The Student Council's Assistant

Airin Seira was the glamorous and charismatic queen of Hanazono High School.

Trying to be like her wasn’t easy; neither was actually being her. Seira practiced a lot to ensure ‘Operation: Shoujo’ would succeed. Although she managed to replicate her confidence and style, she barely captured her real essence.

‘Is that why nothing I do is working? In the end, I'm just a third-rate villainess!'

Seira sulked in silence. Sitting in the student council room while Kaien and Nao talked, she looked like a problem child whose parent was called to the principal’s office.

‘The goal was to have Sakura Yume confess to Kinryuji Kaien. In romance, a jealousy-driven conflict is an effective plot device that can influence the characters' relationships dramatically, and I think it’s true! She was about to unleash her full shoujo MC potential back there, but then…’ Seira glared at Kaien. ‘...This guy had to ruin it!’

Before this, she had set up many opportunities in which Kaien could’ve played along. She had given him all those chances to help Yume, yet it's often another boy who stepped forward even when he was around.

This time, she had changed tactics and orchestrated a performance that didn’t require his participation. She expected him to ignore her as always, but then, he went ahead and agreed to be her boyfriend.

And that hurt Yume.

‘Well, yeah, I guess that still made her jealous, but it didn’t have to be this way! Even I hate it when the love interests get with other people first!’

It wasn’t like they were dating for real. In others' perspectives, they were, but they could say it’s a misunderstanding. There’s no need to lie.

“So, you’re really serious, then?”

“Yes. Airin and I are together now.”

“HEY!” Seira bolted up and grabbed Kaien by the shoulders.

“What? You confessed.”

“Have you lost your mind?!"

“I should be asking you that. You look like a wreck.”

“Whose fault do you think that is?! Why are you even doing this?!”

“For a new couple,” Nao interjected, “You don’t seem too…lovey-dovey.”

“Right! Lovey-dovey!” Seira huffed, then pointed at Kaien and flashed him a crooked smirk. “We have to be lovey-dovey if we’re a couple!”

“No problem.” He shrugged before taking her hand in his, their fingers entwined and palms against each other. “Do we start now?”

'WHAT’S HIS DEAL?! WHAT’S HIS DEAL?! WHAT’S HIS DEAL?!’

Seira absolutely had no idea.

When she said they had to be lovey-dovey to be a couple, she thought he’d drop the pretense. But that seemed to have made it worse instead, and she couldn’t tell if he was messing around.

He held her hand with a serious face. That was bad—very bad. He looked kind of cool doing it.

‘Wha-?! No! I did not just think that!’

Her cheeks warmed. Her pulse quickened. She felt flustered for some reason, more so as he kept staring at her.

"As much as this new dynamic piques my curiosity, we have a more important matter to discuss," Nao said, urging Kaien to let go and settle back down, much to Seira’s relief. "Miss Airin Seira, you've gone too far."

"Ah, uhhh..." Seira averted her gaze, thinking that the incident earlier was indeed over-the-top. 'School cafeteria scenes are a classic; big events happen there. My only objectives were Sakura Yume and her love interest. Since Kiryuji Kaien was avoiding me, lunch break was the perfect time to corner him. I didn’t expect Shirakawa Nao and the other male leads would also be present.'

"Not just today, or these past few weeks—no, it's been happening for a lot longer. You made us believe for a while that these bad habits of yours were gone, but... Well, I shouldn't have trusted that." Nao sighed and turned to Kaien. "Is this why you asked me that last time, Kinryuji?"

"Huh...? Oh, um... Not really..."

'Last time? What does he mean?'

“As I thought, something must be done after all, and I know just what. During the student council's inauguration ceremony, I introduced a new disciplinary action for constant misconduct. Do you remember, Miss Airin?"

'...When was that? Either I don't exist in this world yet, or I'm busy sketching your handsome face in my head.'

