Chapter 3: A Sense of Discomfort
Chapter 3: A Sense of Discomfort
It was after school, less than two weeks before the sports festival.
Saito Minazuki and Lily Machigane, both members of the relay team, were summoned to the school grounds.
By this time, the scenery on the grounds had started to change, with tents popping up here and there.
One of these tents was marked as
the “Sports Festival Headquarters,” which Saito and Lily entered.
“Hey there, I’m Saito Minazuki from Class 1-3. Nice to meet you today.”
“Hello, I’m Lily Machigane from the same class. Pleased to meet you.”
“Oh, it’s you. Glad you could make it.”
“Student Council President! Long time no see!”
The one who greeted them was Takumi, the student council president whom Saito had met a week ago.
Today, he was wearing gym clothes instead of his usual uniform,
which seemed oddly mismatched on his intellectual appearance.
“Those gym clothes don’t suit you at all.”
“You’re as rude as ever.”
Saito’s honest comment made Takumi sigh in exasperation,
but it was a common exchange between the two.
However, this wasn’t the case for a girl watching from the sidelines.
“I’m so sorry! What on earth are you saying to the student council president, Saito!?”
Lily, her face pale, apologized while pressing down on Saito’s head with her right hand.
“Ow! Stop pushing my head. The president isn’t mad about this.”
“Even so, it’s rude! Apologize!”
He is unhappy with this sudden action, but he tries to explain himself to clear up the misunderstanding with his childhood friend.
Despite Saito’s attempt to explain himself,
Lily insisted he apologize for his rudeness.
She was stubborn like that and wouldn’t stop until Saito complied.
Realizing it would be a hassle, Saito stopped resisting and bowed his head.
“My bad.”
“Hey, apologize properly!”
Lily, unsatisfied with Saito’s half-hearted apology, told him to try again.
“I’m sorry”
The first time was a compromise. The second time felt even heavier.
Saito looked to Takumi for help, who fortunately understood and responded with a look that said, “I guess I have no choice.”
“It’s fine. As Saito said, I’m not bothered by it.”
“But…”
“Your childhood friend knows when to draw the line. You should understand that, right?”
“…Sometimes he crosses the line.”
“Exactly. Then you’d better scold him more harshly when he does.”
“Got it.”
(Amazing, as expected of the student council president. Or should I say, as expected of the heir to the Hojou Group. He handled Lily perfectly.)
Saito praised Takumi internally for his skillful handling of Lily’s anger.
Deciding to ignore the ominous promise exchanged between Lily and Takumi, Saito asked,
“By the way, we were told to check in. What should we do?”
The two had come here to register, though they had forgotten about it because of Takumi’s shocking gym uniform.
Remembering their original purpose, Saito asked Takumi, who then turned around and placed a printout and a pen on the table.
“Just put a mark next to your name on this list.”
“Got it.”
Saito quickly found his name on the list and marked it. Seeing Lily’s name below his, he asked if he could mark hers too.
“Anyone attending practice can mark the names,” Takumi replied, so Saito marked Lily’s name as well.
“Check-in is done. Head over there and wait. I’ll explain the practice once it starts.”
“Understood. Excuse us.”
“I’m really sorry.”
With more students coming to check in, Saito and Lily bowed and headed towards the crowd Takumi had pointed out.
As they approached, Lily began attracting attention, and Saito thought they would be bombarded with questions, so he changed direction.
They sat down on the stairs a bit further away.
“Phew, I didn’t expect you to be on such good terms with the student council president. That was a surprise.”
“Lily, your reaction was hilarious.”
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They continued to discuss the earlier interaction.
Lily was genuinely shocked by Saito’s relationship with Takumi.
It wasn’t common for a first-year to be on good terms with a third-year from a different building without any club activities.
But, knowing Saito for years,
Lily should have been able to gauge their relationship somewhat by his behavior. Still, her earlier panic was unexpected even for Saito.
Teasing her about it made Lily pout.
