Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

Chihiro moved from the backstage area of the gymnasium and stood on the stage.

Below him, about 200 students of Shibahou Academy were standing in a row, looking at Aika, who stood diagonally behind him and him.

Thump!

Immediately, his heart starts to beat fast and he can't control it.

He was fine at the MissCon because he was in "Chisato mode" and there were only a few people.

Well, in fact, he is always nervous when he stands in front of others.

（Shall I take your place, Nii-san?）

Although Chihiro was not so good at this kind of thing herself, he still answered his sister kindly.

（No, it's fine. I must do this）

He takes a light breath to calm himself down a little.

Suddenly, he saw a figure standing at a distance behind the row of students.

A young woman with her long hair tied up with an elastic band and her ample breasts fitting snugly into a suit. She is Suzu, who has returned to work at the school.

When their eyes meet, she smiles and waves at him.

She is probably in a state of [Cognitive Obstruction], judging from the fact that the other students don't notice her. The fact that she took the trouble to come visit him made him feel strangely grateful.

Besides, Aika was by his side.

Offstage were Maria, Riko, Hana, Yotsuba.

Lucille, Marika, and Ayase were also there. Before the performance, he received warm words of encouragement from them: "I won't forgive you if you fall,""Don't worry," and "Stay calm".

「I am Izumi Chihiro from class C of the first year. I am currently running for the vice president of the student council」

As soon as he started talking, his head cooled down and, strangely enough, he didn't make any major mistakes.

He talks about how he had been helping the student council since the preparation stage of the school festival, how he was recommended by Lucille to run for the vice president, and how he would like to support the president if elected, without any eccentricity.

Despite some impatient comments from the students like "Chisato-chan~," he managed to finish his speech and passed the baton to Aika.

「I am Takatsuki Aika from Class C of the first year, supporting Izumi-kun. When I first entered the school, I thought Izumi was an inconspicuous child」

Aika shared her personal experience of Chihiro's life with the students.

They know each other well because they have practiced with each other. The content was easy to understand, not only in terms of praise, but also in terms of frank opinions.

After a short speech of a few minutes each, they bowed.

As they returned to the backstage with applause from the students, the first feeling of relief came over.

「Good job, both of you!」

Lucille, who had already finished her speech for the presidential election, came up to them.

She turned her body in front of Chihiro and the others, turned her face away from them and shouted.

「Well, it wasn't so bad, was it? You should be confident」

「Thank you」

She has a sharp mouth, or rather, she makes fun of Chihiro in some way, and she doesn't mean to offend him. Chihiro knew that, so he smiled and thanked her for her kindness.

Lucille, on the other hand, scratched her cheeks in a bad mood and then changed the subject.

「I mean, Takatsuki-san, right? You do some pretty amazing things, don't you?」

「Amazing thing?」

Chihiro and Aika both look at each other and tilt their heads.

"But the speech was a very reasonable one," Chihiro thought.

「You see, it must be torturous for the guys who don't have girlfriends to be told in detail how you two met from the beginning, isn't it?」

「...ah」

Aika moaned and her cheeks flushed.

Well, that's certainly one way to think about it.

Chihiro felt embarrassed, too, because some of the points made sense to him.

（Hahaha. But Nii-san and Aika-anesama have been in love with each other for a long time）

（I wonder how much people outside of 1-C think so...）

Chihiro has been a little too conspicuous since winning the school festival, or rather the Miss Contest.

Well, it's okay that "Chisato mode" has been settled with some strange looks and some jokes, but making flirtations with his girlfriend publicly might cause some jealousy.

「It's no use worrying about it now. It's not important」

「Even though it doesn't matter」

「Having a girlfriend or dressing up as a woman won't change your job, will it? If they don't understand that, just leave them alone」

It was a very Lucille word.

Thinking this, Chihiro looked at Ayase who was chatting with Marika. Naturally, "she" is wearing a girl's uniform, and he can only admire "her" guts.

Yes, that's right. In the first place, Ayase has been an officer of the student council for a year.

It may be no use to be really worried about it.

The speeches by the secretary, general affairs, and accountant continued without delay.

Furthermore, speeches related to the public morals committee were also delivered.

After all the speeches were done, the students disbanded and went to their classrooms for the voting process.

Chihiro approached Aika while confirming that the students moved out one after another.

「Then, let's go back」

「Yes. Chihiro-kun, you can come back with us, right?」

「It'd be a problem if you participate in the vote count, you know」

Not Chihiro, but all the candidates.

Although it is not expected that anyone would tamper with the votes, the candidates do not participate in the vote counting in order to promote the "fair election".

Therefore, the class representatives collect the votes from each class, and after the votes are collected in a separate room, it is the turn of the volunteers. Students who are not directly involved in either the student council or the public morals committee are divided into two teams to open the ballots, count them, and announce the results.

The announcement will be made by the school announcement system.

Candidates will be in their classrooms, waiting for the results with a sense of excitement.

「Yo, Izumi, good job!」

「That was pretty cool!」

In the classroom, he was approached several people. Though, most of the students were still focused on Maria and Kamishiro.

Anyway, the ballots were distributed quickly by Maisaka's initiative.

（So, I vote for myself, huh...?）

（Oh, then, may I write it? ）

That might be a good idea, he thinks, and surrenders his body to Chisato.

「Fufu」

With a slight hum, Maria giggles as she sits next to him. Then Chisato begins to write the words on the paper.

『Confidence』 (*Note: vote of confidence)

Those are the only words written in Chihiro's column.

He was wary of a feint of adding the word "No", but in the end, it did not occur.

Chisato wrote "Confidence" in everyone's column, and folded the paper in two.

Perhaps because it was an easy task, Chisato looked rather regretful.

（Geez. Don't worry, I'm not mean to you. That's rude）

（Sorry, sorry. I'm anxious and all this stuff just popped into my head）

Maisaka takes the collected forms and comes back to the office.

『We will now announce the results of the voting for the Student Council Officers and the Public Morals Committee Members』

Here it comes.

Chihiro felt both "It will be all right" and "Just in case" at the same time.

『Lucille Orwell-san elected as the President of the Student Council』

Naturally, Lucille was elected.

Chihiro's announcement comes next in the order.

The format in which the candidates are carefully announced one by one makes his heart palpitate faster.

『Izumi Chihiro-kun elected as the Vice president of the student council』

"Oh," said the class.

When Maria, Hana, and Kamishiro were subsequently elected, there was so much noise that there was no need to listen any longer.

Everyone congratulated each other, and Chihiro was also squeezed by the momentum.

（Fufu. Congratulations, Nii-san）

（Thank you, Chisato）

While answering Chisato's congratulations, Maisaka raised his voice amidst the clamor.

「Izumi, do you dress up as a woman when you work for the student council?」

「No!」

This signaled a burst of laughter in the class.