

Well, I guess she mentioned beforehand that the contents were not perfect over the phone call because she looked into the matter just enough not to touch the taboo.

So I could confirm the contents with peace of mind.

“The joint proposal for the festival was brought up by the other side… so I had my doubts about Sera not proposing any specific ideas.”

“Certainly, she said the same thing over and over again, as if you she was a broken tape-recorder.”

Nodding to Kirasaka’s words, I relaxed my body.

Leaning my weight against the back of my chair, I look up at the ceiling.

I had thought that tradition was just a word and that the fact that they hadn’t suggested anything else simply meant that they just wanted to throw the tedious task of creating a plan at us.

Another consultation is scheduled for after school today.

I had assumed that there would be no progress or regress in the talks, but the outcome could be different.

“It’s a possibility, but around today the other side should suddenly be proposing a suggestion to move forward.”

“…That seems hard to imagine from the way things have been going previously, is there a reason for that?”

Shizuku asks a perfectly valid question.

Everyone should have similar questions.

However, if Kaede’s theory that the presidents of the two schools do not get along with each other is correct in a sense, then the flow of events so far should have been the flow that the other party had anticipated in advance.

In this pointless exchange of conversation, we were unable to come up with a concrete plan.

This could be seen as a lack of imagination and ability to manage the project.

Under such circumstances, it is easy to imagine that if the other party suddenly came up with a concrete proposal, we would be convinced and agree to it.

In the process of planning a joint project, it is wrong to compare the superiority or inferiority of student councils.

However, if deciding the superiority or inferiority is more important to the other party than anything else, it makes sense to me.

“Perhaps you want them to recognize that you are better than them.”

It is difficult to understand this as a response to Shizuku’s question.

But it is the best answer I could come up with.

The two girls tilted their heads curiously and looked at me.

I am sure this a statement they did not understand.

There are some things that only people who have been compared for a long time can understand.

Just as siblings have been compared to each other, they must have been compared to each other as the presidents of the same organization.

“It’s childish self-satisfaction…”

The words I muttered out the window were lost in the noise of the classroom.

The two girls, who could barely hear the words, spent the rest of the day until after school without knowing the true meaning of those words.

<TL> : Back to 2 chaps/ week again.