Our Duty

Almost as soon as he told the treasurer he'd accept. Arata was already regretting his decision. It's not that he didn't want to go through with it. More like standing face-to-face with Misei again made him feel beyond anxious.

"Hello vice president, p-president." As the other boy was revealing his replacement, he could only meekly greet them.

"Kashimura?" Misao didn't try to hide her surprise. "Why exactly did you choose him? I thought I told you to get Yogi Aono instead." So even during this time, she was supporting her friend. Arata was impressed.

"Well I did ask him, but unfortunately, he's already promised another club he'd help them out first." He remembered that, what club was it again? The light music club? What even is light music anyway?

"I guess that's fine then, but what made you believe his seatmate would've made for a good second choice?" Misei asked. He felt a little bad, not being referred to by name despite standing in the middle of the conversation.

"But, aren't you the one who recommended him?" She did? It wasn't what he'd be expecting.

"I did no such thing." She denied it.

"You can't honestly be referring to that." Misao followed up.

"What are you all talking about?" He might've been the subject matter, but everything they were talking about was flying over his head.

"He's talking about the other day when he asked about you."

"Yeah, I asked her what she thought of you. She just responded with 'he's good at math'." Arata waited for more to follow, but it was clear he was finished.

"And?"

"That's it, that's all she said." It should've been obvious that she didn't have much opinion, at least open, about Arata. Yet this boy over here honestly took that to mean she knew why he was asking and gave a recommendation. "That's all I needed to know if you could be a replacement."

"Sure…" He wanted to express more disdain for that answer, but he didn't want to be disrespectful. "Doesn't matter either way, I accepted. Unless the President doesn't want me to."

"You're free to help." She quickly answered, sharp in her tone. "Just don't mess it up." She turned and walked away from them.

By the time of the meetings to be done, Arata had already been informed of what his job was to be. It was mainly balancing and keeping track of the funds being sent to each respective club. As well as taking notes of what happened for the treasurer when he got back to stay up-to-date.

Unfortunately for him, despite the plan being to use this for opportunities to talk to her again. Any chance he took, she basically turned him down. If he pretended to ask for help, she's just defer to Misao. Any questions, Misao. At this point, he was stuck hanging out with the vice president more than anyone else this week.

While he may not have a problem with her, that wasn't his goal. Right now, it appeared that this barrier between him and Misei was not going to be broken anytime soon. Then again, should he even want that? It's not like they were friends, yet for some reason. Yet, Arata just felt bad that things were the way they were. Why?

He was feeling like this was a waste of time once the meetings started. Arata sat by her, as clubs came in to state their case for what was necessary for funding. As promised, he took notes, and spoke up to give attention to what had already been given, and what was left.

Things were going well on the job front. Nothing had been an issue for them and clubs were generally pleased with what they got. As long as they had been reasonable, he didn't think that they'd get cut short.

On the other front, it wasn't like he was expecting to get a lot of time to talk to her personally. It's just that doing it like this, he couldn't stop thinking about it. By the time they got their first break, he was planning on trying again. That is, until Misao pulled him aside.

"What do you need?" He asked, as they stepped out of the room.

"What are you trying here?" She confronted him.

"I thought it'd be obvious…" He answered her. "I just want to get on better terms with the president, is that a problem."

"Well no, of course it isn't." She said. "I think I speak for all of us, that we prefer it when you two are on good terms." She told Arata that he wasn't the only one that had been asked about this. Yogi, Misei, even Erina tried convincing her to speak with him again. Yet for some reason, she told them that she just couldn't. Why, she didn't explain.

"Sheesh, if that's how she feels. Maybe I can't do anything about this." Getting mad at him, sure he could live with that. But he didn't say anything out line, did he? He was upset for certain, however, he could've easily been much more harsher to her.

"So you'll give up then?"

"Of course now, making enemies with the school president. That's a pretty bad idea, I'd rather just try to get on her good side." He told her.

"That's a rather convenient thing, isn't it?" Convenient? That wasn't the word he'd use to describe his plan.

"And that means?"

"I already told you before. You always try to rationalize everything you do with logic." Arata couldn't deny that, but wasn't it the best way to make choices? "It must be easy, convincing yourself why you do anything is because it's for the best."

"Sure, but what does that…"

"Because that means you don't have to worry about your feelings."

"Huh?"

"You said you chose to no longer bother with people any longer." With what she knew, there was no way the normal Arata would ever accept this job. Not unless there was something to benefit him, usually a cash reward. "So then why do this then?"

"I already told you, because she's the school president. I don't want to be on bad terms with her."

"Is that really what's going on in your mind? Or are you just saying it, so you don't have to face the truth?" He felt cornered, not knowing how to respond to this accusation. His silence told her what she need to hear for know. Misao walked past him to reenter the room. It left him speechless.

Without any choice, he followed back inside with her. After all, there as still work to be done. People were expecting them. Business was back as usual.

It was an odd feeling though. Unlike with Misei, he didn't feel any tension between himself and Misao, despite her harsh words. It didn't feel like she was mad at him, but frustrated. Perhaps she said it like that, so he would listen to her words.

Was she right that he was just trying to not worry about his feelings? Thinking about it now, he really did try to downplay his actions. When Yurisa was missing, it was because it was a missing little girl. With Erina, he was doing it because of blackmail.

Except for that time at the hospital, when he told her she didn't have to donate blood. That might've not been the logical choice at all. Especially with someone's life on the line. What he felt then, guilt, that was his motivation.

