CH 217

Outside the window, girls dressed in sailor uniforms different from those of Sakuranaoka Academy were boarding their buses.

“Shinra, it’s not like you to compete in a stall sales, is it?”

The expression on her face seemed to be mixed with doubt.

It was obvious that this would happen if someone made a reckless agreement in front of me without any prior explanation.

The only thing that seems to be swirling among the student council members, including the president, is pure doubt, not blame.

“If I had explained it to President beforehand, she would have settled the case with …some other compromise.”

President will make the right choice so that the students can enjoy the festival in a just, fair and non-discriminatory manner.

Competitions and betting will never come out of her mouth.

But President’s usual right choice is not the fundamental solution in this case.

That student called Sera will continue to be obsessed with winning against Hiiragi Akane after this.

I only had an unreasoned confidence in me.

She knows.

The heart of a person who desperately reaches for the back that cannot be caught up with effort

Even then, she kept on struggling and became distorted.

She is working to satisfy her personal greed at an event that is supposed to be enjoyed and built up by everyone in the same school.

From the perspective of the students around her, she may look different.

Does she appear to be a good student council president who is working energetically for a joint event between the two schools, which has never happened before?

However, that’s all she looked like to me.

If I deny Sera’s words, then I betray her efforts.

Mercilessly, without any warning, with just the results you are devastated by your lack of ability.

Talented people would hate this kind of thinking.

They are also striving. They say that it is the result of hard work.

There is probably no doubt about it.

The quantity and quality of effort is required for those with less talent to surpass the results that even talented people have achieved through hard work.

The world is not equal …it is brutally unequal.

But that’s the reality.

“Did the two of you know that Shinra was going to take some action…?”

President’s gaze is directed at Shizuku and Kirasaka, who were standing next to me.

Shizuku replied apologetically to those eyes that were mixed with exasperation.

“I’m sorry, I just didn’t stop to think that Minato-kun had his own ideas.”

“…Rei too?”

“I just wanted to watch what was going to happen.”

When asked, Kirasaka gives an answer that was typical of her.

Even President, who has known Kirasaka for a long time, chuckles when she hears Kirasaka’s one-liner and makes no further mention of it.

In a room where everyone was quiet, I exchanged glances with President again.　

“Sera… Sera-Hikari… that’s the other school’s President’s name…”

I said that while moving around the room, and taking out the materials that Kirasaka had collected from my bag.

The name Sera Hikari is listed under President’s name on the ranking list in the documents.

Placing it on the desk, everyone looked down at the contents of the documents.

“I didn’t know she was Hikari, since she only gave her surname…”

President nodded and said.

Looking back, I wonder if Sera had deliberately introduced herself using only her surname when she came to Sakuranaoka Academy, and was looking for the President’s reaction…

It is meaningless to speculate about the past when it has passed.

“It seems that she admired and has continued to challenge you for a long time.”

As far as Kirasaka’s data is concerned, she has challenged the same mock exam at least ten times and lost.

I do not blame President, and only state the facts I know from the data and Sera’s words.

President’s expression changed to one of surprise for a moment after hearing my words, and then she laughed again.

“It’s …something to be held in high expectation.”

From her point of view, she might be trying to say that she is not a person to be admired.

However, it is also true that there are people who actually admired this person and wished to surpass her.

President’s mouth never uttered a word to deny Sera’s feelings, and the point of contention turned to the words I had proposed to Sera.

“And so the next stage of the game is the cultural festival… which is not a very admirable thing…”

“…”

This was the first time President had a strong gaze towards me.

Why is it so scary when some elder sister figure gets angry…?

Are you my Onee-san? …I’m getting convinced of it

That said, I honestly haven’t prepared an excuse that would be enough to make the senpai standing in front of me nod.

I was going to push through with momentum on the spot but now…

I thought about asking for some help from Hino-kun, but the tall red-haired boy in the corner of my sight started shrinking more and more.

I can see that he is not good with disputes.

Even with those looks he’s like this. …Is this what you call gap moe?

“What’s the point of having a match and all?”

“If I may say so… it would motivate the students if the sales from all the stalls were to be announced and awards given.”

