The Story Of How I, A Gloomy Guy, Ended Up Surrounded By the Top-Tier Beautiful Girls In Class After A Seat Change - Chapter 211: And the Time of Decision

Chapter 211: And the Time of Decision

I had already made up my mind.

In an emergency like this, with so few students who knew the situation, the only person who could step in as a replacement right then and there was someone who understood what was going on.

Among the people at the side of the stage, probably only me—her friend—would raise a hand for the huge responsibility of being Rui’s nominator.

Besides, I had gotten permission from the teacher, so it would be fine…

Compared to the pressure I felt during the culture festival, this was still easier.

“Then we’ll now have the support speech from the nominator for Kuroki Rui-san.”

I walked calmly to the podium on the gym stage, adjusted the microphone, gave a bow, took one step forward, and began my support speech.

“Due to sudden circumstances, I’m stepping in as the nominator for Kuroki Rui-san in place of someone else. I’m Ryota Izumiya from second year. Please treat me well.”

Applause rose from all the students gathered in the gym.

Now then… what should I do from here?

I had prepared what to say for Tanaka’s support speech in advance, but for Rui’s, I had no choice but to go completely off-script and just appeal from the heart…

“Um, Kuroki-san… always pays attention to the people around her, serves as class committee chair, and is also the captain of the track and field club. She really can do anything and is truly perfect.”

Only surface-level things came out.

This shallow stuff wouldn’t cut it.

I needed to talk about something deeper—not the surface, but the real Rui.

I had to speak as the straightforward, honest me I always was, and just tell everyone about Rui.

The Rui I knew.

I glanced toward Rui, who was standing at the side of the stage.

When I saw her looking at me with a face full of worry, almost like she was praying, the words in my head suddenly clicked into place.

Right. Of course, Rui.

I knew the real charm of Rui better than anyone.

“But… the real Kuroki-san isn’t perfect.”

The moment I said that, a murmur ran through the crowd.

Still, I kept going.

“She always makes incredible results look effortless, but along the way she’s run into trouble and come close to failing more than once. So she isn’t perfect in everything. But precisely because of that, Kuroki-san is always striving to reach perfection. In track practice she sweats until her training clothes are completely soaked every single day, and even when it comes to studying, she always approaches it seriously, whether during class or in free time.”

Because I had watched Rui all this time, I understood.

Every selfie she sent me had her training clothes drenched in sweat, and even in the classroom she switched cleanly between chatting with Airi and Yuria and quietly studying on her own.

“The driving force behind Kuroki Rui is her relentless effort to achieve perfection. She doesn’t just rely on talent—she puts in more effort than her talent alone would require. Someone like Kuroki-san has the power to make anything she does perfect.”

Rui wasn’t perfect because she was some genius.

Of course she had natural talent, but it was her obsession with perfection and her willingness to act on it that let her create the perfect image she had now.

Because I had seen that earnest side of Rui, I truly wanted to support her.

If I could let the other students understand that too, surely…

“So everyone, won’t you aim for perfection together with Kuroki-san? If it’s her, she will definitely serve as a guide to make your ‘perfect’ school life a reality as student council president. That’s why… please give Kuroki-san your precious vote!”

I bowed deeply after finishing with those words, and the applause that came back felt much warmer than I had expected.

Wow, I was so nervous.

When I stepped back to the side of the stage, the tension finally broke and an overwhelming wave of exhaustion hit me.

Right then, both Rui and Himesaki came straight over to me.

“Ryota-senpai, that was amazing! As expected!”

“Well… I’m not sure how well I actually did.”

“You did great! If it were me in that situation, I’d probably have frozen up completely!”

Himesaki said that while looking unusually excited.

In contrast, Rui’s face showed clear relief.

“Really, really thank you, Ryota-kun.”

“N-No need for thanks. I’m the one who said I wanted to do it, so don’t worry about it.”

“No, I’m truly grateful. Thank you for that wonderful, perfect support speech.”

“Rui… Ah, yeah. That somehow makes me embarrassed.”

Being thanked by Rui, I couldn’t hide how happy I felt.

“Then next we will have the final speech from the candidate, Kuroki Rui-san.”

After the nominator’s support speech came the candidate’s own speech.

“I’m off, Ryota-kun.”