"Hello." The next club entered to ask for their funding. It was the gardening club, with Matsu leading the way. "Ahh, Arata what are you doing here?"

"It's a long story…" He brushed it off. Given the job he was here for, it was expected that he'd see them eventually.

"Yes, and we don't have much time, so please let's stay focused." Misei said.

"Right, well here are the numbers." Hanaka had Karino hand them a piece of paper. On it were financial listings of what they needed their budget to be, in order to have the funds to do what they planned to do for the year.

Hanaka did most of the talking. Judging from the rest of the girls, that was the best plan for them. Between Matsu's airheadedness and Yumeho's shyness, there was no shortage of issues if anyone else talked.

Skimming through this paper, he saw they had quite a few plans for the year. A showcase during the culture festival and creating a garden at the school. It was impressive what they had written down.

"And that why we need the funds for our club." The presentation was finished. He thought it was a good one, but did she feel the same?

"If that's the case, then this will be the fund that we allocate to your club." The offer she gave them, it was much lower than they were asking.

"What? But this is nowhere near what they're asking for." he said to her.

"It's not, but you weren't here last year when I told them the same thing." The look on the girls, she wasn't lying. Not that they didn't at least get their hopes up for this year. "For a club of their size. It's just not feasible to give them so much." With only the bare minimum of members for a club, this was too much money they were asking for. However, he could tell that what she was giving them would force most of the things on the list to go undone.

"I mean, can you at least give them enough for a couple of these things. I mean, I garden for a living and I understand some of the costs associated with getting the tools needed for this." He explained, hoping that his experience would sway in his favor.

"Is that all?" Said Misao. "There's nothing more, like say, your relationship with one of the members of this group?" She was going against him on this? Not a surprise, she's much closer to Misei after all.

"Yes, I recall you mentioned that you knew Kusano as a child." Well that was only technically true. It's not like they grew up together. Except, why was he speaking up for them? There were other clubs that didn't get everything they asked for. Arata didn't say anything for them.

He looked over at Matsu. She had a mixed look on her face. Somehow simultaneously begging him for help, while also feeling bad that he was in this position.

"Ye-yes. That's true." He couldn't deny it, except it was more than just denying a factual statement. "Yeah, it's true that she's… an acquaintance of mine. And that's why I think she's deserves to at least be able to do some of those activities they mentioned."

"And somehow you think that's fair?"

"Yes, because I know that she puts everything she can to what she cares about." He countered. Arata wasn't going to back down this time. "At least just give a little more, for the garden and the culture festival plans. Because if other people saw what I see, then I'm sure the club will grow." Right, he had to use what she said against her. "You said they're a small club, but if they have some funding then I think more people will consider joining."

He finished his argument. He could hardly keep his heart calm. Arguing with her of all people, what was he thinking? It felt like an eternity, waiting for her to say something back to him. Even if it was negative, he'd killed for an answer. Finally, she broke the silence.

"Fine…" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "We'll give them the funds for creating a garden on campus, along with the festival." The gardening club couldn't contain their excitement. Matsu especially, as she rushed over to him. Tackling him to give him a hug.

"Oh thank you, thank you!" She squeezed him so tight, that he could barely talk.

"Please… Just get… off!" As he was trying to get her off of him. Arata noticed Misao, was she… smiling?

With that, along with the rest of the clubs, taken care of. Arata could say that he did a pretty decent job as a replacement for the treasurer. Yet, he couldn't say he did much of a job trying to talk with Misei informally again.

"Well, I guess we can say that was a job well done." He said to them as they were about to exit through the front of the school.

"Yes." Was the only response that Misei had for him.

"You did a wonderful job." Misao complimented him. For some reason, he felt a bit embarrassed about getting praise. "However, I do have a favor to ask of you."

"What do you need?" It was pretty rare to have someone that actually knew him to ask a favor. It's not something that he'd have an idea of what to expect.

"To be honest, President Jingu had been struggling on some of the material in class lately." That's was about as far of what he'd think someone would ask a favor for. Especially since they're asking help for someone else. It certainly caught Misei off guard.

"Mi-Misao. What are you talking about?" She mustered a nervous smile. "I'm doing fine in class." The vice president was having none of it. She explained that there were things that concerned both of them in their coursework. With the Summer break approaching, it was important to keep up grades. Otherwise, Summer work was almost guaranteed.

"Why do you think I can help?" Looking at Misei, he figured that he should've been at the bottom of the list. Then again, was Misao helping him out on this?

"The last time we studied together, I noticed that you have an advanced understanding of mathematics." Arata realized that not only did she have rather good perception, but that when he first met them. She was probably keeping an eye on his every move, to get an understanding of his outsider status.

"It's up to the president then." He didn't want to force her to do things. It was one thing to get an opportunity like this, but not at her expense. If Misei didn't want his help, he wasn't going to intrude. Looking at how uncomfortable she was about this, she clearly didn't want someone like him knowing her problems. Given Misao's relationship with her, then she obviously had a good reason for telling him this.

"I…" She spoke like she was unsure of what to say. "I… I wouldn't mind if you helped me." She could hardly get the words out of her mouth. "Bu-but only if you think you can actually help!" Pretty defensive about this, he didn't want to say anything more that might offend her.

"Well, if it's math. Then I'm certain that I can help. We're in the same grade, so we should be learning the same material." He accepted to help them. Arata's mind was clear now, just like with matsu. It would be easy to say that it was his duty to help someone who was school president. If someone like her failed a class, that would cause quite the scandal at school.

Not this time though. The real reason he was doing this, was so that he could mend their broken relationship.