By A Slight Mistake

A lost girl can be seen crying in the darkness.

The reason behind her tears is she’s attempting to run away from her painful and scary memories, but by doing so, she has lost her way back home.

As she searches for someone to help her to find her, alas, no one can be found.

Having lost her way in the darkness, she crouches down and begins to weep.

The lost girl has realized that she’s now lost in the darkness.

Suddenly, the girl stops crying and begins to get up.

She shes shows signs of looking for something and begins to run one more.

No, not that way!

Come over here!!

A voice cries out but falls upon deaf ears.

Where you should belong is over here, not there.

“Mizuki……”

Wrapped around in a soft and warm feeling, I begin to awaken.

“……hmm……”

Reflected in my field of vision was my uniform jacket.

As I begin to stir around, tears can be felt running down my checks.

It seems the little girl that was crying was Mizuki.

“Have you awakened yet?”

A familiar voice calls out to me.

“Huh? Hayate? Was I……asleep?”

It appears that I have been using my arm as a pillow when I fell asleep.

As I’m tilting my head around, I examine the scenery around me.

The Libary.

I wonder if I fell asleep like that.

“Mizuki, why are you crying?”

Hayate, who has now stood up, comes to my side and reaches his hand out and places it upon my check.

He traces his fingertips below my eyes in an attempt to wipe away my tears away.

It appears that Hyayte is not wearing his coat for his in white vest can be seen.

“Crying……?”

“Are you still sleepy?”

“Hayate, the touch of your hands feels so warm and comforting.”

“…………so you’re awake now.”

Hayate let out a deep sigh and cupped my cheeks with his broad palms.

“I’m awake now. I was dreaming of a lost girl.”

“Dreaming?”

“Yes. There was a crying girl. She was lost and couldn’t find her way back home.”

Even though I wanted to reach out to her, I couldn’t. (TN: Probably wrong)

“I see. I hope she finds her way back home soon.”

“Yes, so do I.”

Resting my cheek against Hayate’s palm, I close my eyes and shake off the remnants of my dream, and change my facial expression.

“By any chance, have I kept you waiting?”

“No. You were unusually sleepy, were you tired?”

“I don’t think so? It just I’ve grown tired of the current situation. Ah, but I do hope the elections come to an end soon.”

“Indeed. That was beginning to become annoying. There is no need for Mizuki to stand out in the open like that. It’s unjustifiable when they force their agendas upon someone unwilling.”

It seems the overprotective Hayate spurns the current student council president and Ninomiya senpai as they only impose their demands upon me.

After all, for everyone, the world seems to revolve around them.

When someone has the mentality that they’re the center of the world, they tend to respond differently to outside stimuli; some chose to acknowledge it while others reject it.

Occasionally, instead of themselves, they place someone else in the center of their world.

Like a little star, they orbit their sun believing that this will bring purpose towards their life.

For me, the center of my world is Mizuki, not myself.

Dare I say, I’m more akin to a comet than a star.

A mere fragment of memory passing by that’s soon to burn out.

I will one day have to return this world to the little girl who is currently lost.

No one but me is aware of this truth.

The deception and betrayal I have done so far, I don’t regret doing so.

No matter what I have to sacrifice, as long as my wish comes true, that’s all that matters.

Just a bit longer, and soon everything will be taken care of, but despite all this, Mizuki still can’t be found.

Hayate’s palm, which has been touching my check, gently begins to move.

“You’re a bit hot. Do you have a fever?”

Placing the back of his hand against my forehead, he checks my temperature.

“Maybe its because I just woke up. It’s not exactly the season to catch a cold.”

“I hope you’re right; it’s just that you haven’t fully recovered yet. It’s always best to take caution of such matters.”

“You’re so overprotective!”

“Call it what you will! It’s just that I’m terrified of Mari-sama.”

“………………I completely understand. I share the same sentiments, as well.”

Once the name of my eldest sister is brought up in conversation, you can’t help but agree.

She’s truly a terrifying Empress.

“Come on time to go home, Mizuki.”

“Yes.”

I put the books away and exit the library.

Walking side by side, we walk through the campus, now left with a sparse amount of people.

“Hayate.”

“Yes.”

