The weekend had come and gone.
Unfortunately.
I hadn’t even realized how exhausted I’d been until I woke up Monday morning wishing it was still Saturday.
Trying to get out of bed felt like some Herculean task but somehow I managed.
When I got to school, I almost wished I had just gone right back to sleep.
Festival preparations were officially underway.
Which meant the school had transformed into organized chaos.
Students hurried through the hallways carrying every single material under the sun.
Teachers argued over classroom assignments.
Every bulletin board seemed to have acquired at least three new notices overnight.
Even before first period started, the school already felt louder than usual.
As I reached my locker, an increasingly familiar voice greeted me.
“Good morning, Kaito.”
I turned around.
President Amakawa stood there.
Clipboard in hand.
Of course.
I was starting to think she was physically incapable of appearing without one.
“Morning.”
“I hope you had an enjoyable weekend.”
“Yeah. It was pretty relaxing.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“How was your weekend?”
“It was perfectly fine.”
She smiled.
Same elegant smile as always.
Somehow it never looked forced.
“I apologize for interrupting you before class.”
“It’s okay. I have some time to kill.”
She looked down at the clipboard.
“As one of the festival committee representatives, there have been several scheduling adjustments I’d like to make you aware of.”
“Oh?”
“The basketball team has been assigned additional cleanup duties following afternoon practices.”
“Additional cleanup duties?”
“The gymnasium will be one of the primary festival venues.”
She showed me her clipboard and pointed toward the schedule.
“Construction crews will begin preparing displays next week. We would like the facility kept in exemplary condition.”
“Ah. Makes sense.”
“We estimate it should only take about fifteen minutes.”
“Sounds good. I’m cool with that.”
“I’m pleased you agree.”
Honestly?
It sounded perfectly reasonable.
The basketball team already cleaned up after themselves.
This was basically asking us to be a little more thorough.
No big deal.
“Your cooperation is appreciated, Kaito.”
“Happy to help.”
“Excellent.”
Before either of us could continue with our morning…
“…Morning.”
I looked over.
Hikari had just arrived.
Basketball bag over one shoulder.
She stopped the moment she saw us talking.
For exactly half a second our eyes met.
Then…
“…Tch.”
She immediately looked away.
Is she seriously still mad?
About what?
I complimented her basketball skills.
And I was being honest.
Her skills had improved significantly.
That was literally all I’d done.
Girls were confusing.
Or maybe just Hikari?
Nah, it’s girls in general…
“Good morning, Tachibana,” Yurika said pleasantly.
“Morning,” Hikari replied lazily.
“I was hoping to speak with you as well.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Yurika handed her another sheet.
“The girls’ basketball team has also been assigned additional responsibilities.”
Hikari skimmed the page.
Her eyebrow twitched.
“Court cleanup?”
“Correct.”
“Every day?”
“The gymnasium must remain presentable throughout festival preparations.”
“…”
“It should require approximately fifteen minutes.”
Hikari sighed.
“Ugh… fine.”
“Thank you.”
Yurika smiled.
“I knew I could count on you.”
Hikari muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, “Didn’t have a choice…” As well as another word or two that’s best not to be repeated in polite company.
Yurkia decided to ignore that.
She looked between us.
“As representatives of your respective clubs, I imagine you’ll be seeing one another rather frequently over the coming weeks.”
“Probably,” I said.
“Unfortunately,” Hikari muttered.
“What was that?” I asked with a sharp tone.
“N-Nothing!”
She folded her arms.
“D-Don’t get the wrong idea.”
“About what?”
“I-I don’t know!”
“Then why would I get the wrong idea?”
“…Tch.” She paused.
“Because I know you just would!”
She turned bright red.
“I hate talking to you.”
“You literally started talking to me. So clearly you don’t.”
“Shut up!”
President Amakawa quietly watched the exchange.
There was the faintest sparkle in her eyes.
Gone almost immediately when I looked at her.
“I see your relationship remains… energetic.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” I admitted.
“I’M STANDING RIGHT HERE!” Hikari screamed.
She looked like she was about to start throwing hands.
I nearly recoiled but somehow remained composed.
I sighed.
“I’m well aware of that.”
“Then stop talking about me like I’m not!” Hikari stomped her foot on the ground.
“I’m talking to the Student Council President.”
“You can do both!”
“I don’t think I can.”
“…TCH!”
She turned away so quickly her twintails whipped through the air.
“…Idiot.”
There it was.
Everything was back to normal.
Or… as normal as Hikari ever got.
You know how tsunderes are.
And if you don’t, I envy your innocence.
Wish we could trade places…
Yurika folded her clipboard closed.
“Well then…. I won’t keep either of you any longer.”
She gave a polite bow.
