The Everyday Life About to Begin

"An Xiao, I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"Horikita was the one directing all of that. I was just doing what she told me to."

Ayanokoji patted his chest a few times and looked at An Xiao, asking in a somewhat puzzled tone.

Of course, An Xiao didn't think he sounded particularly puzzled.

"Oh~ I see..." An Xiao crunched the candy in his mouth, his words turning somewhat muffled. "Maybe."

"Mostly, it's because you seemed so calm before."

"I've been troubled by my somewhat expressionless face since middle school. Maybe that's why I don't show much emotion."

"And..." An Xiao paid no attention to what Ayanokoji was saying and simply continued, "Maybe you haven't noticed it yourself, but your whole demeanor is completely out of place in Class D."

"My demeanor?"

"Uh, how should I put it? It's like there's one impostor mixed in with a bunch of humans." An Xiao scratched his head as he explained.

"Neither 'human' nor 'impostor' sounds like a particularly nice thing to call someone," Ayanokoji said. "Besides, those two words seem to mean pretty much the same thing."

"No, there's a bit of a difference." An Xiao shook his head. "But that's pretty much what I mean."

"Anyway, that's the feeling I get from you, Ayanokoji."

As he spoke, An Xiao stretched and ambled over to Ayanokoji. He was still smiling, but his tone had grown noticeably more serious.

"I don't know why you're doing this, and I don't want to ask what's behind it, but..."

"You're dangerous. I just hope you're not that dangerous."

"I feel like Horikita might be more dangerous than me." Ayanokoji's expression barely changed, just as he'd said earlier. "She even threatened me with a compass."

"Heh~ In that case, Horikita does seem more dangerous."

An Xiao laughed when he heard Ayanokoji's remark.

"Besides, she has a dangerous older brother who's a siscon. You've seen him recently, too."

"You mean Senior Horikita from the Student Council?" Ayanokoji asked after a moment's thought.

"Yeah. He's talented in both academics and sports," An Xiao said with a sigh.

Not everyone could keep in good shape while staying on top of their studies and handling school affairs.

"To be honest, I'd really like to see you go up against the president. That would be very interesting."

"I don't think I have any reason to go up against him."

"Who knows?" An Xiao shrugged and waved a hand. "We've talked enough for today. I'll get going."

"After this, things should quiet down for quite a while. Your class can get some rest, too."

"Yeah. See you."

After watching An Xiao leave, Ayanokoji ran his fingers over the candy wrapper he'd peeled off, lost in thought.

It wasn't until some time later that he finally moved.

"I should find a trash can and throw this wrapper away."

Once Class C agreed to drop the complaint, the Student Council handled things quickly.

After collecting a certain number of points from Class C, the matter was brought to a close.

The next day.

An Xiao carried the neatly organized stack of documents back to the Student Council.

As soon as he entered, An Xiao noticed a certain blond-haired guy.

"Senior Nagumo, what brings you here today?"

"Haha, I may be the Student Council vice president, but I still have to show up once in a while." Miyabi Nagumo smiled, then stepped closer and patted An Xiao on the shoulder. "I heard from the president that you've been doing very well lately."

"Huh?" An Xiao looked blankly at the documents in his arms, then glanced at Horikita Manabu, who was seated at the front.

Horikita Manabu noticed An Xiao's gaze but didn't react much. He merely said to Miyabi Nagumo, "Since you've been given a task, go and finish it."

"Sorry, junior. The president's calling me over. We'll talk another time. I know quite a bit, you know." Miyabi Nagumo glanced at Horikita Manabu, said one more thing to An Xiao, and left.

"President, do you and Senior Nagumo have some kind of problem?" An Xiao glanced back at Miyabi Nagumo as he walked away and asked curiously.

After all, ever since the first day An Xiao had joined the Student Council, Horikita Manabu had told him to keep his distance from Miyabi Nagumo. An Xiao didn't believe there was nothing going on.

At An Xiao's question, Horikita Manabu paused while handling the documents and looked up at him. He studied An Xiao for a long moment, until An Xiao began to wonder if he'd said something wrong. Only then did Horikita Manabu speak. "If you're interested, look into what happened in the second year. It shouldn't be difficult for you."

"For now, hand the materials you've collected and organized over to Tachibana for review."

With that, he went back to reading the documents in his hands.

As soon as Horikita Manabu finished speaking, Akane Tachibana came over to An Xiao, took the documents from his arms, and carried them aside to review one by one.

Looking around the room, which had fallen silent again, An Xiao hesitated before asking, "What's the school going to do about yesterday's incident?"

"With the video you provided, as well as the letters and photographs that were submitted, the school will turn the staff member involved over to the relevant authorities outside the school after completing the necessary procedures."

"Considering the impact of the incident, the school will keep the matter under wraps. The people involved, along with Sakura Airi from Class D, will each receive some points as compensation."

Horikita Manabu spoke without looking up, then added at the end, "You handled this very well, both from the students' perspective and the school's."

"Then I hope this hush money is generous," An Xiao said, stretching. "I'm exhausted after these past few days."

"Don't worry. You'll get all the rewards you're due," Akane Tachibana said with a smile.

After Akane Tachibana finished speaking, Horikita Manabu picked up where she left off.

"Besides the points, there's a vacancy for a secretary in the Student Council. I'll put your name forward."

"This is another reward for your work this time."

Unlike Akane Tachibana, who was surprised by the news, An Xiao wasn't thinking about the benefits of a promotion. Instead, he thought...

"Um, President, may I ask something? If I become secretary, will I have more work to do?"

Horikita Manabu merely glanced at An Xiao and said nothing.

"Can I refuse? Or could you just raise my pay?"

"Come on, now you're complaining?" Akane Tachibana said with exasperation. "Don't worry, your workload won't increase. It'll actually decrease quite a bit."

"At least you'll be able to assign tasks that require you to go out, like this one, to someone else."

"After all, the president has been assigning you work based on a secretary's workload from the beginning."

?????????

"Senior Tachibana, do you mean I've been doing a secretary's job for an administrative assistant's pay?"

"Yeah, though that's not entirely accurate. The president has been giving you far more points than an ordinary administrative assistant," Akane Tachibana corrected him.

Fine. Money was hard to earn, and work was hard to stomach. For the points, he could put up with this... or not?

An Xiao slapped the table hard and shouted at Horikita Manabu.

"President!"

"Hmm?"

"Give me a raise!"