Chapter 14: A Beautiful Girl Joins the Committee

The warm spring sunshine felt pleasantly soft.

Standing in front of the gate, I stretched under the cozy light while waiting.

Before long, Ryoji arrived. Since I’m too small to ride my own bike, we’d agreed that he’d give me a lift on his.

I still felt a little guilty about it. I really should figure out a solution soon.

"Yo, Ayumi."

"Morning."

"Still tiny as ever—and unbelievably cute!"

"Yeah, thanks for that."

I climbed onto the back seat of Ryoji’s bike and held onto the saddle.

"Ayumi, press your body closer! Closer!"

"No way. Just start pedaling already."

"Dammit! So it’s a low-affection-level thing! I need to level up my boyfriend stats!"

"You’re not my boyfriend!"

"Come on, two people on one bike, with the girl holding the guy tight—it’s every young man’s dream!"

"A dream’s called a dream because it doesn’t come true."

"That’s so harsh! Damn it all!"

Ryoji started pedaling. Seriously, does he have to shout “Damn it all!” every time he rides a bike?

We parked at the station bike lot and hopped on the train. Thankfully, since Mikawa High is in the opposite direction of the morning city commute, the train was fairly empty.

The walk from the station to school felt easier than yesterday. Without parents from the entrance ceremony clogging the sidewalks, things were much calmer.

I still felt people staring at me—but compared to the first day, it didn’t bother me as much. Maybe I was finally getting used to it.

When we arrived, I headed straight for the shoe lockers.

As soon as I opened mine, something slipped out and scattered across the floor.

"Huh? What’s this?"

"Looks like a love letter to me."

"No way."

But when I picked it up, it really did look like a love letter.

At least it didn’t seem to contain anything dangerous, like razor blades. Still, having this happen right after yesterday…

"Oh-ho-ho! Ayumi-chan’s popular, huh?"

A sudden voice from behind made me jump. Turning around, I saw Moeka-chan and Sakurako-chan standing there.

"Still, a love letter in this day and age? Nobody just calls someone out and confesses directly anymore?"

That was Sakurako-chan. I thought love letters only existed in fiction too—but I’d rather not get “called out” for one either.

"Wait! Wait! If Ayumi-chan gets called out, she probably won’t be able to say no and will end up dating them!"

"Then when Ayumi gets confessed to, we’ll have to come along as her guardians!"

"Exactly! Meaning us!"

Who’s calling themselves my guardians here?

Still… if someone did call me out, I’d rather not go alone. Though from their perspective, they’d probably wonder why I brought a crowd.

"So what are you going to do with it, Ayumi-chan?"

"Um… I guess I’ll write a rejection letter?"

"Eh, if you respond to every one of those, it’ll never end! Just toss it!"

"Ryoji, what would you think if a guy’s love letter got thrown away?"

"I’d cry."

"Then I should write a reply, right?"

"Even if he gets rejected, he’ll cry anyway."

"Then what am I supposed to do…?"

In the end, I just slipped the letter into my bag.

Yeah, throwing it away was out of the question. I can’t imagine dating a boy, but I still need to properly turn him down.

Although… was this even meant for me? It’s only been a day—could someone already know which locker was mine?

When I entered the classroom, all eyes turned to me again.

"G-good morning…?"

I forced myself to greet everyone.

To my relief, they all replied with cheerful "Good mornings!" Yesterday’s self-introduction had been chaotic, but my worries seemed unfounded.

Yamanaka-sensei walked in, and the second day of homeroom began.

"Alright, since it’s only the second day, we’ll decide which committees everyone’s joining."

A committee, huh. Probably not much work, but I still hate extra responsibilities.

"We don’t have class reps yet either, so we’ll just pick things as we go. Hmm… you there, Yoshikawa, run the meeting since our eyes met."

Poor guy… My loner instincts told me never to make eye contact in moments like this.

Yoshikawa-kun reluctantly stepped up to the podium.

"Uh, okay then, let’s decide on the committees. Um, sensei, what committees are there again?"

"Ah, right. Forgot to mention that. It’s written on this paper—just copy it to the board. It’s better if a girl does that. Aikawa, you handle it."

Sakurako-chan stood up. Sensei hadn’t even made eye contact—he just picked the first name on the list to save time.

