42 42. I hereby declare my intention to join the student council's election.

Extra in the Student Council

42. I hereby declare my intention to join the student council's election.

Have you given it any thought?

In your childhood, you felt like you could do anything and become anyone. You felt the world centered around you.

However, as you grow up, you come to learn many things. You started to find someone else who was better than you. The first time you realized that you pushed yourself to the limit to become better, sometimes it worked. You become better than that person, yet you quickly find another in a different area. Sometimes it didn't work, and you still felt that person was better.

The first time you struggled, the second time you also struggled to protect that little miggle pride you held since childhood, yet without yourself even realizing it, your will slowly faded away.

And finally, you reached the final step: acceptance.

Whenever you find someone better than you, you accept it with an open? given-up heart.

Whose better was no longer the point. You put yourself down every time you speak, which pushes you even further down. Just to protect yourself from the feeling of your pride being hurt and tear apart forcefully.

If you don't have it from the beginning, there's nothing to get hurt by.

Yet at the very end, you realized the truth: there are actually only a few people who are truly unreachable, no matter how hard you try. And the rest... they just work harder and make more effort than yourself. From the beginning till the very end, it's all your fault, and you just used other people's talents as an excuse. After all, pushing the blame on others is the easiest shortcut.

….

Shuu slowly opened his eyes. As soon as the reflected light entered his eyes, he saw a pretty face carefully watching him.

"Shuu, you okay?"

"?? What do you mean?" Shuu replied that he didn't understand why Ai was worrying about him.

"You sweat a lot," Ai said, using her long-sleeve sleepwear to wipe around Shuu's eyes.

"Nn, I do feel uncomfortable." Shuu let Ai do her things, then raised his upper body to sit beside her on the bed.

"Did I wake you up?" Shuu gently combed her hair with his fingers.

"No" Ai closed her eyes, enjoying that sensation. "It's my usual wake-up time."

With her cue, Shuu looked at the time, and as expected, it's him who's overslept. He missed his morning routine.

"Hya!" Ai yelped. Just as she was about to get really comfortable with Shuu combing her hair, she suddenly felt like she had lost her gravity for a moment. The next thing she knew, she was princess-carried by Shuu.

"Mou, at least warned me. I thought I almost lost my heart for a moment," she complained, and she hit him on the chest with no power behind each hit.

"My bad, let's take a quick shower together." With Ai in his hand, Shuu walked toward the bathroom.

"Is my opinion unnecessary?" Ai grumbled, but she stayed immobile, letting him carry her. She rolled her eyes when she didn't get a reply from Shuu.

"Are you sure it's just going to be a quick shower?" She added.

"Who knows?" Shuu replied with a grin on his face. In an instant, Ai knew it wouldn't be just a shower.

****

The student council had disbanded. Not much time has passed since the election period began. Two people had already announced their candidacies in the election. It's an unknown second year and first year. Usually, Shuu won't care about such things, but today he's looked at them carefully. The second-year candidate is Hongo Hayato, while the first-year candidate is Iino Miko. Shuu observed it for a moment. It's not someone he needs to be bothered about. (I'll at least keep an eye on them.) He decided on his next action.

After busying himself with some petitions to get permission from the principal, by lunchtime he was ready to fulfill Kaguya's request.

Though he had anticipated it, the principal actually acted in the same way as he had imagined.

(To think he easily agreed to my program.) Shuu was troubled about how to react.

(No matter how many times I see it, that principal is seriously quite an oddball.) Shuu shook his head sideways.

Some time had passed since lunchtime. Shuu stood in the center of the cafeteria, the place where it attracted the most attention. He is also able to easily find Kaguya in the cafeteria, which is part of his condition to accept her request. Most students had finished their lunch but had yet to leave their seats, except a few people. 

Shuu was also a celebrity at this school. It's not unusual to have someone watch what he does, and he's already accustomed to it. Someone had already noticed his strange behavior and told their friends about it.

Shuu observed the whole room, and he used everything to his advantage. When the time was right, he stood on a small stool, and like that, he could be seen from anywhere in this room. Without wasting any more time, he turned on the mic he had with him.

"Hello, my fellow Shuchiin students." He said it with a loud and clear voice. He captured the attention of over 80% of the students in the cafeteria in a split second. At the same time, his voice echoed throughout the entire school.

"Many of you are probably already familiar with me. But first, allow me to introduce myself so that people who aren't currently in the cafeteria are aware of who I am. My name is Katsuragi Shuu." He gave a soft smile. A few female students sat near the spot where he was involuntarily squealing.

Shuu calmly gestured for silence for a moment, and once the cafeteria had quieted down again, he declared, "I, Katsuragi Shuu, hereby declare my intention to join the student council's election." 

"Vote for me, and I'll show you all an environment you all desire," he said.

The students from the whole school went silent for a few moments as they processed what Shuu had just declared. Gradually, they began to comprehend why he had told every student this, even going so far as to use the school's announcement system. It's a campaign speech. Shuu continued before they could react.

"And when I become president, Shinomiya-san," Shuu called toward Kaguya, who sat close to him as promised. His words instantly drew everyone's attention toward her.

Kaguya was confused by the sudden attention, but who is she? Shinomiya Kaguya didn't make the slightest mistake. She was like a calm water surface on the outside. His condition was for her to sit here and just say 'yes' once to his question, and she knew nothing more about what he's trying to do. Kaguya was wondering what he's trying to achieve with this.

"Shinomiya-san." Shuu called again and immediately corrected himself, "No, Kaguya. Will you be my vice president?" He said it with a smile. It wasn't a soft smile for everyone, like before. Those who were quick-witted could see it clearly. There's another hidden meaning behind his expression: it's a smile only for one person.