“It’s an event where money is involved …and we don’t want to create a sense of competition, which could inadvertently stimulate the students and cause sterile problems.”

If this were a university, for example, it would be a different story.

University students have a stronger social consciousness than high school students.　

The only career path left for them is to become a member of society.

They are at an age where they have to become adults whether they want to or not.

But we are still high school students.

From an adult’s point of view, we are still like children, and even President would not want to carelessly touch money-related matters.

The denial, which I could easily imagine, caused a moment of hesitation in me.

What I am trying to do is wrong and President is right.

Those words flashed through my mind.

“It’s the first time we’ve held a joint event, and not many would behave strangely.”

Still, I think with all my thought processes in full operation, uttering the words that came to my mind immediately.

No excuses will work with this person.

If I lie, she will see right through me.

Even if I throw some emotional words at her, I don’t think the calm President would be swayed by those emotions.

“…Haa”

Exhale and shrug off unnecessary thoughts.

Don’t think too deeply or too hard. …After all, I’m just a mob-like student.

I don’t have the energy or the driving force to motivate everyone.

That’s why I must think this through.

I say what I have to say, even if it is difficult to say, calmly and without being carried away.

I will do what I think is right, even if it results in people not liking it.

“…The joint proposal may be for the convenience of the adults. But that troublesome student council president called Sera or something like that is showing a stubborn attitude because of her unintended connection with President.”

I muttered this in a small, quiet voice.

President also shook her shoulders slightly and replied in a lower tone than usual.

“I am sorry, but there are limits to my contacts and abilities. I can’t afford to deal with one-sided competitiveness.”

…It’s a fair point.

What President is saying is absolutely right.

But there is one thing that all the students here have in common.

The students are all feeling a sense of urgency to start preparing for the Sakura Festival without having to spend time on this kind of discussion.

At this stage, the work of the student council is significantly behind the original schedule.

Since the first day, the student council has only minimally participated in the Sakura Festival committee.

No matter how much effort Shiraishi and Yuuto put in at the heart of the committee, the absence of the student council in the minds of the students could lead to a sense of distrust.

“It’s the fault of the other party who proposed the sudden collaboration, it’s the fault of our faculty for being slow to make a decision, and it’s a waste of time for us to be meeting in an ambiguous situation too.”

“…”

Maybe they won the election against Yuuto and were trying to act like adults.

They probably assumed that if they acted from behind the scenes, the problem would be solved.

That was the result of a combination of coincidence and luck.

If there are so many talented students around, it is more like a high school student to push through simply with childish ideas.

Childishness is also a privilege that is only allowed now.

It’s the ‘it’s great to be young’ thing.

“We’re going to cooperate, we’re going to compete, and we’re going to end the festival with a success. …Even if they’re that greedy, you can handle it, can’t you?”

In the end, you end up leaving it to others.

I can’t be the hero.

There are many people around who could be protagonists.

So I should be the one to support them.

With these thoughts in mind, without the slightest hint of a dignified remark, and even when I make a remark that I think is rather bad for humanity, I still stand tall.

“Haa…”

President puts her hand on her forehead and lets out a loud sigh.

I’m really sorry.

It’s a waste of time, so I’m telling you to hurry up and end the meeting and make the cultural festival a success. That’s a sigh, isn’t it?

In the silence, with the jittery eyes directed at her from Miura and Hino-kun piercing her side, President raises her right arm and points at me.

“The condition of the game is not just money, go and make Sera agree to it.”

“…Yesh.”

After President’s words, I turned on my heel.

I felt Shizuku and Kirasaka walking behind me as I silently left the room.

As I was leaving the student guidance office, President said.

“From tomorrow onwards, we will use the phone for communication and concentrate on our own preparations for a while. Tell them to contact me when they decide what they want to put up at the stall.”

I turned to see President standing there, not with the tense expression she had on her face earlier, but her normal face.

She nods and replies with a gentle smile and a sly glance at her poorly made-up younger brother.

“Well, I’m off then.”

The other party had already left the bus for the high school.

Making it a top priority to contact Kaede and have her wait for her President, I left Sakuranaoka Academy.