Planning of something else.

Right after tiffin period ended, Keta was packing his lunch box, someone grinned at him.

"Hm?"

Keta paused, glancing at the girl with spectacles. Her hands were behind her waist, most probably quivering.

"I'm Natsumi." She placed a hand on her chest, breathing heavily. Keta couldn't discern if she had asthma or she was just nervous.

"Okay." Keta leaned back to folding the napkin around his box, tying a knot. Absentmindedly, his eyes waved around the room. The sight was nothing new, rather it was dull.

Kawaguchi's sheepish grin resurfaced back, while he tied the knot.

"Don't worry, it's just a chip."

He spoke in a technical tone, but then Orahashi budged in.

"It's not just 'a Chip'! It's a Raspberry Pi!"

Kawaguchi shrugged him off and turned to Keta, "He's dumb, isn't it?" With a slightly amused but crooked expression, he asked Keta of his opinion about Orahashi's frantics.

"I don't think so."

Kawaguchi's eyes widened then he sighed, softly tapping the desk with his finger he hissed"What's the harm anyway? Its not like it emits electric-whatever-radiation when it's powerless?"

Kawaguchi spoke as if vomitting his vocabulary. His gestures and subtle nodding readily mirrored his confidence.

A loud beat of silence passed by. Kawaguchi turned to both of them, his confident-smile about to falter.

"And he says I'm dumb.." Orahashi faked a smirk then suddenly he walked out. Kawaguchi shrugged at Keta for the final time before following after Orahashi.

Then he quietly exhaled a breath, resuming what he paused earlier.

"Keta-san?"

Keta turned again, it was Natsumi again.

She was waiting?

The thought drifted for a while before he brushed it off.

"Something that you need from me?"

Without hesitation he spoke up, starting the maiden before him.

"N-No... Just wanted to say hi."

"Hi."

Saying that, Keta stood up. Natsumi was smiling. The smile stilled Keta.

"Miori?"

It wasn't Natsumi who was smiling, it was the person hiding behind her hair. Miori.

"Took you so long." She giggled, at once attracting several gazes.

"Who's this guy?"

"Miori-chan's... Smiling, at him?"

Whispers mixed with confused looks flared up like fire. Almost half of the girls turned their heads, to the trio.

"Miori-san...!"

Natsumi elbowed Miori on her stomach.

"Aww..." Miori faked a groan and then playfully jabbed her.

Their banter soon took the central stage in class, no matter boy or girl, everyone looked at them. They passed some flirtatious whistles which had deep inner meanings.

But amidst the crowd, Keta quietly slipped out, towards the door and walked out.

—

"She's upto something."

The words mumbled out of his mouth. It had to— because of a certain way he intrepated the cryptic meaning behind the normal, simple smile. Be it a teacher or any student (even a upper classman) that smile wouldn't even budge. It was like, glued to her face.

"Or is she?"

Keta mumbled again before stopping by a door.

Knock. Knock.

The door opened without hesitation. Someone's large fingers gripped from the other end.

"Ah.. it's you."

Behind it was a tall lean figure, poking out.

The fingers swifted away and the door opened fully revealing a unfinished office.

"Sensei." Keta leaned up towards the man's face.

"It's Tadano-sensei for you. Anyway, what's the matter?"

The sterness mixed with a subtly causal tone, was unmistakably Tadano's. Keta didn't need to be told that.

"I wanted to look at the 'event board', that's been kept until the next week."

Keta's eyes fixed at him. Tadano sighed, "Just now someone else came for the same reason."

Then he waved, calling him inside.

"Which is it, in particular?"

Tadano guided Keta to his wooden desk at the left corner. The desk contained a namecard bearing Mr and Ms. Mitsui.

Keta paused at it for a second before moving on.

"The elections."

He sniffed the fresh cold air that flew inside the room.

"Oh, let me guess. You want to take a peek at the candidate list?"

At once Keta's eyes shifted back to Tadano's worn out grin.

"That someone you speak of, asked for the same?"

Tadano nodded and stretched his arms, yawning for the first time. While Keta seemed to ponder about something, he pulled his chair and bent it down to a small table unfolding the remaining two legs.

"Who's the third candidate?"

He was about to sit and relax, when all of a sudden his body froze.

"Third candidate?"

To Keta it looked Tadano never expected something as specific as this.

"The fourth one, too."

"Fourth one.."

Already set in motion throughout the event lists, Tadano added another task in his current to-do: 'The fourth candidate.'

—

TICK. TICK. TICK.

The antique wall clock behind his desk, ticked with a low voice. The sounds of papers being turned over and over, echoed throughout.

"Give me that."

Keta turned to a woman sitting beside the place where Tadano's chair would've been.

"Yui, I can do—"

"How long are you planning to make him wait?" The woman spoke in such a stern voice that silenced Tadano.

"Here."

He obediently passed the pile to her.

The woman looked at Keta, with a smile that definitely didn't give him flashes of Miori, she said, "I'm sorry, my hus— I mean, Sensei doesn't specialise in this area so he's taking a bit.."

She sounded apologetic as she flipped through the papers.

He's married.

Keta noted the interesting personal detail that wasn't meant to be known.

"What?" Tadano said, feeling someone's look over him.

Tadano sat behind Yui, leaning against his chair.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? I thought you were surprised." Tadano raised a brow and was about to start lecturing him again when—

"Here you go. Miori Asuka's the third candidate. Fourth one is Orahashi Ozamu and... Just for easing my future-burden, the fifth One is Kawaguchi Nagumo."

Yui Mitsui spoke in a machine-like speed. His lips never watered, which was shocking to Tadano.

"Thank you ma'am."

Keta rose up, bowing.

"Let me see you off."

Tadano rose up at that moment, again guiding him back to the door.

CLICK.

The door closed, unexpectedly, they never exchanged any meaningful glances.

So she's in the elections.

With gentle taps on the blue matte floor, Keta strolled back to his class.

Five minutes until the next class.

He noted in his watch, the door was near.