I scanned the neat handwriting as she wrote them on the blackboard:

Class Representatives – one boy, one girl
Sports Festival Committee – one boy, one girl
Cultural Festival Committee – one boy, one girl
P.E. Committee – one boy, one girl
Health Committee – one boy, one girl
Beautification Committee – one boy, one girl
Library Committee – one boy, one girl

…That’s it? Lucky. With only this many positions, dodging responsibility should be easy.

There are around forty people in the class—only fourteen need to be “sacrificed.” Surely someone will volunteer.

My special skill number one: Leave it to others.

It’s a passive defense skill that relies on the hidden “I guess I’ll do it” sentiment buried in someone else’s heart. The loser of this endurance battle ends up with the hassle.

In other words, it requires absolutely no effort.

"Alright, anyone who wants to be a class rep?"

Silence. Naturally.

No sane person would volunteer for extra work. Poor Yoshikawa-kun must be suffering through this awkward pause—but sorry, I’m not taking that job.

"Then, are there any nominations?"

Who could possibly nominate anyone on day two?

"I nominate Sakura-san!"

…Huh? For a second, I couldn’t process what just happened.

My name appeared on the board. Wait—what!? I don’t even remember that boy’s name! Why would he nominate me!?

"Wh-what? Wait a second! Why me!?"

"Because you’re the face of the class—I thought it’d suit you."

"Yeah." "Makes sense." "If anyone represents our class, it’s Sakura-san." "She’s cute, so she should stand up front!"

My classmates nodded in rapid agreement, one after another.

"Eeeeh!? Hold on! Why are you all suddenly so united on this!?"

"Any other nominations?"

Yoshikawa-kun was about to close the vote. This was bad—at this rate, I’d end up stuck as class representative, the most annoying role of all!

"I think Ayumi-chan would be perfect for the Health Committee!"

Nice save, Moeka-chan! …Wait, no! That’s not helping! You’re supposed to nominate someone else!

"But come on, if someone feels sick, that means we can go to the nurse’s office with Ayumi-chan, right?"

"Ohhh! That’s even better!" "Didn’t think of that!" "Genius!" "I’d love to feel sick every day!"

Why are they all so hyped about this!?

For some reason, the class displayed a weird, almost cult-like unity. Then Ryoji shot his hand up and stood with vigor.

Alright, say it, Ryoji—set things straight!

"Are you guys really satisfied betting everything on one lucky moment? I nominate Ayumi for the Cultural Festival Committee! Because there’ll be tons of time to work alone together!"

"Oooooh!" "So he’s aiming for exclusive time, huh?" "Smart move!" "That guy knows what he’s doing!"

So this is what friendly fire feels like.

"Wait a sec! Why are we having a whole debate about which committee I should be forced into!?"

I wanted to shout, I don’t want to do any of them!—but saying that after being nominated felt wrong, so I swallowed it down.

"That’s not it, Sakura-san."

"Huh? Not what?"

Someone whose name probably started with a T spoke to me. Ugh, I should’ve listened better during introductions!

"It’s not that we want you to do it—we want to do it with you. So we’re deciding first."

Oh… so they weren’t trying to dump the work on me. That’s… kind of nice.

Hmm… in that case, maybe it’s fine…

Wait, no! That still means I have to join something!

The class buzzed with noise, while Yamanaka-sensei just sat at his desk, calmly reading a book like none of this was his problem.

Then suddenly—slam!—the door burst open.

"I’ve heard everything! Sakura-san will be joining the Student Council!"

For a moment, everyone just stared with question marks over their heads. But then we all realized who it was—the Student Council President.

"Eek! It’s that hopeless Student Council President who sexually harassed Ayumi-chan!" Moeka-chan shouted. Why is she here!?

Yamanaka-sensei glanced up at the President and said casually,

"Hey, Mitsui—you weren’t here this morning, so I marked you absent."

And that was it. Not even a flicker of surprise. Her nerves are made of steel.

"There are things more important than attendance."

Why did she have to sound cool saying that!?

Sure, it sounded cool—but all she’s really doing is chasing after girls from other classes! In this case, that means me!

What a hopeless girl! A truant President, at that!

"Why Ayumi-chan, though? Bringing a first-year straight into the Student Council doesn’t make sense."

"You might imagine the Student Council is full of important work, but in truth, it’s nothing but mind-numbingly boring chores."

Did she just say that out loud herself!? Who would ever want to join after hearing that!?

"Now then, Ayumi-san, shall we go to the Student Council?"

Hold on, that’s not how this works! You don’t just join the Student Council like it’s an open club! Aren’t there supposed to be elections, even if they’re just for show!?

