Responsibilities

So he had the job of trying to save the library? That sounded like a terrible thing to drop on a guy on his first day of the job. Of course Misei and Misao did say they'd help, but Arata was going to be doing most of the work.

That was fine anyway, no point in replacing them only to find out that this position was meaningless. But there was another thing about this whole library business that was concerning him.

"Hello, I assume you're here for the request… Oh, I didn't realize that you were coming." That would the librarian.

"Yeah, I didn't think I'd be here either." He responded to her coldly. "But starting today, I'm this school's new treasurer and secretary."

"Now that really is wonderful." Hifumi said, her tone making it clear that she was happy about how this situation turned out. "I'm quite proud of you."

"I don't really need your approval." He replied. "And speaking of, where's the rest of the library committee?"

"You're looking at it." She couldn't honestly be the only person running this, he thought. No wonder the teachers were thinking of closing this place down. "It's a shame, but no one seems particularly interested these days for this place."

"It's a shame all right." That was going to make his job harder, Arata was starting to regret just feeling like the library should've stayed open. "Are you sure we should even be trying?"

"And just let this place get taken away?" She refuted him. "This is a sanctuary, a place where one goes to for privacy. Many students have found their love here." The way she was wording it made it feel like the books weren't the big deal here.

The truth was that she had witnessed many confessions here. Many more interactions between two people, the budding of love just growing. Or perhaps a first meeting, every moment meant something.

"At least you're honest." He listened to her stories. "I thought you were going to go on a rant about how important the knowledge stored in this books are."

"That's very much important too." She continued on. "I just think it's a shame if the students of today and tomorrow don't get the chance to really experience everything a library has to offer."

"I can't disagree with you on that." He sat down beside her, pulling out all of the papers he brought. "It's just too bad that convincing other people that isn't so easy."

"So what are these?" She scanned over the paperwork he had with him. "I'm assuming this is related to me."

"It is." He explained to her what this was all about. He had the school budget's numbers in front of him. The most important number in it, being how much was sent to the library. Aside from getting more interest on this location, there was also the problem of convincing them that the usage was enough for the money.

"Okay, then let's see what we've got on our hands." She took a copy he made for her to look over what they could plan.

"Maybe if I lower how much is allocated, then we won't need as many people using it to…" Arata was crunching the numbers in his head. Trying to see if there was a way to strike a balance. This job was really important, and he knew that he shouldn't let everyone down. The pressure was really on.

"So, did you go to the fall festival?" Hifumi asked him.

"I'm not really here for small talk." He answered her with irritation in his voice. "Do you even want to save this place?"

"It's just that you're looking stressed out, and my grandmother always said that stress will show up in your performance if you fester in it."

"...Fine, I did." He begrudgingly answered her question. "And you?"

"I did, but unfortunately I didn't see you there." She smiled at him. "After all, if I ran into you during the festivals. I might've kissed you." Hifumi leaned over to whisper to his ear. "Even if you didn't close your eyes."

"Stay back." Arata gently pushed her away from him. Hearing her so close to him sent shivers down his back. "I thought you said that you didn't love me."

"That is what I said back then, but don't you think things are a little different than back then?" It wasn't that long since they saw each other. In fact, it was just over a week since that happened. Somehow so much could happen in his life in such a small amount of time. "I notice that you've got something new."

"This?" He pointed over at the figuring attached to his bag. "I figured that wouldn't get past you."

"You're not hiding anymore, and that makes me happy."

"We're not even friends, so why would you care?"

"Because, I love you. And now that you've no longer chosen to hide your true self. I don't have to hold back either." Hifumi placed a hand on top of his thigh, coming closer to him.

"If that's an official confession." Arata pushed her hand away from him. "Then consider this response to be an official rejection."

"You wound me." She didn't appear hurt by what he said. "Of course, I think you should know that doesn't mean I have to give up."

"So why were you at the festival?" He ignored what she just said, knowing this was going to be more bothersome for him in the future. "Not to sound mean, but you don't exactly have any friends."

"I didn't want to go in the first place." She said. "But my grandmother insisted, so I went. Too bad not much happened while I was there."

"Sounds odd that you talk so much about your grandmother. What about your parents?"

"My parents were perfectly fine with me staying home. But I guess you could say that I like listening to my grandmother more." The way this old lady sounded. It reminded Arata of his own relationship with Hine. That old woman really had a positive impact on him, even if it was rough at times.

"Well I'm sure your grandmother would love it if we both stayed on track." Arata wanted to focus on the task at hand. Hifumi had other plans.

"I'm sure we've plenty of time. After all, we are alone." She placed a hand over his thigh again. A bit close to a rather private area for him.

"I wouldn't bet that you're alone." A rather irritated voice broke into their conversation. It was Misei, with Misao standing beside her. "And please refrain from inappropriate behavior while you're at school."

