Welcome to the Student Council

Yuta repeated the question. “Was I worried?”

Shiori gave a brief nod, staring at Yuta through wide eyes.

“Of course I was worried about you. There was nothing wrong, then suddenly you went missing after lunch and I was unable to contact you. Why wouldn’t I be worried?”

Her face lit up, excited that someone other than her mother would worry about her. Suddenly, she stopped, remembering something. “Y-Yuta… did someone from the student council… come looking for me?”

“Someone from the student council?” He thought back, trying to remember if anyone came into the classroom other than the teachers. “Not that I recall…”

“I was supposed to… help them with posters today…” Since no one came to get her, she was unsure if they didn’t actually want her help, or if they just forgot. Part of her wanted to walk home with Yuta, but the other part of her wanted to check to see if her help was needed.

“You look like you want to say something.”

“I think… I should ask if they need me…”

“If that’s what you want to do, go ahead. I won’t stop you.” He set off on the road back home, but stopped when Shiori called out to him.

“W-Would you accompany me? I don’t think I could… communicate with them… on my own…”

With a heavy sigh, he turned around. “Okay. But don’t keep asking me to come along with you everywhere. I need time to study, you know?”

Shiori’s gaze turned to the ground in apology.

Yuta placed his hand on the top of her head to comfort her. “I’m not mad. I only want you to know that I don’t have much time for you outside of lessons and school.”

“Okay…”

Do you know where the student council room is located?”

She shook her head.

“That’s what I thought… It’s on the same floor as the library, but on the other side of the stairs. I’ll show you.” With Shiori behind him, he made his way back into the building. He had planned on studying as soon as he returned home from school, but his textbooks would have to wait.

Inside the school, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure Shiori was still following close behind. “So why did you agree to help the student council? Was it because you thought they would do something to you if you said no?”

“Um… That might have been a part of it, but… I also kinda felt… happy… that someone wanted my help…”

“I doubt she went to you because she specifically wanted your help. She probably thought you would be easy to convince.”

“Even so… It still made me a little happy…”

Yuta started up the stairs. “Well, as long as you’re happy… Just try to stay away from those three. They’re nothing but bad news.”

“You know I don’t like being around people…”

His palm struck his forehead. ‘That wasn’t a very smart way to phrase it...’ “If they approach you, leave as soon as possible. Staying around them is a bad idea.”

“Ichinose isn’t mean… she just appears that way…”

“She’s definitely mean. The only person that doesn’t think that is her boyfriend. Of course, he is her soft spot. The only thing that’s keeping her heart from turning black.”

“Her communication skills are lacking, but… I don’t believe she has bad intentions…”

“She’s not the only one to be concerned about. Her friends are what worry me. While Ichinose was asking you to help the student council, they were plotting to backstab Ichinose. They have no sense of respect for anyone, not even their own friends.”

“Oh… If that’s true, then… I feel bad for Ichinose…”

Yuta stopped in front of a door and opened it. Inside, a handsome young man sat at a desk, typing something on his laptop. Two girls crouched on the floor. One of them was drawing on a large sheet of paper, while the other one stared at her phone through her glasses.

The young man–a third year–looked up and smiled. “Ah, Ichikawa and Ozaki. Minori told me you two would be coming.”

Yuta stared at the student council president. ‘Ichinose must have thought that by getting Shiori to help, I would come to make sure she wasn’t too uncomfortable. Very clever.’ “Actually, I’m not here to help. I was just showing Shiori where the student council meets.”

“I appreciate it.” He shifted his attention to Shiori. “Ozaki, are you a good artist?”

“I-I’m not a bad one…”

“Do you feel confident that you could make a poster that looks nice?”

“M-Maybe…”

He leaned back in his chair. “Then I’ll have you work on the posters with Yuki.”

The girl that was crouched over the paper nodded to Shiori. “I don’t want you messing up my work, so you can work on the ones I haven’t started yet.”

“Yuki, that’s not how we treat someone who agreed to help us. Sorry, Ozaki. Yuki may act as cold as snow, but her heart is as warm as a kotatsu.”

Yuki glared at him. “Refrain from using my name as a pun for a bad poem, please.”

The other girl tucked her hair behind her ear. “You know how much the president loves jokes.”

“It seems like the only ones he likes are bad ones.” Yuki returned to her work, lightly drawing on the paper with a pencil.

The president gestured to the girl that was on her phone. “This is Kanna. She’s the vice-president. Yuki is our secretary.”

Kanna placed her phone on the president’s desk and bowed to Yuta and Shiori. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Yuta glanced from the president to Kanna and back. “If she’s the vice-president, shouldn’t she be working as well?”

“She is working. The reason she was on her phone is because she was looking up designs for some fliers. Before you ask what I’m doing, I’ll tell you that I am putting together a script.”

Shiori blinked. “...A script?”

“Yes. I am supposed to give a speech at the culture festival, and we’re also putting together a game show.” He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. “This is the most stress I’ve ever felt. There’s only two weeks until the festival, and there’s still so much work to be done…”