“I look forward to working with both of you.”
With that, she walked away at a perfect pace.
I watched her disappear down the hallway.
“She’s really good at her job.”
Beside me, Hikari continued staring after her.
Her brow slowly furrowed.
“As if! What are you in love with her?”
“What?! I’m not. Just stating the obvious…”
“Hmph! It’s not like I care!” She turned her head away from me emphatically and crossed her arms. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Something bothered her.
Not enough to explain properly but I could tell.
I wish I knew what it was but I wasn’t about to ask her when she was in this kind of mood.
Living is far too nice for making such silly mistakes this early in the morning.
She looked down at the schedule one more time, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Ugh… fifteen minutes…” She started mumbling something else but I was unable to hear any of it.
“Hikari?”
“N-Nothing!”
She crumpled the paper slightly.
“Just… just forget it.”
She stormed off toward class.
Leaving me standing there.
“What did I do this time?”
The first couple of days after the committee meeting were surprisingly uneventful.
Or at least they were for me.
Festival preparations had somehow consumed the entire school.
Every hallway had become a construction zone.
Teachers carried stacks of paperwork.
Club presidents looked permanently sleep deprived.
Even the Student Council members were moving faster than usual.
Personally, I was just trying to survive until lunch.
I sat down at one of my usual spots beneath one of the trees in the courtyard.
Tadashi plopped down beside me.
“You look tired,” Tadashi said with a rare look of concern.
“I’ve attended three very long and very pointless meetings in two days.”
“Welcome to bureaucracy.”
“I want out.”
“No one ever escapes bureaucracy. The bureaucracy must expand to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.”
Before I could reply…
“K-Kaito.”
I looked up.
Hikari stood a few feet away.
Hands behind her back.
Avoiding eye contact.
“What’s up, Hikari?”
She hesitated.
“T-There’s something I wanted to…”
“Sakamori-senpai!” An unfamiliar voice called out.
Both of us turned.
A first year student sprinted across the courtyard.
Completely out of breath.
I had my usual look of confusion adorned on my face.
“Huh?”
“The Student Council asked me to find you!”
“Me? Why?”
“They need your approval on tomorrow’s equipment delivery. For the tournament…”
“Now?”
“They said it would only take a few minutes.”
I sighed.
“Of course they did.”
The first year bowed apologetically.
“I’m really sorry.”
“Nah, it’s fine.”
I stood up.
Then looked back toward Hikari.
“Sorry. What were you saying?”
“It’s… it’s nothing.”
“You sure?”
“…Tch.”
She folded her arms.
“It wasn’t important.”
“If you say so…”
“I do.”
“Okay. Then I’ll be off.”
“…Idiot.”
I decided not to question it.
That seemed safer.
Better to be called an idiot than confirmed as one with a swift kick.
“I’ll catch you later then.”
“Whatever. Like I care.”
As I followed the first year toward the Student Council office, I failed to notice Hikari watching me leave.
“…”
She quietly kicked the grass.
“Stupid Student Council.”
Tadashi slowly looked from my disappearing back… to Hikari.
Then back again.
A grin spread across his face.
“Ohhh… I see…”
Hikari’s eye twitched.
“What?!”
“You were gonna ask him to eat lunch with you.”
“I WAS NOT.”
“You totally were.”
“I WASN’T.”
“You had the whole tsundere setup going.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“You walked over.”
“I happened to be walking.”
“You got nervous.”
“I did not!”
“You were looking at your shoes.”
“I WAS LOOKING AT THE GROUND.”
“Because you were nervous.”
“I WASN’T NERVOUS!”
Tadashi nodded knowingly.
“Mhm. Sure you weren’t.”
“Stop making that face.”
“What face?”
“That stupid face!”
“I’ve got good news for you.”
“What?”
“You’ve officially entered Stage Three.”
“Stage Three?”
“Tsun Collapse.”
“That’s not a thing.”
“It absolutely is. Stage Three Tsun Collapse is a dangerous medical condition. Very rare.”
“It sounds made up.”
“I made it up five seconds ago.”
“…Idiot.”
Tadashi folded his arms.
“So…”
“What?”
“…When are you gonna tell him?”
Hikari stared.
“Tell him what?”
“That you lo-”
“I’M GOING BACK TO CLASS.”
“It’s lunch time.”
“SHUT UP.”
She turned on her heel and marched away.
Much faster than a normal walking speed.
Tadashi watched her disappear.
Then laughed.
“She’s never gonna beat the allegations. I’m rooting for her though…”
It was the following day.
Practice ended later than usual.
Coach had apparently decided we weren’t tired enough from all the preparations for both the cultural festival as well as our upcoming prefecture tournament.
By the time we finished cleaning the gym, the sun was already beginning to set.
