Chapter 13

After school on the day after my one-day suspension.

Once I’d finished packing up, I headed not for the dorms, but for the Student Council Room.

Yesterday, Saionji had invited me to join the student council, and I had accepted.

I’d gone along with her argument that becoming a member of the respected student council might reduce the friction with the students who didn’t have the best impression of me.

Apparently, all it took to become a student council officer was a recommendation from the Student Council President.

Saionji had said she would take care of the paperwork, so I visited the Student Council Room with the mindset that I was already a member.

Knock, knock…

“Enter.”

“Excuse me.”

When I entered, it looked like the student council members had already gathered.

Saionji was at the far end of the room, and Kisaragi and Usami were in chairs nearby.

And there was one more person there, someone unexpected.

“Yuki Takanashi?”

“Hey there, Toujou-kun! Welcome to the student council.”

“What are you doing here?”

The girl waving at me with a smile was Yuki Takanashi, who I’d met on the roof.

Why is she here?

“Huh? You didn’t hear from the president? I’m a student council officer, too.”

“Is that right?”

“Yup, yup. I forgot to mention it back then. Looking forward to working with you! Welcome, Toujou-kun!”

“Likewise.”

Yuki Takanashi let out a mischievous laugh.

“What, you already know Takanashi?”

Saionji looked back and forth between me and Takanashi, surprised.

“What exactly is the relationship between you two?”

“Our relationship? Hmmm, I can’t just tell you that, not even if you’re the president~”

“Wh-What…?”

For some reason, Takanashi played coy, her words laced with meaning.

Saionji looked at the two of us as if she’d been struck.

“A-Are you saying your relationship is so deep you can’t even talk about it…?”

“No, that’s not it. Hey, Takanashi. Don’t say weird things. We just talked on the roof for a bit, that’s all.”

“Oh? Was that it? I don’t really remember.”

Takanashi said, playing dumb.

“Wh-What… Is that all it was…?”

Saionji patted her chest, looking strangely relieved.

“Um, so am I officially a member of the student council starting today?”

“O-Of course. I’m looking forward to working with you, Toujou. You already know Kisaragi and Usami, right?”

“Yes.”

I nodded and looked at Kisaragi and Usami. The moment our eyes met, they both snapped their gazes away.

They looked down, refusing to meet my eyes.

Huh…?

I’d been under the impression that I’d gotten along with them, so I was a little shocked by their reaction.

“N-Nice to have you with us, Toujou-kun.”

“W-We look forward to working with you from now on, Toujou-kun.”

The two of them spoke while still looking at the floor.

“Y-Yeah, you too…”

Still reeling from the shock, I returned their greeting.

“Ahem, ahem-hem.”

Saionji cleared her throat with an exaggerated cough.

“Toujou. The paperwork for you to become an officer has already been filed. So, effective immediately, you will be helping with student council duties. Understood?”

“Got it. What should I do?”

“W-Well, let’s see… Today’s student council duties are… to patrol the grounds, organize supplies, and do some cleaning.”

“Okay.”

I can handle that.

I had been a little worried about what kind of tasks they’d give me, so I was relieved that the work seemed simple.

Saionji’s gaze swept over the student council members once before she spoke.

“It would be inefficient for all of us to patrol the school together, so let’s split into groups. W-Well, then… Toujou and I will take the first floor of the school building, Kisaragi and Usami will take the second floor, and Takanashi, I’ll ask you to handle the roof. Can you all do that?”

“Roger!”

Yuki Takanashi was the first to signal her consent.

“Got it.”

I nodded as well.

“…”

But Kisaragi and Usami didn’t answer. For some reason, they were both directing a very resentful glare at Saionji.

“Wh-What is it… you two. Do you have a complaint about my decision…?”

“No, not at all… We have nothing to say.”

“On the contrary, President, do you have something to feel guilty about?”

“O-Of course I don’t have anything to feel guilty about! I merely assigned personnel to the most suitable locations! N-Now, let’s hurry up and get to our cleaning! We’ll meet back here in one hour!”

“…Yes.”

“…Understood.”

Kisaragi and Usami shot one last loaded look at Saionji and me before leaving the Student Council Room.

“Off I go~”

Yuki Takanashi followed after them.

Left behind, I looked at Saionji.

“L-Let’s go, Toujou?”

“Right.”

Saionji spoke, for some reason, while turning her face away.

Together with Saionji, I made my rounds on the first floor of the school building.

“Saionji-sama! Good work today!”

“Student Council President! Thanks for your hard work.”

“Yeah. Get home safe.”

“”Okaay.””

As I walked with Saionji, passing magical girls would greet her, their eyes shining with admiration.

Saionji would raise a hand and reply with a smile.

It seemed Saionji was quite the popular figure at this school.

I followed her, picking up trash, collecting broken equipment, and replenishing supplies as we walked.