“Do your best, Rui.”

I called out to Rui and sent her onto the stage.

I had always been curious about what Rui would say.

Of course she aimed for her own perfection, but I wanted to know what kind of perfection she wanted to achieve as student council president.

Rui adjusted the microphone, straightened her back into a perfect line, and looked out beautifully over the students.

“—I’m Kuroki Rui, candidate for student council president. So, what does ‘perfection’ mean to all of you?”

Rui began speaking in a calm voice.

“Ever since I was old enough to understand things, I have kept aiming to become a perfect version of myself and worked hard every day. But… as Izumiya-san said earlier, the truth is that I’m not perfect.”

Rui briefly shifted her gaze toward me at the side of the stage and gave a small smile.

Rui… do your best…!

“I have achieved many results so far. But no matter how hard I try, I still make small mistakes somewhere along the way. Some of those mistakes could have dropped me from a hundred points to zero. That’s why… I cannot call myself perfect.”

Rui denied her own perfection.

This tone was somehow different from her usual confident way of speaking.

But to me, it felt like Rui was facing her own idea of perfection once again right here on this stage.

“However… perfection is something we can achieve. When each of you looks back later, you can hold your head high and say the path you walked was perfect… Creating such a perfect path is absolutely possible.”

Even while keeping that same calm tone, the passionate message in Rui’s words came through clearly just by listening.

“In order to make everyone’s high school life perfect, I deliberately chose not to announce specific campaign promises. The reason is that I didn’t want to limit things to short-term reforms. Instead, I wanted to focus first on listening to what everyone wants, sincerely addressing the policies you actually need, and promise here to work on improving every single one of them.”

While Tanaka was throwing out bold promises left and right—whether she could actually do them or not—Rui had avoided announcing anything too specific for exactly this reason.

Instead of pushing her own ideas as promises, she wanted to stay close to the students, find problems together, and solve them… That was so typical of Rui.

“Up until now, as Kuroki Rui, I have received so much support and help from all of you in my pursuit of perfection. But from now on, I promise to do everything I can to make the rest of your high school life something you can be proud of. For that reason, I humbly ask for your precious vote.”

With those words, Rui gave a graceful bow and looked out over the students once more.

The speech made it very clear why the person called Kuroki Rui could achieve such perfection and earn so much popularity from everyone around her.

And right up until the very last moment of the election, Rui never let that perfect smile fade.

After that, I was able to watch the remaining speeches calmly from the side of the stage.

Both Himesaki and Tanaka (who appeared only in a video) delivered their promises safely and finished their speeches without any trouble.

And once the final speeches ended, it was finally time for voting.

Students exited the gym in order, dropped their ballots into the box near the exit, then returned straight to their classrooms to wait for the results. Only the current student council members and the election committee stayed behind to count the votes together.

I followed the flow of people leaving, wrote a name on my ballot, and dropped it into the box.

Of course… I wrote ‘Kuroki Rui.’

☆☆

The moment we got back to the classroom, Airi and Yuria came straight over to me and Rui.

“That was tough for both of you! Good job!”

“No seriously, Ryota, that was insane! You were totally improvising, right?”

“Y-Yeah, well, pretty much.”

While the two of us were cooling down after giving everything we had, Airi and Yuria were super hyped, creating a big temperature gap.

Anyway, the most important thing was that it had ended without any major problems, and I felt relieved.

“The results should be out soon, Rui. You feeling nervous?”

“Yeah… but”

“But?”

Rui let out a soft “Hehe” and showed her usual smile.

“Even with all the trouble, the final piece—the ultimate weapon I kept in reserve, Ryota-kun—fitted perfectly in the end, so I think we’re not going to lose now.”

“U-Ultimate weapon…? If you’re gonna say that, you should’ve just asked me from the very beginning.”

“Aww, Ryota’s getting all shy because Rui-chan praised him~”

“N-No I’m not! That’s not it!”

“The vote counting has finished.”

While we were talking, an announcement came over the speakers from the broadcast room.

“The election results are…”

The air in the entire classroom instantly went quiet.

And then…

“Second-Year Class B—Kuroki Rui-san is elected.”

In that moment, the classroom erupted in cheers.

Receiving everyone’s congratulations, the usual soft smile finally returned to Rui’s face.