This will be a story about three people. (Be sure to keep reading this chapter!)

When Tsukimi Jinguuji signed his name on the application form, Morino Hoshino finally revealed a satisfied smile, carefully putting it away.

"Jinguuji, I hereby announce that from this moment, you are officially a member of our student council."

"It's just provisional," the boy calmly corrected.

According to their agreement, after the culture festival, the workload of the student council would decrease, and if at that time Tsukimi Jinguuji wished to leave, Morino Hoshino would not stop him nor force him to join any other club.

Morino Hoshino laughed, "Don't worry about such details. Who knows, maybe you'll find the student council so enjoyable that you'll beg me to let you stay."

"The president certainly has a vivid imagination."

"Ah, that's why I'm president."

As they chatted, the door to the student council room was knocked on, and with a creak, a short girl appeared, leaning against the door frame, peering inside.

"BOSS, is the hypnosis app working? Did Jinguuji-senpai surrender?"

Morino Hoshino gave a confident smile and made an "OK" gesture.

Seeing this, the petite girl gathered her courage, swaggered into the room, and plopped down beside the boy.

"Yo! Yoru-shiku! Partner!"

Tsukimi Jinguuji silently gripped the crown of the girl's head.

"Ouch, ouch—it's breaking! My head feels like a watermelon on a summer beach, cracked open by pleasure-seeking college students with wooden bats! Broken—!"

Why the metaphor? And why so long?

"Jinguuji, forgive her, please. I went to a lot of trouble persuading her to join the student council," Morino Hoshino said.

Tsukimi Jinguuji quietly released her, and Yoyo Yagami, rubbing her head with tearful eyes, gave him a pitiful look. "Jinguuji-senpai looks frail, but how is he so strong?"

—Rewards earned from charming girls in the past.

He answered inwardly.

"Lots of training."

Yoyo Yagami immediately wiped away her tears, covering her mouth with one hand, glancing slyly sideways. "The ways a high school boy trains his grip are suspicious, you know—ouch, ouch!"

Her tears flowed again. This must be a talent, Jinguuji thought.

"Jinguuji," Morino Hoshino said helplessly.

"She shouldn't have provoked me."

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"Even so, you shouldn't be so rough with girls. I don't like boys who resort to violence."

"Honestly, I didn't use any strength. This one’s head is as hard as a rock."

"How rude! My head is clearly as soft as cotton candy!"

Tsukimi Jinguuji really couldn't understand why she compared her head to cotton candy.

Knock, knock—

"Sorry, I'm late."

The newcomer was Yamada Kanade, a first-year who served as the student council's accountant. He was timid and introverted, and Jinguuji thought of him as harmless.

Yamada glanced at Jinguuji and Yoyo Yagami sitting together and assumed Morino Hoshino had succeeded in persuading them, silently sighing in relief.

"Since everyone’s here, let’s all sit down," Morino Hoshino said, beginning to boil water with an electric kettle and retrieving tea leaves from the bookshelf.

Finally, she sat on the sofa, while the kettle hummed in the room.

"Before we start the meeting, I think everyone should introduce themselves. It’ll make our work easier in the future."

Everyone agreed and proceeded in turn. Jinguuji actually disliked such rituals, believing that just knowing names was enough.

Especially after he finished his introduction, Yoyo Yagami clapped enthusiastically, making it feel like an award ceremony for a hobby club. Morino Hoshino and Yamada Kanade joined in, smiling and applauding, leaving Jinguuji quite uncomfortable.

"Eh? Is your second name pronounced 'Runa'? It sounds like a girl's name. I thought it was 'Light,' like the guy who kills people with a notebook."

"Don't comment on other people's names. Be careful, or I’ll write yours in my notebook."

"How mean, writing my name in your notebook! Senpai, are you secretly in love with me?"

Tsukimi Jinguuji cracked his knuckles, threatening with a "clack-clack" sound.

"Sorry, I was wrong. Please forgive me."

What a fast surrender.

"Jinguuji's position is vice president—essentially my secretary," Morino Hoshino added with a smile.

"I'm the secretary, DESU!"

"I'm the accountant. Yagami, Jinguuji-senpai, please take care of me."

Overall, Yamada Kanade was the typical servant-type boy: excellent grades, easygoing personality, the kind who’d be mocked by girls as a bookworm and asked by boys to buy drinks at lunchtime.

Yoyo Yagami and Yamada Kanade were classmates, though they barely interacted.

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In class, Yoyo Yagami seemed almost like a mascot, and Jinguuji understood why just from her appearance.

As for Yamada Kanade, he was one of those ubiquitous types: academically outstanding, quiet, without a circle of his own. Every class had someone like him.

The sound of bubbling water grew louder. As president, Morino Hoshino rose to brew tea, serving hot milk to the petite secretary, then gently raised her teacup.

"Congratulations on the birth of our new student council."

She set down her cup, glanced at the three around her, patted her skirt, cleared her throat, and wore a gentle yet confident smile.

"I hereby declare the fifty-third term of Sakura High School's new student council—its first meeting.

Begins."

...

...

In the twilight, the long slope was dyed an elusive gold, singing of youth as boys and girls departed one after another, leaving only the ink-leaved cherry trees swaying in the wind, eternally rooted here.

"See you, senpai!"

"See you tomorrow, Jinguuji-senpai."

After his junior schoolmates bid him farewell, they left.

The boy walked slowly out of the school gates. The same deserted school, tinged with a slight apocalyptic dusk, made him feel oddly dazed.

Just days ago, he was the first to leave school; now, he was among the last. Truly, the world is unpredictable.

Walking down the empty slope, the autumn wind chilled him.

At the bottom, a girl bearing the same name as the cherry trees stood quietly beneath their branches.

Seeing him, she smiled brightly, but unlike usual, did not rush toward him—she simply waited as he walked down.

"What are you waiting for?"

"For you."

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