Thanks to the turn of events, Hiroyuki and Yuuna's relationship was mended. In fact, their bond was strengthened as they slowly grew closer.
Yuuna was no doubt still closer to Ms Secretary of the student council than any of the other members, but there was a clear difference in how she treated Hiroyuki than the rest of the members. The student council were more than happy to know that their worries were all solved as the student council could finally move forward. Despite the obvious hierarchy and favouritism in how Yuuna treated each of the student council members, there were no complaints as it did not disrupt their workflow in any way.
Hiroyuki did bring up the issue as to why Yuuna treated them differently. Yuuna described that it might take some time as Kazue and Yusuke felt like they were a fearsome, untouchable bunch due to their popularity and social standings in the school. While as for Jin, she just described it as someone that she just won't be able to get along with just as well as Hiroyuki.
Hiroyuki explained that those two weren't the type to choose their friends based on their social standings and that he was willing to help her approach them in the coming days. As for Jin's case, he was willing to accept her reasoning as an answer.
Of course, things got better as days passed. She was able to converse comfortably with the rest of the student council members with the help of Hiroyuki. It may have taken longer for Yuuna to get used to Jin's antics but eventually, she was in a comfortable spot among the student council.
Of course, their relationship had advanced to the point that they would meet outside of the student council. Hiroyuki was able to help Yuuna in her studies despite their difference in grades, but because of Hiroyuki's position as a 2nd-Year student, he was somehow able to teach her things that the teacher wasn't able to.
They apparently shared a lot of common interest too. Like how they were both fans of K-Pop. They also had similar taste in fashion as they would also meet up outside of school time and walked around the neighbourhood to look at the latest fashion trends.
Eventually, Yuuna was in a position where she was willing to introduce her best friend to Nobuo. Her best friend was a girl named Keiko Royama who was in the same class as her.
She was as equally nerdy looking as Yuuna with her braided ponytail and equally large glasses. She was taller than Yuuna and was almost about to give Hiroyuki a run for his money in terms of height. However, she was a gentle, soft-spoken girl and overall a very gentle person.
Jin, however, popped in on Hiroyuki one day with his usual remarks and described Keiko to actually be cuter than Yuuna given the right get-up.
Anyways, their usual duo trips had become a trio combo and Hiroyuki thought it was the right time to introduce his best friend to Yuuna. And in came Nobuo to balance the boy-girl ratio. Be it for better or for worse, the social group was a livelier one.
Despite not being able to meet too often outside of school, it didn't stop them from spending time alone. And it could be because of that, the whole school had picked up on their relationship and rumours began to spread like mad across the school's social media. Eventually, it became the hottest topic among the students and teachers.
Everyone in the school started to talk about how these two could be the new couple of the year as last year's reward was given to Kazue who was dating the Head Librarian of Niwa Mura High.
Be it the rumours to be a good omen or a bad one, it never stopped them from meeting up.
As the semester was nearing its end and the first semester's test drew closer, Hiroyuki and Yuuna would spend their time in the library for a study session. Their conversations were little but they would do whatever they could to keep the chemistry going by having small talks. Eventually, their little study session in the library became their usual get-together location.
There was one day during their little get-together in the library where they were interrupted by Nobuo and Shiori's arrival. Shiori and Yuuna hit it off almost immediately as Shiori was the kind of person to make friends quickly.
While as for Nobuo, he couldn't stop teasing Hiroyuki's popularity in front of Yuuna. However, Yuuna didn't mind at all and even joined in on the teasing. Hiroyuki was blushing like mad and hid his face in embarrassment but was also happy to know that Yuuna was having fun. Their little giggling eventually burst into outright waves of laughter. It was then the head librarian had to come in and disrupt their fun.
She tried to shut them off and threaten them about how she would kick them out if they made any more noise in the library and should take their love talk somewhere else. However, Nobuo wouldn't stop escalating the situation by teasing her about how she had once used her position as the head librarian to eloped with Kazue in the library.
It was so bad that it caught the attention of all the students in the library and the library was eventually out of control. Each corner of the library would be a student who would join in on the fun. The head librarian blushed like mad and eventually gave up on them and told them to do as they wish.
Everyone began to cheer and eventually it became an incredible memory for the students present and a topic to be remembered on the school's social media. It was a special day as it happened during the time when the tests were approaching. Thanks to it, all the students of Niwa Mura High had diverted their attention to the incident and eventually forgotten about the exam week that was approaching.
Days went on and it was exam week...
