There were nine people, including myself, gathered at Amami-san's house.
Our usual group, Umi, Nitta-san and Nozomu, the Nitori-san and Houjou-san duo, Riku-san, Arae-san and Umi's classmate, Nakamura-san.
Everyone was currently inside the spacious living room. I was helping Eri-san with the meal preparation and Umi was by my side. Suddenly, Nakamura-san approached us.
It hadn't been long since I'd seen her, but she seemed to have gotten even taller.
"It has been a while, Maehara-kun. So, how has my favorite married couple been?"
"We aren't married yet… You're alone today, Nakamura-san?"
"Yeah. The other three were also invited, but we thought it would be too crowded if everyone were to go, so as their representative and as the candidate for the next student council president, here I am."
"You lost rock paper scissors, huh?"
"That's the gist of it, yeah."
Umi easily exposed her. There was something among her nonsense that caught my attention, though.
"You're running for the student council president, Nakamura-san? I thought you said you weren't interested in that kind of thing."
It was a while ago, so my memory was hazy, but I was sure she said that she wasn't interested. She was competent enough for the position, but she herself wasn't so keen on the role. As far as I'm aware, she wasn't a part of any committee.
Umi noticed my confusion and proceeded to explain what happened.
"Our homeroom teacher is the student council's advisor, but he's having trouble finding anyone in second year who wants to be on it. Nakamura-san and I are the only ones in the going-home club in our class, so he asked if either of us would be interested. I immediately turned him down."
The current student council president, Tomoo-senpai's term was ending this summer, so they had to find her successor before that. In our school, the student council operated the same way as the school clubs.
In other words, the current president would need to choose one of the second years in the student council and appoint that person as the next president. But according to Umi, it would be hard to do that this year.
Continuing Umi's explanation, Nakamura-san took over.
"You know how busy the current student council president is, right? During the summer vacation, she still has to go to school to prepare for the school festival and after that is over, she still has to work on the Christmas party. Our party last year was popular, so they said that we're going to hold another one this year… In any case, there's no time for her to relax…"
"We're going to hold another party this year? Woah."
"Shh, this is just between us, okay? It's still a secret. Also, another school will be hosting it this year, but we still have to lend them a hand."
Tomoo-senpai would still be around to help the newly appointed president, but that wouldn't cut their workload by a lot.
Seeing how busy the president was, the second year members of the student council saw the position as a minefield and were avoiding it with all their might.
There were benefits in becoming the president. You would be prioritized for university recommendations for example. But, realistically speaking, those benefits wouldn't help you much if you were aiming for a renowned university.
"Okay, I understand the situation now, but I still don't understand why you are so motivated about this… Ah, don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting you or anything, it's just that I didn't expect you to put yourself in the spotlight like this."
Umi nodded her head in agreement with me. It seemed that Umi also didn't know why she was so motivated about this.
In the first place, their homeroom teacher only approached them out of desperation. Like Umi, Nakamura-san could turn him down if she wanted to. Besides, there was no rule that the student council president had to be a second year, they could appoint a first year if it came to it. Nakamura-san also wasn't the kind of person to take the role out of pity for said teacher.
"Uh, I don't mind talking about it, but this isn't the time for spicy talk like that. Besides, everything is ready on that side, so let's start the party. C'mon, my favorite married couple, raise your glasses~"
"We aren't married yet! Jeez, stop making fun of us…"
"Haha, fine~ I'm going to make fun of another person then. I'll leave you two alone to flirt with each other to your heart's content~"
With that joke, she left us and entered the basketball players' circle, Nitori-san, Houjou-san and Arae-san's group.
I guess she had a reason to go for the presidency. In any case, it was a good thing. It would help Tomoo-senpai a lot. She could finally focus on studying for her exams now.
Well, let's think about that later. I had something to talk about with Umi.
"Sorry Maki, for not telling you about the whole student council affair until now…"
"It's fine, I'm just surprised, no harm done… When did your homeroom teacher ask you about this?"
"Just after the inter-class match, it was a while ago… Actually, the handover process is almost over, Nakamura-san will take over the position right after the summer vacation."
So, it was around the time when we were thinking about going on a trip.
"So, why didn't you tell me about this until now?"
"Um… I was thinking of telling you, but knowing you, if you knew that the President was in a bit of a bind, you'd definitely volunteer to help her. Don't even try to deny it, I know you feel indebted to her. You'd jump at the chance to help her at a moment's notice… I don't want that…"
"I guess, yeah… I wouldn't normally do that, but if Tomoo-senpai needed me… I'm in the going-home club too, so…"
I wouldn't do it for a stranger, but Tomoo-senpai helped me a lot last year and she was also Nozomu's older sister, so I would like to help her if she was really in trouble. Of course, I wouldn't offer myself to be the president, but I'd probably go as far as to join the council to help her out.
If Umi lets me, of course.
"If you were to help her, I'd be spending less time with you, but that doesn't really matter. I just didn't want you to force yourself to do things you disliked just to pay her back. As a student council member, you'd have to deal with a lot of things like school events or club activities. You'd also need to deal with a lot of people. Your kindness is a virtue, but you'll stress yourself out over every single thing if you join the council. I still haven't forgotten what happened last winter, you know?"
She was talking about the time when I was struggling with my family issues. I made a fool of myself in front of her and the rest of her family.
That ended well because it was what led to me confessing my feelings to her, and the Asanagis treated me well because of it. To me, it was a good memory overall, but for Umi, it was probably the opposite.
She was concerned about my physical and mental health, huh?
"I see… Thank you for keeping this a secret for me, Umi."
"This is when you should be angry with me… Stop being so sweet to me."
"I'm not going to get angry over something like that. More than my debt to Tomoo-senpai, more than anyone in this world, you're the most important person to me, Umi."
Even if Tomoo-senpai was in trouble, if helping her made Umi worry, I wouldn't step up to help her.
Besides, I wasn't all that capable anyway. If I were to volunteer, chances were I would mess up completely.
It would be better for me to dedicate all my effort towards making Umi happy instead.
As long as my precious girlfriend was smiling, nothing else mattered.
"Thank you for always worrying about me, Umi. Don't worry, I'll do my best to stop making you worry, so uh… Come closer, let me give you a big hug."
"Well, I'll take you up on that offer~ Hehe~"
Saying so, Umi gave me a mischievous smile and buried her face in my chest.
Yes, I wanted her to always smile like this. Her happiness was my happiness.
In the end, we did exactly what Nakamura-san was teasing us about. After a while, I felt some prickly gazes at my back.
"Hehe… Umi, Maki-kun… Are you guys done already? We're going to have a toast soon… Can you two hurry up?"
""…Sorry.""
After apologizing to the other attendees who laughed at us, we joined the group to toast.