“Anyone would be surprised! No matter how close you are, you don’t tell a senior they don’t suit their clothes so directly.”
But it lasted only a moment.
“Still, it didn’t suit him, right?”
“…It really didn’t.”
“Pfft!”
“Ha ha ha!”
“Ahaha!”
When Saito mentioned Takumi’s gym clothes,
Lily couldn’t hold back her laughter either.
Once they started laughing, they couldn’t stop.
“If only he wore a tracksuit.”
“Yeah, short sleeves and shorts really don’t work on him.”
“His legs are too long.”
“His good physique makes it look like cosplay.”
They let out everything they had held back in front of Takumi.
As they laughed and discussed why the gym clothes didn’t suit Takumi, they suddenly felt a gaze on them.
“Oh no.”
Looking towards the tent, they saw Takumi glaring at them.
Both of them shivered.
“……Should we stop?”
“……Yeah.”
Though they knew the person couldn’t hear them from this distance,
the possibility lingered in their minds, and their heated discussion came to an end.
As they started chatting about something else, Saito suddenly noticed something.
“By the way, where are the other student council members?”
“You’re right, I haven’t seen anyone but the president for a while now.”
Aside from Takumi, no other student council members were in sight.
Despite it being well after school hours, no one else was wearing the student council armband.
Maybe some of them forgot to wear it, but then why weren’t they helping Takumi?
There were two possibilities:
“Maybe the other members are doing something else?”
“I thought the same thing. But if it were just moving stuff, Shirayuri-senpai usually handles it, and it wouldn’t need many people.”
“Could it be some trouble?”
“That’s possible too.”
Either they were tasked with something big that only other members could handle, or some trouble had occurred.
As Saito and Lily pondered, the answer soon revealed itself.
“Sorry about this, could you help pick up the contents?”
“No worries, Shirayuri-chan. It’s our fault too for not packing it properly.”
“Yeah, it’s our fault for making a girl carry such heavy stuff.”
“Hey, the president and I aren’t to blame. We were busy with budget calculations and audience data.”
“We know, we know. You and Nonohara-kun worked hard. No need to be so defensive. Need some calcium? Want some of my strawberry milk?”
“No thanks! And Kawatani, why are you just drinking juice? Carry something!”
From the top of the stairs where Saito and Lily were sitting, several upperclassmen with student council armbands appeared, carrying many cardboard boxes.
Based on their conversation, it seemed there really had been some trouble.
Moving aside to avoid getting in the way, Saito caught Koyuki’s eye, who then widened her eyes in surprise.
Saito and Lily bowed their heads, and Koyuki excused herself from the other members and approached them.
“Hello, Minazuki-kun, Machigane-san. Are you here because you were picked for the relay race?”
“Yeah, we’re pretty fast, believe it or not.”
“Really!? That’s amazing. I heard from Haruki-kun that Minazuki-kun is good at sports, but I didn’t expect it from Machigane-san.”
Koyuki was surprised to find out they were chosen for the relay race,
especially seeing Lily there. The childhood friend scratched her cheek shyly with a laugh.
“Are you running in the relay, Shirayuri-senpai?”
“No, I’m not fast enough for the relay. As you can see, I’m helping out with the student council today.”
“I see, thanks for your hard work.”
Koyuki, dressed in gym clothes and a ponytail, looked ready for physical activity, but it seemed Saito had misunderstood.
She probably changed to match the others.
Unlike Takumi, Koyuki looked natural in her gym clothes, attracting attention just like Lily.
“Well, I need to carry these, so I’ll excuse myself. Good luck to both of you.”
“Thanks.”
“Yes, you too, Shirayuri-senpai.”
Perhaps sensing something,
Koyuki gave a quick glance at the boys watching her, then rejoined the student council members and entered the tent where Takumi was.
“Shirayuri-senpai is as popular as you are.”
Saito muttered absentmindedly while watching Koyuki walk away.
“What’s with that?”
Lily’s voice dropped noticeably, making Saito tilt his head in confusion.
Did he say something offensive?
He had no idea.
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