"What?! You wouldn't stop her if we weren't at school?" He responded rather peeved at her.

"It's not in my jurisdiction." She replied. "But if it was you, then I'd stop it."

"Thanks…"

"My, I guess I got so distracted. That we didn't notice you come in." Hifumi acted like she did nothing wrong. "If the two of you are here, then where are-"

"They have important business to attend to before they have to leave." Misao answered before letting her finish her question. "And we're only here to support Arata on his first job."

"Well, if you're all here. Then we should really get into this." He was thankful they came in. It's not like he needed saving, but it was going to get annoying to have to reject every move this girl attempted.

The other two girls sat down across the table from him. Without much talking, they got to looking the numbers, trying to brainstorm ideas. With such little time, there wasn't very much in the line of solutions.

"What about if we..."

"It won't work, there's just not the budget for it." Another idea shot down. They had to be at a dozen ones now. Yet not a single option was viable given their resources.

"We should take a break then." Arata got up to stretch out his legs. They had been at this for an hour, with no progress to show for it.

"Given the time, maybe we can wrap up for now. Tomorrow might be better when we have more energy." Misao recommended. Which no one disagreed with.

"I'll live with that." Hifumi didn't sound like she was entirely concerned with the possibility of losing the library. Despite her being the one to ask for help. "Arata, perhaps you could walk me home?"

"It's not going to happen." Misei put an end to this. "I need to talk with him about something. Privately."

"Oh my. I didn't realize that the president carried such feelings for this boy." She teased her, hitting a bit of a nerve.

"Unlike with how you've been acting. I actually have something important to talk with him." With that, the group separated into pairs. With Misao joining Hifumi on her way home, and Arata and Misei heading the other way.

"Thanks, that was a really strange experience." He expressed his gratitude for her. "Of course, I'm sure I could've just-"

"There's something wrong, isn't there?" She ignored what he said.

"What?"

"I wasn't lying when I said I had something important to ask." She didn't skip a beat. "Your mind is clearly on something else, that's why you didn't give any ideas for solving our problem here."

"…" Arata was struck speechless. She was right, but he wasn't sure if he should be telling her about what was on his mind.

"Go on, tell me." She said, doing a rather poor job at encouragement.

"Sheesh, when you put it like that. I kind of don't want to tell you." He responded to her. It felt more like an interrogation than a friend sending their concern. "You're acting like I'm some kid that just got in trouble."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." She took some time to think of a better way to word it. "I was just worried about you, that's all."

"It's all right, there's just some things I was wondering about. I just wasn't sure how I was going to figure them out."

"You mean with what happened during the festival, or with Yuki?" She noticed the change in his and Yuki's relationship after he told the truth. That was also when she learned that those two were actually online friends without being aware of it.

"Both." He responded. It was more than that though. "I assume that you know who kissed me. Of course don't tell me, it's only fair for privacy."

"Correct. I am aware of who it was that locked lips with you." There was something in that statement where he noticed a small amount of nervousness. Given her usual cold nature, anything like that stood out to him.

"Yeah, and with Yuki. Well I'm just not sure what's up with her. I really just want to be friends with her, like before."

"It is odd how apprehensive she is about you. She doesn't even call you by first name." Though they both knew that it apparently had to do with a dislike for that name. For whatever reason, they didn't know. "I thought that being a friend of her cousin, she'd be more fine with all of us."

"Now with the library business, I don't think I'll have time to try and work with all those things." There was also A + Y stuff he was yet to work through, along with something else that had been bugging him since the last time he got blackmailed. However, he wasn't going to mention that to her.

"That's sounds like a rather convenient excuse." She told him. "You still chose to take this, knowing that it was going to be a lot of hard work."

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying that I think you're just trying to run away from your problems. By taking on others first." There was no beating around the bush with her. "But, if you're going to do that, then nothing will be fixed. Both your problems, and the others that you're trying to fix."

"I mean." He didn't have a counter for that. Because it was the truth, but it was too late to back out of his new jobs now. "I'll just worry about what's in front of me for now. I'm sure you'd agree that my responsibilities come first."

"Sure." They had reached his house now. This conversation was going to come to an end. "But just like people won't be afraid to come to you for help. Don't be afraid to come to us for help."

"I will…" Arata listened to her, but he wasn't sure what any of them could do for him. Before he could walk away, she did something that he wasn't expecting from her of all people.

"Goodbye." She said, then she gave him a head pat.

"Geez." He covered his face, hoping that no one they knew could see this. She may have been taller than him, but this was just making him feel like a child. "Goodbye to you too." He stepped away from it, forcing this to end.

"Right, well I'll be going now." She began to walk towards her own house. As she was getting away from his sight, there was something running in his mind.

That head pat felt really familiar.