"So as you may know now, this is the student council room. You should be spending most of your time here when helping out for the student council. Let me just show you the files that you will be handling."
Hiroyuki said as he opened up the overhead shelf filled budget files from past expenses, dating all the way back to the birth of the school.
Today is the day for Hiroyuki to guide Yuuna around the school. School just ended and it was a Saturday. Thus, allowing them to stay in school without the worry of waking up early tomorrow...
As if they were about to stay up that late in school.
But such is the mind of a high school student like Hiroyuki would think as he planned for the day.
They met in front of the clubhouse entrance and as they slowly ascend the stairs, he took the liberty to introduce Yuuna to the available clubs in the school. Yuuna listened attentively as she jotted down every detail Hiroyuki had said onto a handheld notebook.
Hiroyuki noticed the overly formal way she replied to him and how she would always keep a clear distance between them when they talked. She never tried to walk ahead of him nor did she tried to stand side by side with him. She was always behind him, keeping about three arms reach from him.
Hiroyuki was starting to see this as a problem as the students along the hallway gave them few glances of distress over how he looked like he was extorting a younger junior. However, Hiroyuki was too shy to tell her that. He was worried it would come off as rude to her, so he decided to brush it off for now.
That was until they reached the Student Council room. Where it was just the two of them. This time, Yuuna stood even further from him. Luckily for Hiroyuki, they were at least close enough to not need to shout to each other to catch each other's words properly. But regardless, even for a shy boy like Hiroyuki, it was starting to bug him.
"Here is the file you will be taking care of," Hiroyuki said as he closed off the shelf and placed two separate files onto the meeting table. "And this was last year's budget file. You can refer to it when you are in need of help."
"Noted with thanks, Kazama-senpai. I will take your words into heart." Yuuna said as she continued to write down the notes in her notebook.
Hiroyuki noticed she hadn't moved an inch since reaching the student council room. He also realized that Yuuna didn't even walk towards him to pick up the files.
Hiroyuki was thinking about why was she trying so hard to keep her distance. But instead of looking for a reason, Hiroyuki thought it would be better to just roll with it.
Hiroyuki picked up the files and placed them at the table closest to her. He took some glances over to Yuuna and to no surprise, made few steps away from him. After leaving them on the table, he then walked away and stood where he once initially was.
Yuuna noticed his considerate actions and grabbed the files. She then bowed and thanked Hiroyuki with a few words.
"Thank you so much."
It was then, Hiroyuki had the courage to finally speak his mind.
"Actually, Yuuna. You don't need to be so polite with me. If anything, everyone on the student council is on a first-name basis. Mr President doesn't really like how uptight everyone is. I'm just letting you know before he is the one to approach you."
"I-I insist. You are all my seniors after all. I can't just treat my seniors like that. That would be very disrespectful for me."
"It's totally fine, Sagawa-san, really. But if you are so worried about it, we are in no position to force you. But maybe you can start by calling Sora by her first name. She would be happy to hear you call her that."
"Koizumi-senpai? I don't know… she is quite famous, isn't she? It just doesn't sit right with me."
"Well, I guess I know where you are coming from. Everyone in the student councils is quite an individual, aren't they?"
Hiroyuki said as he looked out the window, engrossed in the view of the after school mood. As he was reminded by how everyone in the school was all elites, he then whispered to himself with few demotivated words.
"It really does make you feel like you don't belong, huh…"
"Did you say something, Kazama-senpai?" Yuuna said as she looked towards Hiroyuki.
"It's nothing," Hiroyuki said as he snapped himself out of his world. "Anyways, there is one more place I need to show you before we are done."
.
.
.
.
"This is the school field," Hiroyuki said as he brought Yuuna to the entrance of the school field.
There is a long flight of stairs down to reach the school field. The field was huge and could fit up to two football fields. And around the field was a track for the runners for both training and during competition.
Beside them were other fields such as a basketball court, an obstacle course and even more courts for track and field. And surrounding these fields were seats that were said to be able to fit ten whole schools of students.
As exaggerating as it sounds, it was starting to be considered normal to the students who studied in Niwa Mura High.
However, they were not here to be mesmerized by the size of the field, but to be prepared for what the field will be used for in the near future.
"There wouldn't be any events this semester other than the Parent's Day and school trip for the third years. But next semester's first event will be Niwa Mura High's Sports' Day."
"I see… You would even think as far as the next semester, huh… Kazama-senpai."
"Well, as members of the student council, we will be in charge of a lot of preparation for that day. So I thought it would be best to let you early."
"That's really thoughtful of you."
"Well… Especially me… But anyway, that will be your first major task, I guess."
"I think I'm starting to see why they said you will be very free this semester now, Kazama-senpai."
"Well, eventually everyone is going to think that and start throwing miscellaneous task to me one by one," Hiroyuki said as he thought about all the lousy chores he will need to do in the near future.
Hiroyuki noticed that Yuuna had started giggling as he finished his retort. Hiroyuki also noticed that Yuuna wasn't keeping as large of a distance with Hiroyuki and was comfortably just within an arms reach beside him. He thought to himself that even despite all her effort to keep her distance, Yuuna could drop down her guard sometimes.
Hiroyuki also thought about how cute her laughter was and also how their conversation went on quite smoothly.
"Well, I guess that's it. That concludes today's tour. If there is anything else you need to know, don't hesitate to contact the student council. Well… maybe everyone except Jin."