And it was over in a flash just as quickly.
As spring break draws nearer, the day of their exam results were out. Hiroyuki and Nobuo were looking for their names among the 200 students that were placed on a bulletin board below the classroom building.
After noticing how the rest of the student council members taking their usual top spots in the list, Nobuo and Hiroyuki were happy to know their names were safely placed in the middle of it all. With a fist bump shared by the two, spring break came.
.
.
.
.
"Seems like things are going great between you and Sagawa-san, huh?"
I said as Hiroyuki and I chilled by the balcony, enjoying the coming spring that was about to hit the town. With a cola in our hands, we were living the good life as high school students.
"Well, Yuuna and I are going to spend our spring break around town. So, yeah, things are going great."
"Whoa! Since when you two are on a first-name basis, you smooth animal?" I nudged him with my elbow as he laughed it off while pushing my arm away.
"Nah, I just had the privilege to call her by her first name. She still refused to call me by my first name though. She only recently got comfortable with calling Sora by her first name. So, it's still going to take some time."
"Well, it wouldn't be long till you are going to confess to her, isn't it?"
"Well, baby steps," Hiroyuki said as he smiled with his eyes memorized by the star-filled night sky.
The past semester went by in a flash and it only felt like it was only recently that Hiroyuki had that dumb dream. I was genuinely glad that our lives were filled with so much fun.
Hiroyuki had always been a rather dull kid. Sure he was kind and overall, just a very nice guy. But he wasn't the type of person to express many emotions. That was until recently of course when the student council had their latest addition.
Hiroyuki wouldn't shut up about his day with her. He would go on and on about what they did in great detail to me. Well, it wasn't as if I was annoyed at all, in fact, I was very much interested in what they had done.
In fact, my memories might have been playing tricks with me as it was more likely that I was the one to bug him to spill the beans.
Nevertheless, he was happy to brag about it.
In all my time as his friend, I have never seen him this full of emotion. I never saw him as a very interesting person until recently. I always saw him as a friend I would love to hang out with and joke around with. I tried to tease him a lot and force him to say those catchphrases he spoke a lot of unconsciously. It was fun for me but I never thought for a moment if it was fun for him.
I wanted to be his light in every way. I want him to look back to this day and remember it to be a great time in his life. As he attends college, university, out of the country to work and find love, I want him to look back and just say those three simple words.
"I had fun."
Sure it was wishful thinking and maybe I was thinking about myself only. But I want to at least make life interesting for him. I want him to think back and remember the fun things we had done, the dumb things we did and all the troubles I put him in.
Like how we played football right before a big exam…
Like how we talked about an anime that was definitely not aimed for middle schoolers.
Like how I made him get in trouble by having his phone taken away by the teacher when he tried to show me something.
I wish I was that sort of friend to him.
I wish I was a friend to him.
I want to be that sort of friend.
I want to be a friend.
He had the pleasure to join the student council, to fall in love and most of all had lots of fun during his time here. For me, I was busy finding a place where I belong, finding the right girl even though I was jumping ships left and right but most importantly, trying to find the fun I was looking for.
I thought that even if I couldn't have that happiness, I was hoping I could find that happiness for him.
Don't you see, Hiroyuki? It's not that I want to tease you, it's that I don't want you to regret not being able to have that life during your high school. I don't want you to regret not having a fun time. To do that, I did as much dumb shit as I could do to get you in trouble, to get you to experience being caught by the teacher and most of all, to get you to become the main character of your own story.
I want you to just look back and just think…
Hey… I guess that happened… It was fun.
Hiroyuki...
If I can't be the main character in my story…
At least...
I want you to be the main character in my story.
All in all...
I was jealous of you.
From here on, everything is just wishful thinking.
"Hey, Nobuo."
"Hm?"
"Thanks."
"I didn't do that much, you know?"
"You did enough."
"Well, I'm glad to be of help."
Hiroyuki's phone rang as soon as I finished my sentence. It was a message and according to the special ringtone he had set for a specific person, it was easy to tell who it was from.
"Ms Treasurer?"
"Yeah."
"What did she say? Go out with me?"
I said jokingly as I continued to sip every last drop of cola from the can. However, Hiroyuki didn't reply to me at all, instead, he showed me the message on his phone directly.
Before I had a glance on the phone, I noticed Hiroyuki's mood sank. I was prepared for the worse as I looked down on his phone and read the message aloud.
"I'm sorry, Hiroyuki. But let's not hang out anymore."