"Only recently, the faculty approved it. I believe it can promote learning better and deter future misbehavior, as opposed to more severe punishments like detention. After all, character-building is a long-term process that should be done with active support from peers."

"Erm... President, are you sending me to a camp or juvie?"

He let out a humorless chuckle, feigning politeness. "Please do not fret. I cannot allow the daughter of one of the school's most important sponsors to go to such places. Instead, I shall have you serve as the student council's assistant for a period of time."

"A-Assistant...? To the student council?"

"Yes, to me, in particular. The rules state that the president has the prerogative to recruit non-official members or accept volunteers. You see, engaging with positive figures fosters personal growth, and this assignment is an application thereof. You shall help me from now onward. Your labor is compensation for all the misdeeds you've committed so far."

Seira had to take a few more seconds to understand. Once she did, she suddenly felt like screaming—not in horror or indignation, but in excitement.

'The president's assistant?! Isn't that like one of those boss-and-secretary love tropes, just teen edition?! Definitely sounds like something a fictional world makes up out of nowhere for the sake of romance, and it's a convenient scenario for relationships to develop!'

"...Is Miss Airin alright? She appears to have become unresponsive."

"Yeah, she's fine. She's probably just having a mind-processing error."

'In which case, Sakura Yume should be the one here, not me! Imagine her and the president alone in this room, going over some paperwork until their fingers accidentally touch and they look up to find their faces right next to each other! Then, as the sun sets behind them, they get closer and closer and-'

"Airin, if you have any thoughts or questions about this, tell them to Shirakawa already. Lunch break is almost over," Kaien spoke up, snapping Seira out of her reverie.

"Ah, yes! I have a good idea!"

Nao smiled amicably. "I'm glad to see you're taking this pretty well-"

"Take Sakura Yume as an assistant instead!"

Nao’s pleasant expression cracked instantly. The corner of his mouth twitched, and his brows scrunched together.

“Are you saying I should punish Miss Sakura, not you?” he asked with a strained voice, to which she answered with a cheerful, “Yes!”

“Uh, Airin?” Kaien called reluctantly. “Do you really understand the situation you’re in? This is serious.”

“I do!” Seira chirped happily. “Listen, the president is in love with Sakura Yume, right? This is how he can win her over!”

“You idiot! Stop blurting out stuff like that-”

“Miss Airin Seira,” Nao muttered in a low, deep voice. “I plan to have you start next week, but… I’ll come get you later. Please stay put and wait for me.”

With that, Seira found herself sweeping the already squeaky-clean floor of the student council room until late afternoon that day—and most probably, for the next days to come.

---

“Did you hear? Airin Seira became President Shirakawa’s assistant.”

“Yeah, but more importantly, she is now Kinryuji’s girlfriend!”

News spread like wildfire, opening heated conversations among the students. No one had anticipated this sort of development from the three most popular people in school.

Seira was vaguely aware of it, though, too occupied with certain matters.

Another reason was that she didn't have friends to talk about it with. Everybody kept a safe distance from her, except for some who still tried to curry favor with her.

“Congratulations, our queen! Your dream has come true at last! You and Kinryuji make a perfect couple!”

Seira's clique had celebrated her and Kaien's new fake relationship.

Even though she denied it, they believed she was just being considerate, as all of them also had a crush on Kaien at some point. She insisted, nonetheless, worried this would eventually get to Yume. But with Kaien's lack of cooperation, her persistent denial only became a waste of energy.

All she hoped now was that this whole facade of her and Kaien dating would at least give Yume the courage to confess.

‘I’m sure everyone will see through it sooner or later,’ Seira thought as she carried a pile of documents to the student council room. ‘I mean, I spend more time doing these odd jobs for the president than hanging out with that- Huh?’

Right then, she stopped in her tracks, startled by the sight ahead of her. Kaien had suddenly appeared, and with him was Yume. They were alone in a quiet hallway lit by the morning sun — 

A most picturesque, typical scene in shoujo.