"Ehehe. I'll remember to write that down too."
"Well, you don't have to go that far."
As the both of them exchange another laughter, Yuuna bowed her head and thanked Hiroyuki.
"Thank you for the tour, Kazama-senpai. I promise to repay your kindness you showed today one day."
"Don't sweat it. Be careful on your way back."
With another exchange of bows, Yuuna went on her way to the school entrance. However, as Hiroyuki was about to head back to the student council room to grab his bag, he noticed something fell off from Yuuna's pocket. He quickly grabbed the object and hastily called out to Yuuna by tapping on her shoulder.
"Ah! Sagawa-san, you dropped this…"
"Eeeek!"
Yuuna immediately jumped as soon as Hiroyuki tapped her on her shoulder. She then slipped off the ground as she lost her balance from the jump. She was about to hit the floor, back first.
"Ah! Careful!"
Hiroyuki shouted as he quickly went behind her and hugged her backpack while holding onto her waist with his hands. Hiroyuki had his eyes closed the moment he held onto the bag, bracing for impact. However, he was surprised and relieved to know that he managed to stay on balance as Yuuna was a rather petite girl.
As soon as he opened his eyes he noticed he had come nose to nose with Yuuna's face. He was staring directly into her eyes as Yuuna was also staring back at his.
Many thoughts flowed into Hiroyuki's mind. He thought about the lavender smell that was most likely coming from the conditioner she probably had used for her hair. He thought about how his reflection can be seen on Yuuna's glittering eyes. He thought about how the edge of his fringe was kissing Yuuna's lips. He thought about how their nose was close to rubbing against each other.
Hiroyuki thought about many things.
However, Yuuna only thought about one thing.
Yuuna immediately pushed Hiroyuki away and kept an even larger distance from Hiroyuki as soon as she caught onto the situation she was in. She was blushing from ear to ear as she hid her face with her hands and braids.
Hiroyuki, who was now sitting on the floor, thanks to the push, was still stunned by the incident. It didn't take long for him to quickly snapped out of it and called out to Yuuna about the main reason he called out to him.
"You dropped this…" Hiroyuki muttered as he raised his hands, revealing the object he was holding on to.
Yuuna quickly noticed it. She took small but quick steps towards Hiroyuki and nabbed the object from his hands. After affirming that it was hers, she bowed and ran away just as quickly, without a word.
Hiroyuki was still shocked by the incident. His heart was pumping non-stop and he couldn't stop thinking about the moment that he came face to face with her. But it wasn't for long though as a snap of a twig caught his attention.
He looked around to find where the sound was coming from. But before he could confirm its general direction, he quickly noticed that he was still sitting on the concrete floor. He looked around to make sure he did not embarrass himself in front of any wondering students. He then quickly got up and walked away from the scene with only a single word coming out of his mouth.
"Yuuna."
.
.
.
.
"Man, that was close."
I said as I hid behind a wall of the school's classroom building. If I was any second later, I would have been found out by Hiroyuki.
I didn't mean to stalk their tour but as I was about to leave the anime club, I happen to stumble upon Hiroyuki and Yuuna as they made their way to the school field. I was interested and also worried about him so I went to see how it went.
However, I wasn't alone as I came along with another friend of mine as she too was interested in their little get-together.
"Well, there is another thing that is 'close' right now."
I turned to realize that apparently, I had come face to face with the other 'stalker', Shiori 'Shidoni' Tanaka. It had seemed while I hurriedly tried to conceal my presence from Hiroyuki, I had accidentally gone into a 'kabe-don' position with Shidoni. Before I could leave my arm off her and apologize to her, she took the advantage to play a little gag with me.
"S-Senpai... I need to prepare my heart for this… but if you insist on it so much, I'm willing to offer you myself…"
"Really?" I said as I lift my arm and tidied my uniform. "You know even for me that seemed too far fetched."
"Pfft… I know, right? But did I perhaps made your heart skip a beat like Hiroyuki's?"
"Yes, you did. Now my heart is beginning to beat for you."
"Really?!"
"Just kidding."
"You bully…"
As we were finished with our usual retorts, we turned our backs against the wall and leaned against it as we pondered about the incident that happened before us.
"Well, I guess we can be sure that there is some sort of chemistry going on between those two," Shidoni said as she hummed to the tune of the song that the light music club played on the way here.
"I won't say the same for Yuuna but I'm pretty sure even a dense guy like Hiroyuki would fall for her in that situation."
"So what do you plan on doing then, senpai?"
I close my eyes and thought deeply about it. At least that was what I was trying to look like from the other person's perspective. I was just mimicking an anime character I saw last night. As soon as the timing was right, I quickly opened my eyes and spoke in a loud voice.
"I'm going to get them together!"
"You say that but you have no idea, don't you…"
"Well, guess you got me there. Nevertheless, I guess the best thing I can do now is to just get back home and cheer him up."
"I see," Shidoni got back to her feet and tidied up her uniform. As she placed her left hand into her jacket's pocket, she waved at me and said her farewell. "Well, good luck and see you next week, senpai!"
"Wait a minute, don't you move a step. I would like to talk to you about that video you made. What do you mean by 'It was all my idea'."
"Whoops, would you look at the time, it's time for Shidoni's 'Run for your Life' segment. And it starts now."
"Come back here, woman! Or so help me, I'll end your tuber career before you got the chance to start it!"