Chapter 1: The Student Council President and the Vice President
It was the beginning of May, with the warmth of the season lingering in the air.
Today’s weather was perfect, with clear skies and gentle, warm sunshine that was so pleasant it made you feel sleepy—ideal for a lunch break.
Naturally, there was no way the high school students were going to stay quiet during their lunch break.
As soon as class ended, they rushed out of the classrooms to their favorite spots, engaging in meals and conversations.
Just like them, a boy named Saito Minazuki, who had just started his first year of high school, was having lunch on the rooftop with his childhood friend, a beautiful girl named Lily Machigane.
“Mmm, delicious! Your food is the best!”
“Hey, don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s rude.”
“Okay, okay. …Munch munch. So good!”
Ever since he became her personal taste tester, Saito had been enjoying a second bento made by Lily.
Her cooking always matched his taste perfectly, making it impossible for him not to express his delight, despite Lily’s frequent admonitions.
Even though she kept scolding him, Saito couldn’t help but blurt out his thoughts,
and he didn’t see any need to change that.
It’s only natural to say something is delicious when it is.
Most importantly—
“…Honestly. You’ll embarrass yourself when you’re an adult, you know.”
—praising her cooking made his childhood friend happy.
Even now, she was grumbling, but the slight twitch of her hair showed she was pleased.
(She’s so easy to read.)
As Saito was enjoying his bento, he suddenly heard a camera shutter click from beside him.
When he looked over, he saw a friend with naturally curly hair who had just returned from the school store.
They made eye contact through the camera lens.
“…(So obvious.)”
“Right?”
Without speaking,
they communicated their thoughts and shared a laugh.
“What are you two silently agreeing on?”
Lily, who felt left out, puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
“And Akashi, I said you could take photos, but only when we notice you, okay?”
Lily sighed,
shifting her gaze to Kai and beginning to lecture him for taking photos without permission.
“…I’ll be careful.”
“Not just careful—follow the rule. Otherwise, I’ll break it, got it?”
“Eek… Understood.”
“Good.”
Although Kai initially looked defiant, he quickly became submissive when Lily made a threatening gesture.
Saito, observing this exchange, couldn’t help but smile wryly.
(My childhood friend is terrifying…)
She certainly would follow through with her threats,
especially against anyone who tried to harm her.
continue
A week ago, a guy had attacked her, and she had retaliated, making him cry with a joint lock and restraining him. That was proof enough.
Kai, who had made a significant blunder with Lily in the past, was always on edge around her.
Saito felt a little sympathy for his friend, who was often at the mercy of his domineering childhood friend.
“So, can I see the photos you took?”
“…Sure, here you go.”
“Now, let’s see what you captured—hey! Saito, why did you grab it?!”
Just as Kai handed over the camera, Saito snatched it from the side.
“Why, indeed?”
“You’re the one who took it, so why are you asking?”
Saito knew that if Lily saw the photos, she’d be embarrassed by her little habits and probably never show them again.
He couldn’t let that happen.
Watching Lily eat happily was his favorite part of lunch lately.
He didn’t want her to become self-conscious and stop.
For the sake of her dignity and his enjoyment, Saito decided to play dumb, which only made Lily exasperated.
In the meantime, he tried to delete the photos, but Lily wasn’t foolish.
She quickly guessed his intentions and tried to peek at the camera, becoming quite a nuisance.
“Why are you trying to delete them? These are our photos, so I have the right to see them too.”
“I have the right to delete them too!”
“Hold it right there!”
“Who stops when told to stop?”
“Don’t break the camera!”
Saito didn’t want her to see the photos,
and Lily insisted on seeing them.
At first, they just move their hands up and down, up and down, left and right, What started as a simple struggle turned into a full-fledged game of tag.
They dashed off the rooftop and raced through the school,
knowing it was only a matter of time before a teacher caught them.
“Hey! Minazuki and Machigane, no running in the halls!”
“Sorry!”
“Sorry!”
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Their homeroom teacher, scolded them as they sped by.
The two who had been overheated cooled down a little, but they were not ready to back down just yet.
Cooling down a bit, they switched from running to fast walking to avoid further scolding.
“Why can’t I catch up with you?!”
