Ah! We’re running out of time- I need to find Yumeka as soon as possible!

I said to the president of the student council that I would be responsible for bringing her to the meeting in time, but I got distracted and now we only have ten minutes to get there or we will be late! Okay, okay, everything is going to be alright Minato, I need to stay calm for a bit. After taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, I began thinking: I already looked through most of the clubs on the second floor, and checked if she was still in her classroom, room 1-B, on this floor. She has to be on the ground floor, if not, she’s either at the garden or the track and field… Ugh, but I have not thoroughly checked this floor yet, maybe she’s wandering around the halls here. I begin running around to find her faster. It’s not good to run in the halls but this is a necessary evil, the president is VERY strict with scheduled times and dates… It kind of makes me a bit envious of her, she is always so responsible and knows what to do every time… well, at least most of the time. A far cry from the mess I created for myself- no! Now it is not the time to think about that, I need to find Yumeka first.

Searching the halls of the first floor took about five minutes and still no luck on finding her. She was on the ground floor after all, should have checked that first, I wasted so much time already due to my doubts… Going downstairs I looked at my immediate surroundings and-- there she was! Looking at the announcement board of the school, the girl with long dark brown hair with a bunch of glitter scattered on it, there she was all this time! I quickly dashed towards her while calling for her name. “Yumeka, Yumeka!”

Once I got close to her, I continued, “Yumeka! There you are!”

Yumeka, who was focusing very intensely on the announcement board and the many club recruitment fliers, slowly turned her head towards me and, with a very monotone voice, says “Huh?”

That uncaring answer greatly annoyed me, even though I know it is not intentional from her and that this is how she normally is. She has always been the type to talk in a monotonous voice, and to zone out all the time. I responded “I have been searching for you for a long time! Don’t you remember we have a council meeting in about five minutes?”

“Ah, right. I forgot…” She answers with a slightly surprised expression on her face.

Remind her, I continued “You know how the President is very strict with dates-” but something moving in the corner of my vision grabbed my and Yumeka’s attention. We both turned to look at that.

It was a girl, and as soon as we both noticed her presence, she stopped moving and nervously stared at us. Actually, that purple ribbon, reddish hair and a ponytail are so familiar… Wait, that is-

Pointing at her, I yelled “AH, IT’S YOU!” thought with a bit of unintentional anger, there is just too much happening right now. She is the girl from the other day that completely ignored my warning about running in the hallways!

I continued “You are the runaway student from that other day!” I felt a little bad about antagonizing her like this… Sure she might have disrespected the unspoken rules, but she did not need to be confronted like this. Especially when I did that myself…

Yumeka followed up with “Runway…” and began pointing at the girl while saying “Criminal…”

Criminal? I think that is harsh to say, it is not like the council banned ‘running in the hallways’. Also, does that not also make me a criminal too?! I should have not confronted her like this… The girl in front of us is clearly panicking from us putting her in the spotlight like this, as I can tell by her facial expression. This feels so mean for such a small ‘crime’.

The girl breaks the awkward silence by replying “Ahahaha, I just remembered that a teacher called me to the faculty office.”, trying to play it cool while looking for a way to flee the scene.

“Faculty?” wait, thinking about it now, what even is a faculty office? Is she maybe searching for the teachers office?

Yumeka replies to all of this by saying “Fault…” with the expected monotone voice she always has. Something that may have spooked the girl a little bit.

She continued to play it cool, “Ye-Yeah, the fault- I mean, I mean, faculty office, ahahaha…” and before I could give her directions to the teacher’s office, she followed up with a goodbye “Se-See you two later!” while walking away from us.

“Hey, wai-” I tried to talk to her, but she stormed off before I could even start my sentence. Great, another mistake. I made a student panic because I brought a bit of my own emotional baggage into something that should have been just a simple warning. What a way to stay ‘calm’ Minato.

“Whatever, come on Yumeka, we are going to be late at this pace!” I said as I grabbed her hand and started to walk to the council meeting room, with no resistance from Yumeka. She seemed to not mind being dragged like this. I will find a way to apologize to that girl with a purple ribbon and reddish hair.

