Chapter 6

The next day at lunch break,

I went to the faculty room to submit my candidacy for student council vice president, just like Yuina had asked me to. I called out my homeroom teacher and explained that I would be running with Yuina Izumi. Though the teacher seemed surprised, they approved it without issue.

When I returned to the classroom, Yuina was sitting at my desk.

Given that we were running together, it wasn’t strange for us to talk openly at school, but I didn’t think she’d come over this quickly.

Ikki, who sat in front of me, turned around with a surprised look.

When he noticed me, he waved me over.

“Oh, there you are. Izumi-san came to see you.”

I walked over to my desk and placed a hand on Yuina’s shoulder.

“What are you doing here?”

With a sweet smile, Yuina pulled out a form and handed it to me.

“I need your signature on the candidacy application. Can’t submit it without it.”

Sure enough, it was the official student council election form.

Hadn’t the homeroom teacher’s approval been enough?

Regardless, I signed the form without much thought.

Ikki stared at me with wide eyes.

“Hotaka, you’re actually running for student council? You?”

Given that we’d known each other since childhood, his disbelief was understandable.

“Izumi asked me. That’s all—it’s just as friends.”

I tried to get ahead of any misunderstandings.

“Yup, just friends. That’s why we decided to run together.”

Yuina then grabbed my hand and lifted it into the air.

Before I realized it, the whole class was watching us.

“Wait, Izumi-san is running for student council president?”

“I’ll totally vote for you!”

One by one, classmates came over to Yuina, showing their support.

Yuina waved and thanked them like she was an idol, all while still holding my hand.

“So then, Anjou-kun, let’s start working on our campaign plan!”

“I haven’t even eaten yet.”

“Then let’s talk while we eat.”

Eating together in the classroom wouldn’t be a good idea.

If anyone noticed our matching lunches, they might start asking questions.

We’d need to go somewhere else.

I grabbed my lunch and followed Yuina out of the classroom.

“So, where are we going?”

“The rooftop. There shouldn’t be anyone there.”

That was true—the rooftop was usually empty.

Still, I was a bit concerned about the heat.

Yuina led the way up without hesitation.

When we arrived, a comfortable breeze was blowing.

It wasn’t as hot as I’d feared.

I sat down and opened my lunchbox.

“Hehe, matching lunches!”

“Well, we are siblings now.”

Since both lunches were clearly made by the same person—Yuina’s mother—it was only natural.

While eating our lunches, Yuina pushed out her chopsticks and declared:

“If I’m running, I intend to win.”

“So no throwing the election on purpose then?”

“Of course not. Losing an election would just be lame.”

Yuina said this with her brows furrowed. That’s the kind of person she is—apparently, she’s more competitive than she leads on.

“I’ll need your help too, so be ready to do your part.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“What do you mean?”

I raised a bite of karaage and replied,

“Based on how popular you are at school, winning should be a sure thing.”

Just judging from how well-liked she is in class, she’d likely win without me even lifting a finger. School elections are basically popularity contests, after all.

“But that’s not necessarily true.”

“What do you mean?”

Yuina sighed and pulled out a sheet. It listed the other declared candidates—and I recognized one name.

“Kuze Sousuke. He’s the current student council president’s younger brother, right?”

“Right. And what’s more, his running mate for vice president is Asuka Madarame.”

Asuka Madarame had served on the disciplinary committee since first year and was well-respected by the student body. She was even considered a top candidate for the next disciplinary head. So that’s the opposing pair: the current president’s brother and a leading disciplinary committee figure. Definitely a formidable match.

“Even so, your popularity should be enough to win.”

“No way. Our school’s academically competitive. A lot of people wouldn’t vote for someone who’s always failing like me. They’re the school’s second‑ and third‑top students paired together.”

Yuina’s point made sense. In a lower‑tier school, someone like her would stand a better chance—but not here. If she wanted to win, her speech would have to be incredibly compelling: a strong manifesto backed by charisma. The president’s brother likely has charisma himself, after all.

“So how do you think we can win?”

“Well, since I’m going to be your running mate, I’ll do my best. But maybe start with a compelling manifesto.”

“What’s a manifesto?”

“It’s basically your campaign promises—what you’ll do if you become president.”

“What should I promise?”

“That’s for you to figure out.”

I sighed in exasperation at being asked to just take over.

“Well, for example, our school uniform is that old‑fashioned gakuran. Maybe we could change it to something cuter.”

“That sounds great! If we made it cuter, maybe more girls would want to come to this school.”

“That’s the kind of thing you should think about. And… how popular am you exactly?”

“Me? Well, I get along with everyone in class.”

“Then you’ve secured your class votes. Now we just need to appeal to other classes.”

I tapped my chin thoughtfully: what would be the best way to reach other classes? Everyone has a chance during the formal speech, but many students zone out during those. So we needed something beyond speeches to showcase Yuina—some supplementary appeal strategy.

“Ugh… I have no idea.”

Yuina shook her head, overwhelmed. Asking her to come up with everything out of the blue was probably too much. Still, if we were going to win, we needed to play smart—and not through straightforward competition, but by leveraging Yuina’s personal appeal. I was nondescript at school. My presence wouldn’t matter, so the focus had to be entirely on her strengths.

“Anyway, I’ll think more on this too. You work on your campaign promises.”

“O‑okay…”

After finishing our lunches, we left the rooftop and headed back to class. As soon as I walked in, I was surrounded—mainly by the boys:

“Hey, what is your relationship with Izumi‑san?”

“We’re just friends.”

“Really? You’re not dating?”

“No, we’re not.”

The boy looked relieved. He apparently had a crush on Yuina. Yuina had already said she didn’t plan to date anyone, but there was no need to bring that up.

“You’re so popular, Anjou.”

Ikki teased, narrowing his eyes. I slumped over my desk with a sigh.

“I’m exhausted. One thing after another just keeps on coming.”

“Hey, remember that mixer when you sneaked away with Izumi‑san? Did you guys start liking each other then?”

“Yeah. That’s when we started being friends.”

“You could’ve just said that earlier.”

If it had truly been just friendship, I might’ve told Ikki. But it wasn’t—Yuina and I had been much more than friends. That’s not something you could tell even your closest childhood friend.

“Anyway, good luck. I’ll vote for you guys.”

“Thanks.”

I appreciated his support and spent the rest of the afternoon dozing in class.