“Experience, my dear. Experience!”
Though they were now moving at the same speed, Lily, being the chaser, was slightly faster.
However, Saito’s years of playing tag in elementary school gave him the edge.
He knew all the tricks to evade pursuit without getting caught.
As a model student, Lily couldn’t match his skill, and her hesitations at corners and avoiding people slowed her down just enough for Saito to keep his lead.
After about three minutes, Saito successfully lost her, but he found himself in an unexpected situation.
“Phew, I made it. But where am I?”
In his focus on escaping, he had wandered into an unfamiliar area—
a mysterious, overgrown garden not marked on the school map.
It seemed to have been a beautiful garden long ago, but now it was overrun with weeds and branches, making its original appearance unrecognizable.
However, deeper inside, around a fountain, the area was strangely well-kept.
There were no weeds, the fountain was clean, and the ground around it was freshly dug with some sprouts emerging.
Someone had clearly been taking care of this place.
Feeling like he had stumbled upon a secret base from his childhood, Saito’s curiosity was piqued.
“Oh, there’s a hole for planting seeds here. Someone must have been working here just recently.”
And so, Saito began his search for the mysterious gardener,
feeling like a detective as he examined the ground and looked around.
After following a well-trodden path for a while,
he ended up behind a building he didn’t recognize.
Peeking inside, he saw a familiar, large teacher,
one of the school counselors, usually stationed in the third-year building as mentioned during a school assembly.
So, this must be the new building used by the third-year students.
As Saito had no particular connection until now, it was his first time seeing the building, and it was smaller compared to the buildings used by the first and second-year students.
Despite its size, it was more than enough to accommodate all the students in one grade.
“Wow, so this is the new building,”
“What are you doing here? “
Just as he was overwhelmed by the size of the school, a man called out to him.
Turning towards the voice, Saito was surprised to see the student council president of the school standing before him.
“Student council president!”
The man who called out to him was the president of the student council of this school.
The person who spoke to him was none other than Takumi Hojo.
He was taller than Saito, a cool-looking guy with glasses and long legs, and the heir to the Hojo Group, which owned a considerable number of companies.
Takumi had inherited his parent’s charisma and was elected student council president with a triple score over the other candidates.
Saito remembered him well because he had fired up the crowd with an encouraging speech to the new students at the entrance ceremony.
His first impression of Takumi was that he was a cool and serious person who was good at leading people but didn’t seem to be the type to get involved in the field.
However, the Takumi standing in front of Saito now was dressed completely differently from the image he had of him.
He was wearing overalls like an auto mechanic, holding a watering can in one hand and a bucket with a shovel and plastic bags in the other.
Meeting an unexpected person in an unexpected outfit was enough to shock Saito.
“Hello! I’m Saito Minazuki from class 1-3. I’m here because I got lost,”
Saito explained.
He unintentionally let out a crazy voice.
” …… I see. “
Saito, who is quick to change his attitude, quickly recovered and explained the situation to Takumi,
his initially suspicious eyes changing to a look of disappointment.
“The first-year building is straight ahead and then to the left,” Takumi said.
“Really? Thank you,” Saito replied.
“It’s nothing worth thanking me for. Just go,”
“Got it. I’ll repay this favor someday—wait, oh!”
Saito exclaimed as a thought suddenly struck him.
“Um, President, if you don’t mind, could I carry that watering can for you? I think you’re taking it to the garden over there. Isn’t it heavy?” .
Turning around, Saito offered his help to Takumi.
“You saw that? …It’s fine, I can carry it myself,”
However, he is not sure if it is because of his dignity as the student council president, or because he is embarrassed that a man is growing flowers.
Takumi refused Saito’s offer.
“Are you sure? Your arm is shaking. Did you put too much water in it?”
“Ugh! That’s not it,”
“Come on, don’t be stubborn. Let me help you,”
Despite his pride, Takumi’s body wasn’t strong enough to back it up.
His arm holding the watering can was trembling, making it obvious he was straining.
Saito put the digital camera back in his pocket and quickly grabbed the watering can from Takumi.
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(he’s so easy to read.) > I believe this is Saito thinking about Lily being pleased about him praising her cooking, so it should be “she’s”
fixed, thanks