Walking in these empty and quiet corridors, I cannot help but think about all the problems I am facing. I still do not understand. It has been over a week since our argument, and I still do not understand why. Ever since we got into high school, she has been noticing something changing in me-- something that is completely invisible to me --and she refuses to clarify what it is. This all culminated into what happened that day… Her voice still echoes: “Minato- you are changing!”

She has been ignoring me and all my messages since then.

Nozomi, why did you say that… What changed in me? Was it the ha-

“Minato…”

Huh? Who was that voice? I was too deep in my thoughts to recognize who that was. Taking a quick glance around, there is no one aside from me and-

“Are you… worried, Minato?” Yumeka… said!?

“Yu-Yumeka??” I was taken aback by this sudden action coming from her.

She continued “When you were talking to that girl, and the way you are squeezing my hand, you … seem upset at something. Is it a problem I caused?”

I-I was completely stunned by this. I never expected her to ever react like this, much less notice something that could have been a misunderstanding. I always assumed she was the type of person to just daydream and never really pay attention to the world outside, much less have such a read on people.

“Hmmm, seems like it’s something else. It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me… but I do worry about my friends.” She said in her usual monotone voice, but this time, it somehow sounded like she was genuine. Yumeka… thinking about it now, aside from my dear Nozomi, Yumeka has been the only one to call me a ‘friend’. Sure, there are my classmates and the council members, but it is hard to call those ‘friendships’, they are always superficial and I often only talk with them out of necessity… and to not be judged by others… Should I really tell what is going on? Will this not cause problems for her? What happens if I do? Ugh, these complicated questions are flooding in now, I don’t know what to do!

…

“I’m sorry for squeezing your hand Yumeka. You don’t need to worry about me as well. Everything is going to be alright.” My subconscious answered for me, choosing to keep her away. It is for the better, I do not want to drag someone uninvolved into this. I will deal with it myself.

Yumeka, in her usual monotone voice, answered “I see…” but this time sounding like she was disappointed or sad at my answer…

I am sorry Yumeka, this is something only I can fix.

“Thanks for what you said though, I appreciate it.” I expressed my gratitude for her concerns, but they were met with silence instead.

“Let’s go to the meeting now.”

“Uhm…”

Finally here, with one minute to spare, we finally got to the door of the council room. Me and Yumeka, who quickly got up from being dragged a few seconds ago, entered said room.

All the other members were talking to each other and already present around the U shaped table that took most of the space of the room. The girl with deep red eyes and black long hair was the President of the council, her name is Akane, but she prefers to be referred to as “President”. She was sitting right at the middle of the table. With a serious expression on her face, she glanced at us to confirm who we were, and quickly glanced away at her papers, likely waiting for the exact moment the meeting was supposed to start. The both of us sat down at opposite ends of the table, so that the meeting could finally begin.

The President got up from her chair and began speaking in an austere tone “Student Council, it’s time to start our first meeting of the year!”, to which everyone stopped their conversations and listened to what she had to say.

“Firstly, let’s check if everyone is present here.” This is something she always does, like a teacher, she calls each one of us and marks their presence in the classroom… despite the fact that the council can only consist of 8 members, and that she can easily tell who is missing. But, in a way, it is a bit inspiring. Always doing this despite the futility of it really shows how responsible she is. She once mentioned that her goal was to try following the steps of the previous council president who inspired her, so she always treats everything with the seriousness it deserves… But it does feel like she is trying to fill enormous shoes left behind by her former colleagues. It is also hard to ask if she needs help with anything too, her intense stare with those red eyes and her no nonsense attitude often makes her a bit difficult to approach, even for us council members. I do not know much about ‘Akane’ herself though, she usually only talks as ‘President’, I sometimes wonder what she likes to do in her free time.

“Second and Third members of the council, Tatsuya and Yuki, please confirm your presence.”

The boy with short spiky red hair who was leaning back on his chair, and the girl with long embellished hair and white hairband who had her arms crossed, both of them to my right, responded to her call.

“Sup!”

“Here.”

