Chapter 2 Part III
"It's hot...it's so hot I could die from this....".
The next day, in order to scout out Katsuragi's outings, I found myself on a street lined with trees. This is the street that branches off to the dormitories of each grade and as such in order to meet with a senior student, one would inevitably need to pass through here. In addition, this street also leads to Keyaki Mall where there are a multitude of shops as well as leading to the school itself. Therefore, wherever Katsuragi decides to go, I will not miss him.
Normally I would wait in the lobby where it's cool, however unfortunately a group of girls from another class who I do not know have decided to have a tea party there and that option was suppressed.
There was a shop I could have entered but it seems there aren't any seats left available, leaving him hesitant to actually enter, something like that. And my heart wasn't brave enough to slip into whatever free space I could find and relax there either. Occasionally, male and female students in their casual wear pass by peacefully, heading out to play for the day. Naturally all the students would be in their casual wear. Which was why I thought back to the Katsuragi who was wearing his uniform yesterday and asked myself a question. There is no rule stating that one cannot wear their uniform over the summer vacation. However, since the uniform itself stores heat and quickly heats up as such, even if one does not care much about being fashionable, it still wouldn't be convincing enough for them to go out wearing their uniform.
But if he treats his uniform as his summer wear also that would be slightly more convincing. And instead of summer wear, Katsuragi was dressed sharply complete with long sleeves. It was something I had noticed recently, but there seems to be many variations of our uniform. Of course, the me who is constantly short on points was unaware of this, but it seems summer wear clothes are being sold at a rather expensive price as I had recently learned. The girls in our class, despite wanting those clothes someday, are currently forced into a state where they have to bear with it. It's part of the theory that one wears their casual wear when going out, but a reason to dare to wear one's uniform.....
As I thought of such a thing, my mind immediately goes to a similar type of person. The Katsuragi from yesterday, and not just him, it seems there are quite a few people who prefer their uniforms. And from the dormitory where senior students live, a male and a female student walk out. When they noticed me, they diverted from their path and approached me.
"It's been a while".
"I was wondering who would wear their uniform in this shitty hot weather, so it's Horikita's brother huh..." I replied.
Unlike Katsuragi, they were wearing a summer variation of the uniform, however seeing them wear their uniforms on a holiday made me recall feelings of incompatibility.
"Uwa, President, this boy has a "I just met with someone troublesome" face about him". Although I had only made such an easy-to-understand expression, the girl standing beside the elder Horikita, the 3rd year secretary Tachibana, said that in an exaggerated tone.
But even so, unlike the male uniforms, the uniform that the girls wear don't seem to give off the feeling of being hot.
If I could feel such coolness, I wouldn't be making complaints like that though.
"Even though it's the summer vacation, it seems the student council is rather busy" I asked them. Secretary Tachibana seems to be holding something resembling a notebook. I almost thought for a moment that the second semester had already begun.
"We were simply using the summer vacation to renovate the student council room and that is the extent of this relationship" Secretary Tachibana explains that to me without even the need to bother the president.
"I see, see you then" I told her.
"Uwaaa, for someone that just heard something like that your reaction is awfully carefree. More importantly you, you should watch your mouth a little bit more too. Do you even know who this person is? This is the fearsome student council president of this school, you know" Tachibana told me.
I know that. I also know that he wields an unbelievable amount of influence too. At first I did think to show respect and deference towards him, and even speak formally, but I had stopped thinking that along the way.
The elder Horikita too, does not seem to wish for me to speak formally and so I chose to not hold back.
But even so, Secretary Tachibana too seemed to be different from how I had initially imagined her. I had thought her to be a more serious person than this, but it seems she's quite a lenient person as well.
"Do you wish to impose a penalty on me befitting this school? Sorry but I'm completely out of points" I told her as if to shrug off her words. The elder Horikita too, I had thought, wouldn't want anything to do with a person like me but rather than leaving he narrowed his eyes and said this to me.
"Ayanokouji, if you are currently free, I want you to accompany me for a while"
"P-President?".
