Starting the next day, Hoshino began a new daily routine: after school, he had to go to the Student Council Room and learn how to handle various tasks.
After school, Hoshino arrived at the Student Council Room and pushed open the door. A wave of "heat" hit him. President Horikita, Secretary Tachibana, and another student council member he didn't know were hard at work on the tasks in front of them. The atmosphere was tense.
"Don't just stand there like an idiot. Hurry up and come in!"
Secretary Tachibana looked tired. She glanced up at Hoshino, who was standing in the doorway, and impatiently urged him inside. Then she lowered her head and went back to writing something. The other student council member only glanced up at Hoshino, looking just as frazzled.
As for President Horikita, he remained as composed as ever, and showed no sign of stopping his work.
"Oh, right! Okay..." Hoshino hurried in and closed the door, unsure what he was supposed to do.
Everyone in the office was silent. Only the rustling of pens and the sound of papers being turned broke the silence. Hoshino couldn't feel the slightest bit of calm; instead, the office seemed to be teeming with activity.
Hoshino had never been part of the student council before. He'd never seen anything like this, and it gave him quite a shock!
"Hoshino, come over here. I'll explain a few simple things first. Help us handle the work we have on hand, and we'll go over the rest later..." Just as Hoshino was at a loss, a stern voice rang out. President Horikita didn't even look up as he continued writing on the paper in front of him.
Hoshino hurried over and looked at the desk piled with documents. He was taken aback. This was a bit ridiculous—the whole desk was covered in paperwork, without even a single empty spot!
"Do you know how to review these? These are budget requests from clubs that have already been processed. Check the reviewed ones for the student council stamp, and set aside the rejected and unreviewed ones. There are a few things you'll need to watch out for. Some parts have to be cross-checked..." President Horikita put down his pen, pulled a few documents from the pile, and began explaining what Hoshino needed to do and which differences in the documents to watch out for.
"Should I separate these?"
"Yes."
"What about these...?"
"..."
After asking a few questions, Hoshino had more or less figured it out. He sat down at a nearby desk and started working on the tasks President Horikita had assigned him.
The work didn't seem too difficult, but there was a lot of it, and each document had to be checked and cross-referenced. It was quite tedious!
Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.
"Phew—"
After finishing the last document in his hands, Hoshino finally let out a long breath. He put down his pen, lifted his head, stretched, and rolled his neck.
Looking around, he saw that almost all the work had been finished. The other three had only a little paperwork left and were wrapping things up. Each document didn't take long to process on its own, but there really were a lot of them.
At last, Hoshino had a chance to take a good look around the student council office.
Overall, the Student Council Room was laid out very differently from the teachers' office. Perhaps because there were more people, it was much larger and had more desks—six or seven, by the look of it. They were all covered with documents, along with pen holders and scrap paper.
There was a small reception area near the entrance, with a low coffee table. A tea tray on it held several small cups, while the rest of the space was taken up by neatly stacked documents. Even the sofas on either side were piled with sorted paperwork. A white water dispenser stood next to the reception area.
At the back of the Student Council Room were several cabinets for storing documents. Through the glass doors, he could see that they were full of files.
There didn't seem to be anything particularly special about the place. It was rather plain.
Maybe their schedules didn't overlap, because only President Horikita, Secretary Tachibana, and one other student council member were there now.
"I'd planned to introduce you to the other student council members today, but the timing didn't work out. They're all out. The person here is Vice President Kiriyama." President Horikita finished his paperwork, looked up to see Hoshino glancing around, and introduced him.
"Pleased to meet you." Startled by President Horikita's voice, Hoshino stood up and bowed slightly to the vice president, who was writing up some documents.
"I'm Kiriyama. Pleased to meet you." Kiriyama looked him over, smiled, and nodded.
Then he lowered his head again and got back to wrapping up his work.
"You've already met Tachibana, I believe."
"Yes. Pleased to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you." Though she looked a little displeased, Secretary Tachibana still stood up, straightened her clothes, and bowed slightly. Hoshino was a little overwhelmed by the courtesy.
"That's all for today. Thank you all for your hard work." Seeing the other three finish their tasks and start gathering their documents, President Horikita offered his thanks, signaling that they could leave.
"See you tomorrow!" The vice president, who had finished tidying up first, said goodbye and hurried out of the Student Council Room.
"See you tomorrow!" Secretary Tachibana also bowed slightly to President Horikita, then left with a spring in her step.
"See you tomorrow..."
"Hoshino, aren't you leaving?" Watching the two of them go, President Horikita sat back down and began sorting through the documents.
"Um, there's something I wanted to ask you..." Hoshino wasn't sure how to bring it up.
"Hmm? What is it?" President Horikita looked over at him, puzzled.
"President, I've been wondering... I mean... you and the Horikita in our Class D...?"
He'd been curious about this for a long time. Ever since learning that they shared a surname, Hoshino had wanted to ask, but he'd never found the right opportunity.
The two of them gave him a strange feeling...
On one hand, Hoshino could see a lot of similarities between them: they were earnest, serious, intelligent, and strong-willed. They were almost too alike.
On the other hand, they didn't seem to have any interaction at all. Hoshino had rarely seen them interact, and they seemed like complete strangers to each other.
"Yes. Suzune is my younger sister." His tone was so calm that Hoshino almost wondered if he'd heard correctly.
Though surprised that Hoshino had asked such a question, President Horikita still gave him an answer.
"Are you sure?" Hoshino asked instinctively.
"Yes..." President Horikita confirmed, his tone shifting ever so slightly.
Were the siblings on bad terms? If he hadn't heard it from President Horikita himself, Hoshino would have thought he was talking about a stranger!
"Our relationship is... a little distant. At least, I don't want Suzune to be the way she is now..." It was as if he'd seen right through Hoshino's thoughts. A hint of regret crept into President Horikita's voice.
"Anyway, you should hurry back, too. It's getting late."
Perhaps unwilling to discuss it any further, President Horikita urged him to leave. He quickly tidied up his things, then stood and made to go.
"Oh, right... Okay." Hoshino stood up, taking the hint. After bowing slightly, he left the Student Council Room.
He still couldn't help feeling that the two siblings were really strange!
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