"Do you like Kushida, Sawahara?"
After school that afternoon, Sawahara joined the study group for once.
For one thing, he wanted to help ease the pressure on Kaneda and the others. Lately, he'd noticed that Kaneda's dark circles had been getting worse during class.
He also wanted to check how the class was progressing with its studies and how the library was being used, to make sure everything was going according to plan.
Shiina's sudden question caught him off guard.
"No, I don't. What made you ask?" Sawahara wasn't sure what she meant. Had he been acting like he liked Kushida?
"I was at the café yesterday, too." Shiina sat beside Sawahara and closed her book. "I heard Kushida say that she wasn't planning on dating anyone for the time being."
Sawahara understood. So that was what this was about.
"That was just a misunderstanding on Kushida's part."
"Oh, I see." Shiina seemed relieved. "Um, Sawahara, we are competitors with the other classes, after all. Maybe we should keep a little distance between us."
"Sure, I'll keep that in mind." Sawahara nodded, then glanced around the library.
With exams coming up, the library was unsurprisingly busier than usual.
He didn't see Kushida. As one of the most popular students in their class, there was no way she'd skip a group study session if the class was holding one.
Now that they had a clear goal, had Class D already started slacking off on their studies?
No one came to ask him anything, so Sawahara sat there reading. Even after a long wait, no one approached him with a question. Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered around Kaneda.
"If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me, too." Sawahara frowned and called out to his classmates.
But they looked at one another, and no one dared come over to ask. Without realizing it, Sawahara had allowed an invisible barrier to form between himself and the rest of the class.
"Sawahara, could you help me with this problem?" Seeing this, Shiina picked up a practice question from her desk and asked him about it.
"There are three ways to solve this one. One is with algebra..." Sawahara glanced at the problem. It wasn't difficult, and with Shiina's grades, she couldn't possibly be stumped by it. Still, he didn't say so. Instead, he explained the simple problem in an unnecessarily complicated way. If he was going to act, he had to make it convincing.
People tended to follow the crowd. Few had the courage to take the first step, but once someone did, others would follow.
With Shiina showing them the way, the students finally found the courage to talk to Sawahara.
Only after speaking with him did they realize that Sawahara wasn't as arrogant, stern, and unapproachable as they'd imagined. On the contrary, he was a funny guy—though, well, his jokes weren't funny at all.
"Go on, what did you want? Why did you suddenly ask to see me?" Manabu Horikita adjusted his glasses as he looked at the underclassman who had surprised him before.
"Did you think I'd changed my mind and come to give you an answer?" Sawahara asked, curious about how he'd reached that conclusion.
"It's been too long," Manabu replied calmly. If Sawahara had really changed his mind, he wouldn't have waited this long.
"I'm not planning to get involved in this mess right now. There's too much tension in the Student Council." During his last visit to the Student Council Room, he'd already sensed that something was wrong between the current Student Council President and the vice president.
"It's only a clash of ideals."
"That's what makes it so dangerous, Senpai." Sawahara shook his head. Conflicts like that were the most troublesome, because they couldn't really be resolved. "I came to ask you about something else. By the way, have you met the Chairman? What kind of person is he?"
"The Chairman?" Manabu looked puzzled, unsure why Sawahara had suddenly asked. "I've met him a few times when reporting on the Student Council's work. As for my impression... How should I put it? He's someone worthy of respect."
"I see." Sawahara nodded. "I came to ask you to say hello to the Chairman for me in a little while, and to help arrange a meeting with him."
"Say hello?" Manabu didn't quite understand what Sawahara meant. "That shouldn't be a problem, but I doubt the Chairman would agree to meet with you."
"He'll agree." Sawahara didn't explain. "You'll understand in a little while."
As he spoke, Sawahara stood up to leave.
"Come on. If we stay much longer, Tachibana-senpai will probably get angry."
Sawahara was surprised when he opened the meeting room door. "Ichinose?"
The two girls, who had been talking, both looked over at the sound of his voice.
"Sawahara!" Ichinose looked delighted to see him.
"President!" Tachibana walked over to Manabu to report on her work, not forgetting to glare at Sawahara as she did.
"This Ichinose wants to apply to join the Student Council."
As she spoke, Tachibana handed Manabu the application form.
"Ichinose, are you planning to join the Student Council?"
Sawahara had a good idea why Ichinose wanted to join. As the current leader of Class B, she wanted to use this as a way to give her class an advantage. It was understandable.
But it was hard to say whether the Student Council, as it stood now, could really serve as an advantage.
"Yes, I've been thinking about it." Ichinose nodded. "Isn't that what you're planning to do, too, Sawahara?"
As far as Ichinose was concerned, Sawahara had to be there to join the Student Council, too. After all, he was also a class leader.
"No, I..." Sawahara began, but the president, who was looking over the application, suddenly spoke.
"Your first interview went well. Once the time for the second interview has been decided, we'll let you know."
With that, Manabu made it sound as if Sawahara had come to the Student Council for an interview.
Sawahara turned to look at the president and thought for a moment. "I'll make sure to prepare properly when I get back. I'll leave it in your hands, President."
Sawahara could guess why the president had done this. For one thing, a student had turned down a place on the Student Council—and that student was from Class C. That wouldn't matter if it stayed private, but if it got out, it would be another matter entirely. It would reflect badly on both Sawahara and the Student Council.
Besides, saying this in front of an applicant would make it look as though there were problems within the Student Council. Although Manabu didn't want first-year students getting involved, that didn't mean the Student Council wasn't recruiting. And after Sawahara had turned him down twice in a row, surely the president was allowed to show some displeasure.
"Mm. I'll review your application carefully. Please wait for further notice." Hearing Sawahara's reply, the president nodded, then spoke to Ichinose.
"Yes, thank you, President." Ichinose thanked him, then left the Student Council Room with Sawahara.
"Um, Sawahara... do you have plans after this?" Once they'd left the Student Council Room, Ichinose spoke first, clearly inviting him somewhere. Sawahara replied:
"Sorry, Ichinose. I have plans with some classmates." Sawahara didn't actually have plans with anyone in his class. Few of them had the courage to ask him, and those who did have the courage didn't want to. Those who did want to lacked the nerve.
"Oh, I see. Then..."
"It's getting late, so I'll head off first, Ichinose." Sawahara cut her off. "We're competitors from different classes, after all. We should keep our distance."
The advice he'd received from Shiina had now been passed on to Ichinose.
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