They are the oldest of the council members, being third years alongside the President. Tatsuya’s role is to keep everything sports related in check and ready to go. He also happens to be the best athlete of our school, so many people over the years have challenged to a competition and he never lost a single one, well, aside from the very first time he himself challenged someone. There is this relaxed nature about him that makes him far easier to approach than our president. Most students direct concerns to him which he directs to her, even though he is only responsible for the sports things. Well, that is if he is not concentrating on a competition. His relaxed attitude turns into a passionate and unyielding one, only focused on winning and nothing else. People give him the title of “The Prince of Sports” and he is quite scary in that form…

Yuki on the other hand, is responsible for the looksand the current uniforms we are wearing for Gakumon. She often brags about her accomplishments and the label people gave her as “The Princess of Gakumon”. To be honest, I respect that. She worked really hard to get these uniforms approved for the entire school, the old ones quite boring and one note. Her elaborate appearance and hair style must take an eternity to prepare every single day. Sure, she might be a bit eccentric and vain, but is it not fair to do that when she works really hard every day and has a modest background? I think it is fair at least, she is never afraid of showing who she is to anyone and always tries to push others to show their best.

“Hm. Members number four of the council, Koharu and Haruka-”

Across the table, two people immediately got up from their chairs: simultaneously saying “Present!”, before realizing their synchronicity, and upsettingly staring at each other. Those are the Kagami twins, and they are one of the two special cases on the council. Haruka, the girl with brown short hair and a ponytail over her left shoulder, is the introvert type. She usually stays at the library, which the fourth position is responsible for. Despite her nature, she will not hold back on showing you exactly how she feels about you, be it on her attitude or the words she uses. Meanwhile her brother Koharu, the boy with short brown hair and ponytail, is the complete opposite mirror to her, in both personality and appearance. He is much more approachable and friendly but it is quite hard to tell what he is really thinking about sometimes… At least that’s what I feel like.

By themselves, one would not be wrong to think they are not related a single bit and just happen to look-alike. However, when they are together, it becomes quite clear that they are related… again, not because of their appearance, but by the way they act towards each other. They have a strong sibling rivalry. They constantly fight to one up each other and I even heard from Tatsuya and Yuki that the reason they share the same role in the council was because the President saw their exceptional talents, but she did not want every meeting to be a constant fight between two differently placed siblings. Despite the whole rivalry, none of them manage to end up being better than the other, it always ends up a tie…

The President sighs and then asks “… you two may sit down.”

“Hmph.” The siblings scoffed at each other and do just that.

“Moving on, Fifth…” The president glances at the empty seat between the twins and Yumeka, who was lost in her own little world of thought and not paying attention, and continues “Sorry, force of habit. Sixth member of the council, Minato, please confirm your presence.”

I got up from my chair and answered “I’m here.” before sitting back down. My role in the council is to maintain rules at the school and all that stuff. It is not something as cool as looks or sports, but just as, if not more, important. As for the fifth member- His role was organizing events for the school, but as everyone can see, they are no longer part of the council. Not for some deep sad reason however, he graduated last year and now we have an empty seat… I wonder what the President is going to do about this.

“And lastly, special member of the council…” the President pauses for a moment for a moment, she looks a bit flustered before saying “Yu-Yumeka.”

This has always been weird to me. Yumeka is the second special case of the council by being a ‘special member’. She has no real assigned role, she just has to be present for meetings and all that. The President’s attitude and posture always changes when she has to acknowledge Yumeka, out of all people. It is not in a romantic or happy way either, she seems… scared of her? Always afraid of what she has to say? I tried asking the other members why, but they said the same thing I experienced when I joined the council in 9th grade: “One day Yumeka just became part of the council, and no one knows why.”

What kind of history do those two have? And why is Yumeka part of the council if the President is so scared of her?

Oh right, Yumeka is in her daydreaming world- “Hey, hey! Hey, Yumeka!” I called her attention “Wake up!”, but to no avail as she did not listen…

“Nev-Nevermind, I can see you are here, Yumeka.” the President hastily replied, I assume trying to avoid taking her out of the trance.

She quickly put herself back together, and with her determined voice fitting of a leader, said “With everyone present, let’s begin the first council meeting!”

The President continues “This first meeting will have the purpose of introducing everything the school is doing and what the council will be responsible for during this year.” Hm? This is a very different introduction than last year, is something going to happen?

“Oooh? Sounds like somethin’ big is coming.” Seems like Tatsuya also noticed it.