It seems Secretary Tachibana is surprised at the president who had just invited me. I was surprised too. But---
"Sorry but my schedule's already full" I told him.
"Ehh? You're declining?".
And now Secretary Tachibana seems to be overwhelmed by my rejection of the student council president's invitation.
"Then when are you free. I don't mind changing my schedule for you. I don't mind even if it's after school resumes" he tells me. It seems the elder Horikita is showing no signs of giving up.
It usually doesn't do much good to postpone the problem I guess. And besides, if we do this at a later date there's the possibility that I would end up wasting more time. If that's the case, it would be more convenient to do this now.
"Then let's hear it now. I still have some time until my next task" I told him.
"But you said your schedule was full just now?". I deflected all of Secretary Tachibana's interjections as she said them.
"Where were you planning on going from here? I don't mind changing my schedule to accomodate you".
"Ahh---I'm waiting for someone. If we can help it, I don't want to move from here" I replied to him.
"But it's hot here, you know? It's not a suitable place for a meeting".
"I'm well aware".
Even though it's hot here, I thought myself an upstanding person for honorably carrying out this punishment game scenario. It was self-praise.
"I suppose sometimes talking while standing isn't so bad either. If you feel uncomfortable here, I don't mind if you return to the dormitory ahead of me".
"No. My antenna is telling me I cannot leave president alone with this boy here" Tachibana replied to him. And after saluting the student council president like that, Secretary Tachibana stuck to him almost like a bodyguard.
"Reports have come in to the student council. The uninhabited island test and the special examination on the ship. Were they hard?" he asks me.
"The student council really has a lot of influence, huh? To think they'd even be privy to those reports".
"Even though I say reports, we don't know all the details. Individual actions and the degree thereof are unknown to us".
"I'm glad about that".
"Aren't you glad? That the president doesn't know about your failings" Tachibana said to me. It seems Secretary Tachibana never misses a chance to spit venom at me. It seems, at some point, she's marked me as her enemy.
I suppose it was inevitable given I was casually talking back to the president.
"But information is something that always ends up leaking. The fact that you outsmarted the other classes during the uninhabited island test, and the fact that you held the "target" on the cruise ship when you were assigned to the (Rabbit) group is something that is known to us" he told me.
Despite saying it's unknown, it seems a lot of it has been leaked. This is going to make me doubt their integrity.
"In addition, the name of Horikita Suzune came up after the uninhabited island test. That she became the center of her class and outsmarted the other classes. But in regards to that, I think the one truly responsible for that is you" he tells me and it seems the older Horikita has an absolute confidence in that. I softly murmured that to myself.
"You're completely overestimating me though?".
"The name of the leader ultimately changed to you. How would you explain that?".
"...you even know about something like that, huh?"
"The only ones who know of this fact are me and the Special Examinations Committee only. And now Secretary Tachibana has overheard us. This is something not even the homeroom teachers know of, so relax" he said.
This isn't a situation where I can just relax. Just how much influence does this man have? Normally, student councils are just decorations without any real power. For them to surpass even the teachers, what exactly is this?
"What exactly is this student council?" I asked him.
"The student council by itself has no power. It's up to the talent of the person leading it".
"That's again an impressive statement. I did hear about it earlier, but you're really Class A aren't you?".
I never really needed to confirm it, but since I'm already here I asked him again.
"Isn't that obvious? It's natural!!!" Tachibana replied.
"But in that case I still don't understand something. How large is the difference between me and Horikita? Actually, if you only look at our data, Horikita is far superior to me. I don't understand the reason you're bothering yourself with a D like me" I told him.
"You're misunderstanding one thing. I don't think the people of Class D are stupid. It's not like this school is sorting out exceptional people in order starting from Class A or anything like that".
"Umm president...I think you're saying too many unnecessary things, I think you may have said too much?".
"There's no problem. This man naturally understands that already".
Just how far is he intending to go in overpraising me? Ever since our strange first meeting, this student council president-sama seems to be focusing on me to a troublesome extent.
"Then why did you reject Horikita? Isn't it because she's of Class D?" I asked him.
