TL: learning2tl

TLC: Kagefij

ED: N/A

It was now homeroom on Wednesday morning, a day after we had decided the shopping schedule.

Kawamursensei, our female homeroom teacher, had the following announcement to make.

「Uhhh, this was also in the handouts distributed last time, but starting from next week……Wednesday, it seems. The third years will have exams to take, so from the beginning of next month, a second year will be taking on the role of student council president. And so, activities for the student council elections will be starting, kay～. Aspiring candidates, please get an application form from me at some point this week. An endorser is a must, so please make sure to get that part in order as well. All forms are to be submitted on Monday next week, kay～.」

With her characteristic way of talking, Kawamursensei announced this to the cla.s.s. As might be expected from one who had become Head of Year despite being so young, her approach wasn't conventional. Or rather, perhaps she should be described as a person with a certain mannerism. She's also incredibly pretty.

Also, that reminds me. It's that time of year, huh. Last year the student council elections had been held at around this time too. Well, last year I had been a first year, and there hadn't been any students suddenly announcing to their cla.s.smates 'I'm gonna become student council prez!' either, so in actual fact there hadn't really been any changes from the norm. Or rather than that, I seem to recall that there hadn't even been a single first year contesting the position. Even Hinami hadn't stood for election or anything. She had probably judged that the drawbacks outweighed the merits.

Homeroom ended, and the students noisily started to talk to each other. In the midst of that, I stayed seated, and ended up following Hinami's movements with my eyes. Hinami had smoothly slipped away from a conversation with the other riajuus, then taken a sheet of paper from Kawamursensei. Well, it's probably that. An application form for the candidacy. Since she's decisively claiming first place in everything she can, there was no way she would be letting the position of student council president easily understood to be『First place』 escape.

Be that as it may, come to think of it, Kawamura sensei said something about an endorser, huh. To be eligible to compete, it was necessary to have one such person. I'm not sure about the details, but when I think back to what happened last year, it feels like they were being made to handle campaign speeches and the like. I don't remember it too well. Well, I suppose that as long there aren't any popular students contesting in the student council election, it's nothing too exciting, huh. I do wonder who Hinami intends to make her endorser, though.

Just as I was thinking this, Hinami fleetingly glanced in my direction. And then, curved her mouth into a slight grin before instantly looking away. She then returned to her seat, and after sliding the paper into a clear file, put it in her bag.

──Uhhh, does this mean what I think it does?

Just as I was feeling a slight sense of foreboding,

「'Sup, Tomozaki!」

A voice overflowing with energy burst into being near my ear.

「Whoaa!?」

Almost falling off my seat as I turned around, standing there was none other than Mimimi. As always, she has a great figure, her facial features are perfectly arranged, and she's as lively as ever.

「What's thiiis? You're looking so hard at Aoi! Fascinated, are you～?」

Mimimi, while going *s.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+* with laughter, nimbly *sususu* approached me. I became all *wawawa*, fl.u.s.tered.

「I-I wasn't really fascinated or anything……」

「Aha! Which means you're not denying that you were looking, right!」

「No wait, that's not what I……」

Even as I was caught up in her speedy pace, I scrambled to form a reply. As I did so, Mimimi s.h.i.+fted her gaze away from me and, stroking her chin in the way a detective might, looked forwards.

「……Weeell, looks like she'll be standing after all, huh.」

At the receiving end of that gaze was──Hinami.

「……For the student council elections?」

「That's right!」

It would seem that Mimimi had also seen Hinami taking the sheet of paper.

「Well, it's Hinami after all……I suppose it's to be expected that she'd stand.」

「Ah, as I thought, you also think so?」

Mimimi spoke in a tone of voice that felt somewhat serious.

「Eh? I mean, look, she takes the top spot in everything, after all. Even this time, it feels only natural that she'd be the one elected.」

「……I know, right! She's really well and truly perfect, that girl!」

Mimimi, after a brief gap in conversation during which she had seemed to be thinking about something, smiled exaggeratedly as she spoke. I wonder what that gap was all about? Although I was slightly curious, I couldn't think of a natural way to approach the subject, and in the first place someone like me would repeatedly leave gaps in conversation every time so it wasn't really something I could ask about. So for now I'll think about how to keep up the rest of this conversation in a way that doesn't produce any gaps.

Uhhh, perfect, huh. Well, if she didn't have that sharp tongue, she probably would be perfect, all things considered.

「Hahaha, she really is perfect, huh.」I played along with her. After all, it's not a lie.

「But as expected, what I'm curious about……is just who that Aoi is going to choose as her endorser!」

「Y-yeah……」The sense of foreboding from earlier surged up again in my subconscious.「That does make you curious.」

「Since it's someone Aoi will be choosing, they'll definitely be in the limelight, don't you think?」

「Th-that's true. In the limelight……」

While amplifying my sense of foreboding at those words, I back-channeled.

