#191

As I rested my arms on the railing on the rooftop, I felt the bizarre sight spread before me.
A crowd of students, incomparable to the student body presidential election that had just been held, had gathered around one student.

[ I am running for student council because I want to do something to help you all have a better high school experience! ]

…Yeah, I knew he would definitely something along those lines.
Ikemen are such convenient creatures. Even when he said something that would usually have been snickered at, everyone took it seriously and listened to it earnestly.

Holding a microphone in their hands, his supporters went around calling out to the students around.　
From what I can see, there are probably about dozens or so students helping him out.

This is just on the first day, it’s easy to imagine that the number will increase even starting tomorrow.

Kirasaka did not observe the scene, and was looking in the opposite direction with the railing supporting her back.

Shizuku was standing beside me with her hands on the fence, looking at the scene in amazement.

“Hee …so many people have gathered together.”

“I guess everyone is curious because it’s the first day …and it shouldn’t be surprising looking at what usually happens in the classroom.”

Unaware, or perhaps not realizing that she herself is usually in a similar situation, Shizuku looked coldly at the students who were crowding around him a bit.

Well, from the outside, it is not unreasonable for anyone to feel something when they see such a bizarre sight of so many people swarming around a single person.

However, we are not here today to see such a scene.
I must listen to what he has to say and, if necessary, prepare countermeasures.

I kept my eyes fixed on him so that I wouldn’t miss his single movement, but to be honest, I didn’t find anything particularly remarkable.

“I wonder if he’s taking it as a leeway, or if he’s trying to push through it with just popularity and inaction.”

“…”

Kirasaka, who was looking the other way, told us while holding a book in her hand.
Indeed, all that is being said was about creating a school for the sake of the students, and so far I haven’t seen any significant commitment of any kind.

“It’s the first day, so maybe they’re just taking a wait-and-see approach.”

“…Maybe, if this is the case, let’s see if there are any countermeasures—”

Later, when I was about to talk about that, Yuuto raised his hand and made everyone around him quiet.

This guy… he’s definitely an idol on the inside.

No, he’s definitely at it already.

If anything, I could even feel the urge to assume the microphone to the one in the karaoke and start singing Song no. 18.

As I gazed at the scene below, Yuuto began to speak in the quiet space.

[ I support the cooperation with the local community that the next student body president said, but don’t you think it would be the same as before if we just kept it that way? ]

Yuuto asked the people around him as if he was the host and they were the audience.
The majority of people agreed with him, and Yuuto nodded his head with an unconcerned expression on his face.

[ So, what I’m trying to do is establish a relationship not only with the community, but also with the neighboring high schools as well! ]

As Yuuto spoke these words, a shower of applause enveloped the crowd.
I wonder if they properly even understand what he was saying.

I wonder if they are just agreeing with his words in the spur of the moment.

Even felt from the rooftop I felt that they had given up on thinking, simply assuming that if Yuuto was saying it, then it was correct.

“…Now then.”

The stance that Yuuto is taking is confirmed.
It’s about expanding the circle of interaction even wider than what it is currently at.

The only high school in this town is the girls’ high school that Kaede attends, but there are surprisingly a number of high schools scattered across the city nearby.
Yuuto’s plan is to establish relationships with these high schools.

If we cooperate with each other to manage the event, we can have a larger scale and better quality event than what we have now, is what he would say.

“What’s this…?”

“I wonder if he forgot which position he is running for?”

Shizuku and Kirasaka muttered simultaneously what they felt after hearing what he just said.
Indeed, Yuuto is trying to execute something that is far from the position he is running for.

The one we’re running for is assistant to the student body president.
Our role is to assist the president, not to oppose his ideas.

It is important to express one’s own ideas and have them endorsed when running for a position, but it’s not a good move considering the relationship with the president in the future.

Even if he is elected, the president and others will think that they have brought in someone who is denying their ideas.

“Koizumi and Shiraishi didn’t even mention other schools because there were more than a few downsides to doing so. …For example, even if they managed to expand the scale of the events, the actual content would be generic, just a bit on larger scale and bland.”

Though this was just an example, the two of them were trying to figure out the maximum possible categories that suited their abilities, eliminating the negative factors as much as possible.

In Yuuto’s case, he tends to think of things as much as he can, so it probably did not stop with just communicating with the community.

No, really, why are you thinking about expanding it beyond the community?
It’s not just a matter of expanding.