“I hope it’s not another collecting trash around parks event, that last one was DREADFUL!” Oh yeah, the event Yuki mentioned was 2 years ago… I heard the park she was responsible for had a few troublemakers.

Tatsuya jokingly comments “So you don’t like protecting the planet or something like that Yu?”

Yuki responds to his snarky comment with the same tone “No- I don’t like rowdy people that cause problems. I told you about them, Tatsuya.” Those two continue to be great friends as usual.

The President picks up the papers on the desk and shuffles them as she says “We will get to that, but first we have some problems to address.”

Opening her palm in the direction of the empty seat, calling everyone’s attention, but Yumeka’s, the President continues with the same seriousness as before “Tanaka graduated and left us with an empty spot to fill.”

“Ah, goodbye Tak, ya’ll be missed” Tatsuya reminisces about their time.

“Yeah…” Tanaka was a really friendly individual in the council, and very sportzy headed like Tatsuya, but he always fell short against the Prince of Sports… to be fair, it is hard to win against someone with such a title.

Yuki notices the both of us and comments “You two make it sound like he passed away! He just graduated geez.”

“Nevertheless, this puts us on a tough spot, as he was responsible for organizing events.”

She continues with the list of issues “The second problem that must be addressed is in regards to the Journalist Club.”

“What’s up with them?” Koharu said exactly what I was wondering. That group was rather small and kept to themselves. I cannot imagine them ever causing problems, if that is what the President is implying.

“I can’t believe you are behind on this Koharu-” Haruak immediately replies as she places her hand on her face in a dramatic, almost mocking fashion. Then, she continues: “That club was disbanded, because all their members graduated and they never recruited any new members.”

“Hmph, like you have the right to say that. You didn’t even know they existed until 6 months ago when I told you about it.”

“You… o-of course I knew them before, I was just testing you that time!”

Koharu mimics Haruka’s reaction earlier and places his hand on his face in a dramatic, almost mocking fashion. Following that with: “I can’t believe you think you are fooling anyone with that.”

Oh no, the siblings are going to fight again…

“Ah-em.” the President intervened before the spark started a fire “Yes, the club was disbanded for those reasons and for the general lack of interest surrounding the topic. This leaves the council with the responsibility of making a new club to fill that space.”

Seems like we got our hands full with this mysterious event, missing a council member and an empty club room…

“I have already advised a plan for these problems, but let’s move on to the public event we will be holding inside the school at the end of the year.”

“Public? Thas new.” Tatsuya commented with a lot of interest.

Yuki continues “The school has not held a public event like this since I became part of the council. I guess it’s finally time to show the brilliance and beauty of Gakumon Ooh-oh-oh!”

Those two are excited about it, I was curious too, so I asked the President: “What’s the event about?”

The siblings ask right after me, in unison “Is it some kind of competition?!”

“Calm down everyone. Yes, it's a competition, a track and field race between the high school years that will be open for the public to see.”

Open for all years? Does that not seem a bit unfair for a first year to go against a third?

Tatsuya comments “Track and field, ay? That’s gonna be fun.” as he leans further back on his chair. Wait no, scratch that. Is someone even capable of defeating the Prince of Sport in his own speciality, track and field!?

The President responds to my question with sincerity “This was the principal’s idea. According to him, ‘We haven’t done one of those in a long time, so why not! I saw a race the other day, let’s also do that as a public event for all the high-schoolers.’ when I met with him earlier this year.” Did he not put any thought into this and just said that we were going to do that on a whim!?

Worried about how all this is going to play out, I further questioned her: “Wait, but how are we gonna manage this even without the fifth member, plus the empty room that we have to deal with?”

“About that-” The President turns to me as continues “We will be handling the preparations for this event while we don’t have our fifth member yet.” We? Well, yeah that is a thing only the council can work o-

“Minato.” She breaks my train of thought with her serious voice and intense stare-

“Ye-Yes!”

“I will be entrusting you with the job of making pamphlets for the recruitment of our fifth member and finding a new club to fill that empty room. While the rest of the council will also do what we can for the event and handle the recruitment process.”

Recruitment pamphlets and finding a new club… WAIT, I HAVE TO ALSO DEAL WITH ALL THAT, BY MYSELF!? I ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH GOING ALREADY!

“WH-WHA- WHY DO I HAVE TO DO IT!?”

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