When the President reached out to take my hand, Sakurako-chan stepped between us to block her.

"Even if you’re the Student Council President, this is too pushy! Can’t you see Ayumi-chan doesn’t want to go?"

"Yeah, yeah, that’s right!" "You’re abusing your power!"

My classmates all raised their voices in protest. They understood I didn’t want to go and were standing up for me.

So this… this is what friendship feels like.

But the President herself looked completely unfazed by the outrage.

"It’s not because I’m the Student Council President—it’s because I am who I am that I’m being pushy."

"That’s even worse!"

"But since you all seem so opposed to letting Ayumi-san join the Student Council, then I suppose there’s no choice. In that case…"

Ha—wait, is she about to use some kind of Student Council executive privilege!? My fault’s about to doom the whole class!

The Student Council President took a step back, then suddenly dropped to one knee, lowering her waist even further before bowing deeply forward… Wait, that’s—

"Please give me Ayumi-san!"

"Th-that’s a DOGEZA!"

The entire class froze.

"Th-this is incredible! What a perfect dogeza!" Yoshikawa shouted in awe. And honestly, he wasn’t wrong. Her form was flawless—every ounce of sincerity radiated from her. It was the most immaculate dogeza I’d ever seen.

"Pr-President, what about your pride or… or dignity!?"

Even Sakurako-chan, who had been standing between us, couldn’t hide her confusion.

"Trivial pride is worthless before something one truly desires."

Why does she sound so cool!? She’s literally just throwing a tantrum because I won’t join the Student Council!

The whole class was struck with a collective guilt—we made the President go this far…

"This first strike hits harder than expected," Yoshikawa commented. Just who exactly are we fighting here?

Then, Ryoji stepped forward beside me. Slowly, he dropped to his knees and—what the hell!? Another dogeza!?

"President, please leave her alone."

Why… why am I watching both the Student Council President and my best friend do dogeza on the second day of school!?

"A dogeza duel, huh? Tagawa’s got guts," Yoshikawa said with a grin, giving a thumbs-up. He was trying so hard to act like some shounen manga hero, but in reality, this was just two people kneeling on the floor.

The President and Ryoji didn’t move an inch for a while.

Hmm…? Wait a sec. They’re both sneaking glances my way. What—

"Ahh! They’re both peeking under Ayumi-chan’s skirt while doing dogeza!"

Wha—WHAT!? So the dogeza was a fake!? They were just trying to look up my skirt!? You’re both the worst!!

"Fufufu… well, since I’ve been exposed, I suppose I’ll take my leave. I’ve already seen something delightful today."

The President stood up gracefully and gently patted my head.

"To be honest, I don’t care about the Student Council at all. As long as you’re by my side, that’s enough. The only reason I invited you to that boring Student Council was because I’m part of it. Well then, take care."

And with that, she left the classroom.

She called the Student Council boring—twice! Is that… allowed?

Ryoji stood up next to me. I glared at him.

"I only did it because I saw the President doing it. I had to ride that big wave, you know?"

You’re so dead later.

I turned to glare again—but Ryoji was already gone. He’d been dragged to the corner by the other boys.

I could hear them whispering things like, "What color was it?", "Lucky bastard," and "If jealousy could kill…!" Ugh, not something I want to listen to.

Ughhh, this is so embarrassing!

Seriously, who would’ve thought that on just my second day of school, I’d get a love letter, witness multiple dogezas, and have my panties seen!?

"Alright, you lot—decide on your committee already,"

Yamanaka-sensei said, not even looking up from his book. Can you please show a little more interest in your class!?

In the end, I became a member of the Sports Festival Committee.

After all that chaos, there was no way I could refuse anymore.

My partner ended up being Yoshikawa, the guy who had been the announcer earlier today.

The number of boys volunteering for the Sports Festival Committee was… insane. Do they really all love the festival that much? We only needed two male reps, right?

When Yoshikawa got picked, he pumped his fist in victory—only to be immediately dragged out by the angry, rejected crowd.

These guys are way too fired up. I’m a little worried about how this will go.

By the way, since Yoshikawa joined the Sports Festival Committee, someone else became the class rep. Sakurako-chan got picked as the female class representative.

Later, I learned that the Student Council President’s name was Mitsui Kyoko.

Why that ridiculously handsome yet hopeless girl ended up as Student Council President… is one of the many mysteries of this school.