In fact, if you ask someone like me, there are many students who don’t even know each other on campus, and if you add even more people from outside, they might even voluntarily give up on the event itself.

It’s not surprising that they are uncomfortable, and now there are even more strangers added into the mix.

“I understand what Ogiwara-kun is trying to say, but …it’s a statement I don’t really support.”

“I agree.”

It seems that both of them had a negative opinion.
Well, I guess that’s because they are people who don’t think well of extra-relationships, like I do.

But, the spectacle in front of us had a different reaction from ours.

‘It sounds fun’, ‘We’re students, we should try that much’, ‘Ogiwara will definitely succeed’ …and other similar remarks could be heard.

It would be well-received by students who are generally optimistic and like to have fun.
Interaction with other schools is an effective phrase for the creatures known as students.

“It was a good that I didn’t give a speech today. … I don’t think people are going to come to me under these circumstances.”

I’ll still be able to give a better speech tomorrow, when things are a little calmer.
It won’t be as crowded as today, but it should be more convenient.

If this is what Yuuto wants to do, to create a school that people like them can enjoy, he is missing the point.

Expanding the scale of the event and increasing the number of participants will not change the fundamentals.

Unless we change the current relationships on campus, which rely on people with superior abilities and avoid doing things on their own, there is no point in expanding the scale of the events.

However, even if I said those words to Yuuto now, he would not understand.

Until he sees some results in the competition, he will continue to push forward with the belief that he is right.

“How would Kirasaka respond to Yuuto’s speech?”

“I’m going to get a spot next to him and argue over every single word he just said.”

…That’s pretty gruesome.
However, I won’t tell her that I actually wanted to see that scene.

Next, I turned my attention to the girl next to me.

“What about Shizuku?”

“I think I’ll just tell them what I can do within the scope of my position.”

“I guess that’s the best way to go about it.”

With a sigh, I rechecked the scene below me.
The crowd is still as rowdy as ever, and it’s hardly a student election, but I felt a sense of discomfort.

For some reason, I felt that many of the faces gathered there were familiar.

“Are there surprisingly fewer first-year students…?”

“Well, there are many second-year students.”

Shizuku replied as usual to my question.
For the first day, I cannot say for sure, but it still seems to be a pretty decent outcome for a reconnaissance.

I lifted myself up from the railing and turned my body around to face the doorway.

“We’ll probably focus our votes on the first-years, huh?”

I said to the two behind me, and walked off to leave the terrace.

However, the two people behind me, who had not been conversing with each other until now, suddenly started talking.

“By the way, Kanazaki-san, I’m the first one, aren’t I?”

“What are you even saying? I am first and you are second.”

“…What are you guys even ranking on about?”

When I asked them about the ranking that only the two of them could understand, Shizuku answered as if it was only natural.

“It’s the ranking of Minato-kun’s support team, I’m number one and she’s number two.”

She pointed to herself and then to Kirasaka.
I tried to tell that there was no need for such rankings, but Kirasaka refuted this, saying that it was an important ranking for the girls.

“You should not joke around too much, you’ll forever be the second.”

“I know you’re trying to appear cool like that, but I know you’re actually smiling looking at Minato-kun’s photo that you took with your smartphone.”

“I remember the other day when we went to Shinra-kun’s house, you took advantage of his absence and snuggled under his futon.”

…What kind of argument is this?

It’s like I’m indirectly being told the facts that I didn’t want to know.

“Look, if the students ask me which one of us went to support Shinra-kun first, I’ll go in first, okay?”

“No, I had made a pledge that I would never leave him, so that’s where being number one would come in.”

It won’t.

What kind of development is this?

The two of them started arguing again, and although I would normally just leave them there, I couldn’t due to the fact that they were cooperating with me, so I had to watch them argue until they were satisfied, but that’s a story for later.

Anyways, it would be wise to point out that Yuuto’s stated commitment is a slightly different path from that of the president and see how it goes, assuming that my main audience is first years and as how we’re just in it for the assistant’s position.

Now that the plan for the day tomorrow is set, I’ll wait for the reports from the three people who are helping us, starting with the president, and the girls at my behind me still arguing to come at a satisfactory answer.

Archived Comments

crisiscore38 (on 2022-07-23 23:35:34):

I think a good strategy would be to record everything Shizuku has been saying for the past few chapters and let Yuuto hear it. He would be totally disheartened . ^^ Thanks for the chapter.