I slung my bag over my shoulder.
Finally.
Home.
I had plans to just lay in bed, maybe watch a few videos online, catch an old Lakers game my dad wanted me to watch, then get some much needed rest.
As I stepped outside the gym, I was immediately met with a voice that was becoming all too familiar…
“Kaito…”
I turned around.
President Amakawa approached with her usual clipboard.
“Good afternoon. Sorry to bother you.”
“No worries. Good afternoon to you too, President.”
“I simply wanted to confirm tomorrow’s volunteer schedule.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“We had to adjust a few time slots after the literature club requested additional space.”
I glanced over it.
“Looks fine to me.”
“Excellent.”
She smiled.
“I appreciate your flexibility.”
“No problem.”
We then went on to talk about some of the books we were currently reading.
The entire conversation lasted less than ten minutes.
Ten perfectly reasonable minutes.
Time really seemed to fly whenever I conversed with the Student Council President.
Well, time is relative after all…
After she left, I started walking home.
“Huh…”
The street felt strangely empty.
Normally…
Wasn’t somebody…
Actually two somebodies….
Typically walking this way too?
I scratched my head.
“Guess not. Gotta stop being dumb and just get home.”
I hurried off towards home but unbeknownst to me…
A hundred meters away, Hikari stood around the corner of a nearby building.
“…”
She stared down the road.
I’d already gone.
“…Tch.”
She adjusted her bag.
“Ten minutes…”
Hikari let out a huff of air.
“What a liar.”
She’d waited almost twenty, just wanting things to go back to normal.
It was the end of school on the following day.
I was still exhausted from all the random things I’ve been doing for the student council.
Being the basketball team’s representative to the Student Council was starting to take its toll on me.
Especially with all the extra practice we were doing to get in shape for next month’s tournament.
The final bell rang.
You could feel the excitement in the air, the weekend almost upon us.
Just Friday left and then relaxation.
I packed my bag.
Just as I was about to stand up to leave…
“Kaito…”
I looked up.
Hikari was standing beside my desk.
“Yeah?”
She looked unusually determined.
“C-Can we…”
The classroom door slid open.
A teacher stepped inside and looked straight at me.
“Sakamori.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been looking for you.”
“Uh oh.”
“Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble. The Student Council needs one more volunteer to help move display boards.”
“Right now?”
“If you don’t mind.”
I glanced toward Hikari.
“Sorry.”
“…”
She stared at the floor.
“Go.”
“You sure?”
“…Tch. I said go.”
“…Okay.”
I hurried after the teacher.
The classroom gradually emptied.
Hikari remained standing beside my desk.
“…”
She had finally worked up the courage.
Trying to break out of her tsundere shell.
And once again… nothing.
“…”
A chair scraped softly against the floor.
Akane walked over.
She smiled gently.
“You okay~?”
“I’m fine.”
Akane shook her head and immediately called her bluff.
“You don’t look fine~”
Hikari got defensive.
“I said I’m fine.”
Akane sat down in the chair beside my desk.
“Can I tell you something~?”
Hikari sighed.
“What?”
“I think you’re trying too hard~”
“Excuse me?”
“You keep waiting for the perfect moment~”
“…”
“And then something always happens~”
“…”
Akane smiled.
“If you just talked to him normally…”
“…”
“…He’d probably be happy~”
Hikari looked away.
“It’s… it’s not that easy.”
“I know…”
Akane’s smile became a little bittersweet.
“…Trust me~”
For just a moment… neither girl spoke.
There was an odd understanding between them.
Different feelings.
Well, the same feelings but in different ways.
Same problem.
Though they were rivals, they were friends first.
Akane laughed softly.
“Boys can be surprisingly dense~”
Hikari softly chuckled..
“Especially that idiot.”
“I wasn’t going to name names…”
“You were thinking it.”
“…Maybe~”
The two girls shared a small laugh.
Then silence returned.
After a few moments, Akane stood.
She picked up her bag.
As she passed Hikari, she lightly patted her shoulder.
“You’ll get another chance~”
“…”
Hikari watched her leave.
“Yeah. I know…”
Hikari hoped so.
She just wanted everything to go back to normal.
And at the end of the day, isn’t that we all truly wish for?
A sense of normalcy?
Outside the classroom window…
A familiar blonde-haired Student Council President walked across the courtyard.
Clipboard in hand.
Perfect posture.
Perfect smile.
Hikari’s eyes narrowed.
“…”
For some reason…
She couldn’t shake the feeling…
That someone was always one step ahead of her.
Will start splitting up chapters from here on out in order to make things more web novel friendly for readers.
Will at some point go back and split up previous chapters too.
Thanks to all my readers!
You’re all awesome!
Much love.