A Few Days Later

"Ding-a-ling—"

The alarm went off. Still bleary-eyed, Hoshino fumbled around on the bedside table and turned it off.

"One, two, three..." he muttered, sitting up in one quick motion without even opening his eyes.

But he still had class today, so Hoshino couldn't go back to sleep.

In a daze, Hoshino washed up and changed into his uniform. Only then did he manage to wake up, more or less.

He took some bread and milk from the fridge and wolfed down a few bites. Then he picked up his bag and ambled out of the dorm.

"What are these people even looking at?"

As he headed to class, Hoshino could clearly sense the people around him glancing his way, some openly and others when they thought he wouldn't notice. A few had gathered together and seemed to be pointing at him and talking. But whenever he looked over, they instinctively averted their eyes and loudly pretended to discuss the day's lessons. Their acting was so terrible it wasn't convincing in the slightest.

He felt a little awkward. Did I put my clothes on wrong, or forget to zip something up? Is there something on my face?

Hoshino quickly checked his bag and clothes, then felt his face. Nothing seemed out of place.

Being stared at was pretty unpleasant. What were these people looking at? Hoshino quickened his pace and hurried to class.

"...Congratulations, Hoshino..." As soon as he entered the classroom, Sotomura's voice reached him. At the same time, Hoshino noticed that many of his classmates had suddenly turned to look at him. He was a little startled.

"...Congratulations for what?" Under everyone's gaze, Hoshino felt the pressure and asked timidly.

Sotomura, who seemed to have been talking to Sudo and the others, hurried over and stopped Hoshino as he made for his seat, his face full of admiration.

"...You joined the Student Council, didn't you?" Sotomura asked, puzzled by Hoshino's bewildered expression.

"Yeah. So?"

Was that something worth celebrating? He'd only joined a club, hadn't he? Hadn't Sotomura joined some Computer Club or other? Hoshino silently grumbled to himself.

"Huh? What do you mean, 'so'? Do you know you're the only first-year who joined the Student Council?" Sotomura raised his voice. Hoshino noticed more eyes turning their way and felt even more awkward.

"Mm-hm. And?" Hoshino lowered his voice and looked at Sotomura.

Different strokes for different folks. The Student Council had so much work to do. Wasn't it only natural that no one else wanted to join?

"And..." Sotomura looked dumbfounded and a little speechless. "The rumor going around is that you beat Katsuragi from Class A and Ichinose from Class B..."

"Huh? How come I didn't know? And who are those two?" Hoshino was completely lost. He didn't even know who they were.

"They're the leaders of Class A and Class B! They also ran for the Student Council... You really don't know, Hoshino? Those two are famous! Well, Katsuragi aside, Ichinose is a real beauty!" Sotomura suddenly perked up and began giving Hoshino a "crash course."

Wasn't Sakayanagi the leader of Class A? Given Sakayanagi's personality, Hoshino suddenly understood what was going on in Class A. They must be "split" right now, which really was an opportunity for the classes behind them.

"Uh-huh!" At last, Hoshino had figured out what was happening, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"...Isn't that a little too calm a reaction?" Sotomura looked at Hoshino's composed face and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Uh... How am I supposed to react?"

"..."

"By the way, how did you find out?" Hoshino suddenly realized what the key question was. He'd been about to leave, but stopped.

"...The Student Council announcement! It's on the electronic bulletin board where we post secondhand items..."

"Oh..." Hoshino said, then slipped past Sotomura and headed for his seat.

"Hey, Hoshino, did you really beat Katsuragi and Ichinose?" Sotomura didn't seem willing to let him go and followed after him, full of curiosity.

"...Not really."

Hoshino honestly didn't know how to answer. It was true that he'd joined the Student Council, but he hadn't even gone through the official process! He hadn't faced off against either of them, so how could he have beaten them? All he could do was give a vague answer.

"That's amazing!..." Sotomura ignored what Hoshino had said and began exclaiming to himself.

"It's just joining a club like normal, isn't it?" Hoshino rolled his eyes at Sotomura, unsure what to say. He could only give up and go along with it.

Hoshino pulled out his chair, put his bag down, and plopped into his seat.

"What do you mean, 'joining a club like normal'? The Student Council is different from the other clubs!" Sotomura looked "fired up," his tone edged with dissatisfaction.

"By the way, does this mean we can relax from now on? It'll be easy to move up a class, right?..."

Sotomura seemed to have fallen into another fit of "joy." Hoshino had no idea what the guy was imagining and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"...You're getting ahead of yourself. I don't have that much power. I'm just an errand boy. The Student Council has a lot of power, but I don't."

"You don't have any power? You just joined the Student Council and got promoted to secretary! The president thinks so highly of you. Surely you'll get promoted to vice president at the very least? Who knows, maybe you'll be president one day!..."

Hoshino could only smile at that. Sotomura was getting way ahead of himself.

The Student Council's positions depended on ability, after all. They couldn't just hand them out because someone said so. For all he knew, he might even get "demoted" from secretary one day.

Besides, Hoshino didn't feel much attachment to his class, nor did he want to secure any "benefits" for it. When he occasionally thought about things, it was only because he wanted more private points. If all the private points were his, then he'd pitch in. But the amount he had now wasn't worth the effort. Besides, no one would listen to him anyway.

After chatting for a little while, the class bell rang. Only then did Sotomura reluctantly return to his seat.

Chabashira-sensei strode briskly up to the podium and began today's homeroom.

At last, Hoshino had time to think about a few things. What was President Horikita's intention?

Hoshino didn't know much about Katsuragi, but he'd met Ichinose a few times and had formed his own opinion of her. There was nothing wrong with Ichinose joining the Student Council, was there? She was good at studying, kind to others, and had leadership skills! By all accounts, she was a promising candidate.

Had President Horikita really turned away someone like that? Was he planning to put Hoshino through the wringer?

Hoshino had thought that maybe some new recruits would join and make things easier for him. What a shame. He'd even spent the past few days looking forward to it.

He pushed those thoughts aside and watched Chabashira-sensei talk about schoolwork from the podium. Then he suddenly remembered the mountain of work in the Student Council Room yesterday and sighed. Maybe class was the best time to slack off after all.

Once school was over, there'd be piles of work waiting for him. What a raw deal. But when he thought about the 100,000 points he'd get every month, Hoshino felt a little better. He could just about live with that!

Nothing special had happened lately that would give Hoshino a chance to make a quick buck. It was a bit of a shame. His points had been steadily dwindling, and he had only around 900,000 left.

And then there was a condition from Chabashira-sensei. It didn't seem to be of any use right now. Maybe he could find the right moment to do something with it?

Hoshino fell into deep thought...