“The fish have been caught in the net.”

“I see. The question is, which net were they caught in.”

Once Ookami heard that he was to become a secretary, he began to concern himself in which faction Hayate was in.

“Did the fish swim into the net themself or was the net thrown in front of them.”

It seems we won’t find out until the next student council president has been decided upon.

As for myself, I could care less about which net they have fallen for.

The only response I felt from Ookaime when we conversed earlier was that he was not ready to make a move seriously.

Perhaps he’s unwilling to move as he felt that his plan would be counter before it was set in motion.

“The real problems lie once the second year starts……”

I nod silently towards Hayate’s words that he muttered quietly.

There are only a few more days left until election day.

With that in mind, I left the school building and got into the car that came to pick me up.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

The next day, I heard that Ookami declared in front of all the other candidates that he would only become a secretary if he were to be under Ninomiya senpai.

This news has been spreading around all morning; you could hear voices everywhere talking about it.

“You’ve got us.”

The encirclement of girls I’ve had around me dispelled a while ago; thus, the student council president Toudou could be found at my desk talking to me with a wry smile.

“I’ve done nothing. There isn’t a good enough reason for me to make a move; besides, I’m the type that would rather stay on the sidelines.”

“You were that one that made Ookami move, weren’t you?”

“Do you honestly believe that I could persuade him. Ookami moves for no one, for he is his person and moves at his own will.”

“……Are you speaking the truth?”

Today as well, his beautiful baritone voice could be heard.

A baritone voice is enjoyable, but if you just want to get lost to the sound, a bassy voice is preferable.

It is quite rare to find someone with a low pitched voice in Japan.

The most common of such voices is the tenor.

A husky voice is attractive in its own way, but I still prefer a mellow voice that’s rich in volume.

“Even so, why won’t you accept my offer?”

“As I mentioned earlier, there is no incentive for me to do so. If there’s going to be needles conflict, I’ll have no choice but to crush the source of the problem, won’t ?.”

“……well, that is certainly true.”

With a sigh, the president agrees.

“I would have never foreseen that with just a few words the chaos that it would ensue.”

It appears that Toudou-senpai believed the words I told him that by me refusing to get involved, it caused a chain reaction that has lead to the current uproar.

If it were to be viewed by an outside perspective without a doubt, it would appear to be true.

The first-year girls began to move in order to protect me; thus, the student council president wasn’t allowed to approach the hallway, let alone the classroom.

Ninomiya-senpai’s campaign, which should have been just a matter of taking it easy as the leading candidate changed drastically, forced into a position where it was extremely difficult to win votes caused him to fall into an inferior position.

To add insult to injury, a couple of second-year students began to run as well, further damaging his position.

Generally, only one or two candidates should have been running, but this year six candidates were running; there was even a first-year student.

Usually, they wouldn’t have a chance to acquire any votes towards themselves, but by appealing to the students that disliked the current student council, they were able to win some votes.

If a person is aware of their responsibilities and can play on one’s emotions, they can appeal to those with a righteous heart that it’s the right thing to do to participate in the management of the next student council.

Furthermore, they then informed them of their respective advocacies.

Ninomiya-senpai, the successor of the current student council president Toudou, only made the appeal that he would take over Todo-senpai’s will.

He neglected to say what he was going to do, only saying that he was going to install me after him, thus for a while, his reputation fell.

I heard that he is now giving substantial information on what he’ll do, but I, who have decided to vote for a candidate other than Ninomiya-senpai, have no intention of reversing my decision even if I were to hear it.

“…………”

I had a feeling that something would happen, but I could have never anticipated the current situation were currently in.

If only I were aware of the influence, the words I’ve spoken would carry.

“It can’t be helped I’ll give up on you this time since I’m about to graduate. I don’t want us to part on bad terms.”

Smiling gently, the student council president Toudou drops his gaze to look at me.

“I’ll be waiting for your arrival at the university. Next time I won’t let you go so easily.”

Having said that, the student council president Toudou heads back to his classroom.

I’m sorry.

I’m not planning on moving up to the university division; instead, I plan on going to an external national university.

What I want to study isn’t available to me here at the university.

Unable to tell him, I watch his retreating figure as he walks away.