"Regardless of the environment, as long as she's my sister I understand everything about her capability. She's a failure who was placed in Class D because she deserved it. There's nothing more and nothing less than that" he replied. This man sure views his sister very harshly.
"All of it was planned by Horikita. Your sister doesn't have any friends besides me you see, so I was only given the necessary role" I told him.
"That's wrong. This is not an idea she would think of".
Perhaps it's because they spent a long time together as siblings, it seems he has a complete grasp on her way of thinking. But even so, I have reached a point of understanding.
One of the reasons this man has set his eyes on me is most likely the same reason as Chabashira-sensei.
If he's noticed my playful 50% test scores on the entrance examination, it wouldn't be strange if he has also noticed the difference between my student report and my resume.
"Please stop fishing for my personal information like a stalker. I want to lead a quiet school life".
I appealed to him like that but after he touched his glasses once he again said this crazy statement.
"I did offer you this a while ago but, won't you join the student council?" he asks me.
Secretary Tachibana then panics with fluttering wide eyes. An extremely surprising statement had just been made.
"That's quite a laidback student council you have there. Have the seats not yet been filled?" I asked.
"P-President? Just a few days ago, the student council accepted a 1st year girl already, hasn't it? Isn't that the end of it? We also took in some 2nd years and all the seats should already be filled".
And that's apparently that. I said that to that man with eye contact but he proceeded to say something unprecedented.
"There is still one empty seat left" he said.
"One...it can't be!?".
"Ayanokouji. If you wish, I will use my influence to make you vice president" he told me.
"W-wait".
Secretary Tachibana seems to be back to her energetic self. I thought she was an interesting person from watching her.
"This is unprecedented! It's a 1st year and also from Class D. It can't be that this rude boy can suddenly become vice president!".
"I've said this many times over but I refuse" I told him.
"And in addition to that, I refuse without any more questions asked" I added.
But even so, this is strange. He doesn't seem to be saying this in jest, but the evaluation and the way he seems to be treating me is not normal. Indeed, to a certain extent, the elder Horikita has access to information.
Compared to Ike and Yamauchi (no offense to them), I can understand why he would choose me. But if we go by potential alone, starting with Katsuragi and Ichinose, including Hirata and even Kouenji. There should be plenty of students like that that exist. There should be no reason he would go to such lengths to elect me. That means there is a reason why it has to be me, in other words.
"It may not be for me to say as the student council president. But starting from next year, this school will undergo a massive change. And it's not going to be a desirable change at that. And when that time comes, in order to protect the rules of this school, I need to create a force capable of countering it from this current stage. It might already be too late though. I feel the necessity for that growing stronger every day" he told me.
"President, you're talking about that in the scenario where Nagumo-kun becomes the student council president, right? I don't quite believe he would end up making a bad school...".
I've never heard of the name Nagumo from amongst the 1st years. Changing starting from next year would mean he is from among the 2nd years.
"Normally, there can be up to two vice presidents at a time in the student council. Starting next year it seems it'll be just one, but if you change your mind, it's still not an impossible thing to do" he tells me.
"No, no, no President. Surely that's impossible...there's no way Nagumo-kun would give his permission for something like that".
"I don't know anything about vice presidents or any Nagumos but I won't do it. You're going to graduate and leave this school, that's all right? There's no need for you to worry about the students left behind. Or is it---". I slightly paused so that it would lend more weight to my next words.
"If it's because you're worried about your sister and want my help, then there might be room for you to consult me on the matter" I told him.
"...I see".
If I say that, then this man too, will not be able to depend on me too much. As a matter of fact, he seems to have given up completely, since after that he stopped touching on the subject of the student council.
"Sorry for taking up your time. That's all the business I have with you. But feel free to drop by the student council any time, I'd be happy to treat you to tea" he told me.
So even this man who's built up a firm foundation for this school has his own anxieties, huh? While feeling such an unexpected thing, I decided to return---but I can't go back. It was the perfect timing to go back though. It's too bad I have to wait for Katsuragi.