「In a sense, they would be honoured, but in another sense they would have an important role to play, I suppose……」

「an important role……」

While feeling that my sense of foreboding was on the verge of turning into one of conviction, I could only nod my head.

「There's no way they could mess up, either……Ah! The teacher's here! See you!」

Saying this, Mimimi returned to her own seat.

In the limelight, having an important role to play, and unable to mess up. Yep, all of that makes sense.

──And so, even as I prayed that this premonition would be nothing more than a premonition, be it how I'd need to have a proper talk with Kikuchi-san for sure this time, or how there would be a shopping trip with the riajuus on Sat.u.r.day, I had too many things on my mind to know what to think about, so setting them all aside, I cleared my mind and began to prepare for first period. Now this is true enlightenment.

Then, the break time after third period arrived.

I returned from my state of enlightenment to the transient world, and began making my way towards the library.

Of course, not to study AtaFami tactics, but to talk with Kikuchi-san.

Ever since my confession of the truth to Kikuchi-san ── that is, of how I hadn't read any of Michael Andy's books, and had instinctively played along to get through the situation ── this would be our first face-to-face meeting. Well I mean, she is in the same cla.s.s and sits right behind me, so we had seen each other's faces, so maybe that was an odd choice of words. However, meeting her here and meeting her in cla.s.s were completely different things. I think that, similar to how one's strength might increase in an environment with the same attribute, for Kikuchi-san, her magical powers grow stronger when in this『Book』environment.

「……Ah.」

When I, for whatever reason, slowly entered the library rather stealthily, Kikuchi-san immediately noticed noticed my presence and turned to me. I made eye contact with those pupils that felt like they could cure all status abnormalities just by looking. Kikuchi-san smiled gently, then quietly lowered her gaze to her book. Similar to a temple, a sense of quiet and comfort flowed through the air.

Seeing that smile, I inadvertently recalled her smile from last week, and became slightly embarra.s.sed as I slowly approached her. I pulled out the chair next to Kikuchi-san, and after first adjusting its position to a distance just a tiny bit closer than last time, I sat down.

「h.e.l.lo.」

Kikuchi-san, like the Virgin Mary, with gentle movements overflowing with affection, turned to face me, and greeted me in a quiet timbre that was like a fairy playing a harp. In an ensuing state of disorientation, I returned her greeting.

「H, h.e.l.lo.」

「Will you be……studying tactics again today?」

With an expression that appeared child-like at times, in a pure tone of voice, Kikuchi-san asked me a question.

「N-no, that's not it. For today……」

「……For today?」

Kikuchi-san, like a forest squirrel clutching a nut, hugged the book to her chest, then tilted her neck ever so slightly. It was probably no coincidence how at the same time, the trees outside the window could be seen to gently sway.

I had come here with the intention to be upfront and go「Um, I was thinking about having a talk with you, Kikuchi-san……」, but, in front of Kikuchi-san's magical powers that could even manipulate vegetation, such a feat was far beyond my abilities.

「Umm……hearing about it from you made me curious.」

Standing, I head towards a nearby bookshelf.

I pull out a single book. A book that I had always been pretending to read while in actual fact thinking about AtaFami tactics. A book that had served as the reason for Kikuchi-san having the wrong idea about me being fan of Michael Andy.

Up until this point, I had only been using this book for the purpose of『pretending』. Now, I became fully aware of its t.i.tle for the first time.『The Masked Pilot and the Fairy of Truth』.Author: Michael Andy.

「I was just thinking, maybe I should try reading it for real. If only for a little while.」

At this, Kikuchi-san opened her eyes wide open in surprise, her pupils s.h.i.+ning like phantom gems required for the opening of a sealed gate to the heavens. She then smiled a smile befitting a book-loving girl of her age.

「Please do! You're more than welcome……!」

「Haha……that's a relief.」

Without actively trying to do so, I returned her smile with a natural one of my own, then after moving my chair just a tiny bit closer than just a while ago, sat down next to her.

The only sounds that quietly echoed around the room were the *flip*, *flip* of two people turning pages over, and the *tap-tap-tap* of someone's footsteps. Neither of us spoke a word to the other, only looking down at the printed characters in silence. Even though Kikuchi-san and I were reading different books, granted, by the same author, for some reason, simply with us reading next to each other, it felt like we were journeying together in the same world, learning to understand one another little by little. It felt like such a time of calm and gentleness was pa.s.sing by.

It was a time so peaceful, it didn't seem real that in three days, I would be going shopping with riajuus in a mixed-gender group of four. Such that I didn't want those three days to come to pa.s.s. I just wanted to spend the rest of my life here.