We finished our patrol of the first floor in less than thirty minutes.

“Is that everything?”

That was a pretty easy job, I thought as I asked Saionji.

Saionji’s reply was oddly hesitant.

“W-We’ve only done one pass…! We might have missed something! Let’s go around one more time!”

“Roger.”

It seems Saionji has a very meticulous personality.

I followed Saionji along the same route one more time to double-check.

I didn’t find anything we’d missed.

“That should be everything.”

“N-No, not yet! A mere two checks is nowhere near enough! One more round!”

“Eh, seriously?”

“Wh-What? Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, I just thought two rounds would be enough…”

“T-That kind of lax attitude is what disrupts the school’s public morals! The mindset of not overlooking a single speck of dust is what’s important! We’re going for another round!”

“O-Okay.”

Is that how it is?

I tilted my head, wondering if this was really necessary, but I followed Saionji and completed a third inspection.

“It’s already over…”

“Huh…?”

After the third round was finished, Saionji muttered with disappointment.

Does she love cleaning so much that it makes her sad to finish?

“Saionji… if you want to go around one more time, I’ll go with you. What do you want to do?”

“…!?”

I made the suggestion thinking it would make her happy.

Instantly, Saionji’s face visibly brightened.

“You want to go!? You want to do another inspection!? Is that it!?”

“Well, I think we’ve done enough, but if that’s what you want to do…”

“Let’s go! Let’s do one more round! It’s not like there’s a rule about how many times you can do an inspection.”

“O-Oh.”

I’m sure of it now.

Apparently, Saionji loves to clean.

There could be no doubt, seeing how happy she was when I suggested another round.

And so, we began our fourth patrol of the day.

“Saionji? Is something wrong?”

“…!?”

While we were doing our inspection, I noticed that Saionji kept glancing over at me.

I’d been feeling her gaze since the first round, but every time I looked her way, she would abruptly turn her face away for some reason.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“N-Nofing at all!?”

Saionji let out a strange noise.

“It’s just, it looked like you were looking at me, so I thought maybe you had something to say.”

“I-I was not looking at you! You’re just being conceited! That’s a false accusation!”

“Is it…?”

I was sure she was looking at me, though.

I tilted my head but continued with the inspection.

In the end, we finished our fourth inspection more than ninety minutes after we’d left the Student Council Room.

“Saionji. It’s been almost ninety minutes. Weren’t we supposed to meet back in an hour? We’re going to be late, aren’t we?”

“What, already!?”

Saionji looked at a clock and cried out in surprise.

“T-Time flew by so fast I didn’t even notice…”

“We shouldn’t keep the others waiting, right?”

“Y-You’re right! Let’s get back to the Student Council Room right away.”

Saionji started walking quickly, as if in a panic.

I watched her retreating back and thought:

It seems Saionji loves cleaning so much that she completely loses track of time.

“President. You’re late. Where were you and what were you doing?”

“We’ve been waiting for over thirty minutes, you know.”

“S-Sorry…”

When we returned to the Student Council Room, Kisaragi and Usami were already there, giving Saionji and me sour looks.

Saionji avoided their eyes as she apologized, as if she had something to hide.

“What in the world were the two of you doing alone until this hour?”

“It’s rare for you to be late, isn’t it, President?”

“Wh-What were we doing? We were cleaning, of course! Besides, e-even I forget to check the time on occasion…”

“Oh, really?”

“How unusual.”

“…”

The two of them stared at Saionji with cold eyes.

Seeing Saionji getting cornered like this, I couldn’t help but chime in.

“Saionji was cleaning diligently. So much so that we inspected the same area four times.”

“Wh- T-Toujou, that’s…!”

I’d meant to convey Saionji’s earnestness to the other two.

But for some reason, Saionji’s expression screamed This is bad, and the glares from Kisaragi and Usami grew even harsher.

“Inspecting the same place four times… Was that really necessary?”

“Why would you do such a thing, Student Council President?”

“I-I was just meticulously checking to make sure we didn’t miss anything…!”

“Was that really the only reason you did it four times?”

“Isn’t there some other reason?”

“O-Of course there isn’t!”

I didn’t really get it, but Saionji seemed to be backed into a corner.

I had meant to throw her a lifeline, but it felt like I’d somehow had the opposite effect.

“A-Anyway… today’s student council duties are hereby concluded! D-Dismissed!”

Saionji cut the conversation off abruptly and announced our dismissal.

“Yes, understood.”

“Goodbye, President. See you tomorrow.”

Kisaragi and Usami left the Student Council Room, staring at Saionji with reproachful eyes until the very end.

“Phew…”

Saionji let out a sigh of relief.

“Um…”

I asked about something that had been bothering me.

“It looks like Yuki Takanashi isn’t back yet…”

“Just leave her be. She’s always like this.”

“…Is that so?”

Is that really okay, though? I couldn’t help but retort in my head.