Bonus Side Chapter-Echoing Chapter 20
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In the corner of the stage lies the two students under cover, watching the entire events in plain sight.
The boy fixes the temples of his glasses before saying, "So, who won, Byakko?".
"The two oddballs claimed the first prize, Washi." A feminine voice reacts through his ears.
Alongside the teenage boy is a girl wearing an obsidian jacket, with a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes. They look like detective agents that even Sherlock would even be proud of once he notices them. Unfortunately, they are not your trained spies sent out by the government.
They are just your ordinary, former class president and vice president of the previous batch, eyeing out potential candidates to take their seats.
They also call themselves by their first names and not their surnames, showing their respect and closeness to each other. After all, they have been working together as student council members for three years.
"Yuki Leigh and Nickson Park. Although his Korean name is Seo-jun, whatever." The girl stands up and turns around towards the exit after witnessing the scene. "There is nothing else to do here. We should take our leave."
Washi takes Byakko for her offer and immediately follows behind. He then writes the names in his document for the succeeding officers of the student council.
"I have my eyes watching over you," Washi mumbles to himself as he takes off his glasses, finally becoming serious about tomorrow's assembly.
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Back to the story~
Yuki Leigh
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"Great! Now that you're all here, please take a seat." Byakko invites us to take a seat on the comfortable-looking couch found in the gargantuan student council room.
We each choose our space and perch ourselves on the spacious area of the settee that looks more like a bed than a sofa. The student officers need such lavish furniture, especially when they are the representatives of the school.
Who would want to work in an environment that appears dull and forgotten?
"I may not meet your expectations, but I will announce the student council members right now!" Byakko continues while running through the envelope in her hands.
Washi stands up and goes to Byakko before leaning his body on the desk. Upon looking at his eyes, I somehow understand his exhausted face, since I have mine right now. I may look vibrant and youthful, my mind says otherwise since I haven't caught up from my sleep.
I feel bad for Nickson for not having any makeup on his face. Everyone avoids staring at his figure because of his zombified eyes deadly glaring on space, as if thinking to himself in a cavernous trance. His eyeglasses do not help him cover his eye bags on his eyes, making him scarier than his usual look.
Roxy is the only girl who looks vigorous, as usual. She does not even put any makeup on, given how expensive these are from the stores. I keep offering her my set every time I place mine on, but she would always reject my offer and say, "I do not need that! Besides, you look prettier if you have one! Makeup does not suit me well, you know?"
"I will begin disclosing the official members of the student council in this Japanese International School!" Washi takes out another identical sheet that Byakko has and reads its contents out loud.
"The Council member who will serve as the voice to communicate the ideas from the student body to the council will be Yui Fujiwara!"
A short-haired, petite girl stands up from her seat and takes the paper away from his hands. She then gently bows at them as a sign of gratitude for choosing her in these selections.
"The Committee Chairperson is none other than Izumi Okona. He will be in charge of recruiting members, call and preside over meetings, inform officers of progress and problems, and delegate tasks to the committee and follow up with members to be sure they complete the plans."
The man wearing his cap walks towards the two student council former officers and grabs the paper from Washi. He reads what the former student council members have written on the note before taking his seat.
"The Student Body Report is the person who writes, edits, and submits stories about the Council to the school paper and local media. Niko Tsuji will also be the one to organise publicity for the Student Council meetings and events soon." Byakko is the one who announces her name and calls her forward to the desk.
A timid girl marches her way towards the erstwhile vice president, and as usual, takes the sheet and goes back to her seat.
The same event goes for the following students; namely Sota Koike as the Student Body Parliamentarian, Tomo Kai as the Historian, and Satoshi Akagi as our treasurer. Byakko and Washi meant the remaining slots for us three, and the moment we have been waiting for all this time.
Those remaining three spots are the Secretary, the Vice-President, and the president. According to the two former council members, being the president will have the most merits among the officers. The president will have a mystery prize soon announced by the school.
"I believe the two of you are exemplary students that can handle the pressure and become the leaders of our academy." Byakko scans our faces and walks closer to our direction, with her mouth curling upwards for a sneer.
"And I have seen your efforts and creativity by joining the competition. All of them were marvellous to read at," Washi utters and throws out the picture of Nickson and me on the poster, looking exhausted like a pair of overworked artists and authors.
I might have hit the nail right there.
"Without further ado, the secretary role goes to Yuki Leigh."
Byakko explains to me the secretary's job. This task includes: maintaining the student body files, prepare agendas for meetings, take and distribute minutes of meetings, represent the student body at the school district, civic functions, and other meetings as requested by the president, type the material for student body officers and committee chairpersons as needed, and sign all purchase orders.
"Pretty easy, right?" Byakko assures me and gives me a thumbs-up, knowing the grim future lies ahead of me.
I could only heave out a tired sigh after hearing the mind-boggling tasks of the secretary.
But that is not the end of my miseries. It just means that Nickson wins the presidential seat and becomes the leader of the student council.
The thought scares me, and it is distinctively showing on my body, still shaking from fear.
"The vice president will be Nickson Park since he is the most experienced person to become the right hand of the president among the rest of you." Washi pronounces and urges Nickson to come to him and grab the paper for his title.
However, the Korean guy is not that happy to hear the statement.
"Why am I not the president? I am the most suitable person for that seat, considering that I am the C-," Nickson cuts his sentences short and clicks his tongue in frustration.
"If you don't want to tell the entire class about it, then you better keep quiet, Nickson-kun," Byakko abruptly gives him a wink after saying such a sentence in a teasing manner.
I will be honest to myself that I wanted to hear what he was about to say to the two former student council members. But that is not important right now.
Byakko walks next to him and leans closer to his ear. She then whispers something to Nick and immediately withdraws to her position.
Nickson, now awakened from the disastrous events, could not help but grip his hands tightly into a fist. He must have felt down after hearing such words coming from Byakko earlier.
"There must be something that she had said that turned Nickson into this frenzied state!" I ponder to myself.
Byakko is the one who explains what the vice-president needs to do on the board. His goals are to represent the student body at the school district, civic events, and other meetings as requested by the president, coordinate the work of committees, and preside over Student Council meetings if the president is absent.
He will be the right hand of the president.
Nickson and I both stare at each other and have the same thought inside our heads. If we are not the president, then who is?
"Roxanne, you will be the president of the school."
My best friend stiffly stands on her ground and blinks her eyes in quick succession. She could not believe what she heard right now. Roxanne even asks me if I can pinch her body to confirm this event as reality and not a dream.
"I will gladly do so!" I raise my hand and give her the most agonising pinch of her lifetime, marking her thigh with my fingers.
"Your role as president is to: represent the student body at the school district and civic events and other meetings, coordinate interviews, selection, and function of the committee, supervise the elected officers, and develop the agenda for and preside over the meetings of the Student Council," Byakko concludes with the explanation of her job as president of our school.