Pressure

After all these days campaigning, the candidates for the student council president position were about to do the most important bit. To make a speech in front of the entire school to try and make one last ditch effort to garner the votes over the rest. Given his prior experience, Arata had no memory of the last one that led to Misei winning. So the boy had no clue on what would be considered one that would mobilize the school to rally behind the candidate.

At the moment, he was backstage with everyone who was running. They were all off in their separate groups, mentally preparing all the notes to make, as well as getting emotionally ready to speak to a large crowd. There were hundreds of students out there, sitting in their chairs for this event to begin. Most of them most likely were only present because it was required and that they weren't going to pay heavy attention to the words spoken. Not that the fact relieved any of the tension he felt in this area.

There was one person Arata was most worried for. That being the quiet little girl known as Yuki. She could hardly form a proper sentence when chatting with just one stranger. How can she handle talking to a crowd of this size? While looking over to her, she was getting coached by her cousin, Yogi. So at least there was a support system in place. Maybe he wouldn't have to be concerned about her.

"I hope you're doing fine." Misao came up to him, now finished getting herself and Misei ready for their speeches. This wasn't the first time they had done something like this, so it was no challenge. "There's going to be a lot riding on this."

"I should be asking you all that." He responded. "After all, I'm only here because I'm the one person still a part of the student council. Offically speaking, of course." If he wasn't going to continue his involvement, then he'd be sitting with the rest of their friends. Considering everyone he knew, Matsu and Hifumi would probably be sitting next to him. "So it looks like Misei's going up first because she's the incumbent?"

"Yes, then it'll be Ichiri, Yuki, then finally that Gun girl." This manner was set up in order of the when each girl applied for the race. It seemed fair enough. "After that, it'll be the turn of us running for vice president."

"Good thing there's no one running against me." He chuckled, relieved with the one thing that went his way. "So I won't have to make my own speech."

"That is fortunate for you." She replied. "But, have you considered who will be taking one of you current position? That is still your plan, correct?"

"Yeah, I'm still thinking it over." At this rate, he most likely was going to choose one of the people who were running that would inevitably lose. But out of everyone he knew, who should he pick? There was going to be some level of bias, and of course, that wouldn't be fair to the students. They deserve leadership that they could get behind, not someone chosen just because one boy liked them.

Now it was time for things to get started. Misei took a deep breath and took her first steps onto the stage, making her way to the podium. The entire school quieted down as she commanded their respect. This cool beauty was one that made every person in the room enamored with her presence. In this moment, Arata was certain she had already won this contest before uttering a single word.

"Welcome everybody." She bowed her head, grateful for this opportunity. "I thank everyone who came here today to listen to myself, and the many others who wish to chance to lead our school…" Her words droned on his head as Arata turned to look back on the others. Their reactions to this would confirm to him his suspicion on who the victor would ultimately be.

Ichiri didn't seem fazed by it, so she still had tons of arrogance within her. Her partner, Yurime, did seem more apprehensive, but that was already present before this whole debacle went down. Syari Gun also appeared to not change her poker face in the midst of this. The competition here was certainly a lot more resilient than he was expecting.

Well, there was one that reacted how he expected. That being Yuki who was now sweating bullets. Her breathing became a lot more shaky as she looked on Misei's speech. Her heart was racing at a million miles a second.

"Yuki, are you all right?" Yogi asked her, trying to get the girl to calm down. "I'm sure you'll do great." She didn't respond at first, and his words did little to relax her.

"No…" She shook her head as she continued to watch the speech. In her mind, she was envision herself on that stage. Hundreds of eyes watching her, and only her. Yuki thought about how she would mess it up, as she always did things. How everyone was going to see her flounder and fail. They were going to laugh at her, they were going to make fun of her. "I… I can't!" She yelled out, prompting the others standing back stage to look at her. Her face turned red as she felt them staring at her, feeling that they must think she was stupid. Even though all of them were simply worried.

In a flash, she turned 180 degrees and sprinted away from them. "I'm s-sorry!" With that, she left all of them in shock.

"Yuki…" Yogi attempted to give chase for his cousin, but Arata stopped him.

"Let me try." He asked. If that boy was unable to prevent this in the first place, then it was unlikely he would be able convince her to return. Plus, he also wanted to figure something out, and it was likely only to happen if he did it alone.

"That's not fair." Ichiri commented. "You agreed not to help any of us out."

"Yes, and most of us are certainly fine with less competition." Syari chimed in.

"I'm sorry, but this time, I'm not listening to any of you." He stood up to the both of them. "This isn't about the race anymore. What I have to say to her… It's personal." With that, he walked away from all of them in search of Yuki."

Ichiri turned herself back to watching Misei's speech. Her arms were crossed, hands tightly clenched in her frustration. It took all of her willpower not to allow the tears to show to the others. Why did he act this way to everyone not her?

"I figured you'd be out here." It took Arata less than a minute to find Yuki. After all, she only exited the building and was taking a breather in front of the school. "You really like leaving places with a lot of people, don't you?"

"I'm useless, aren't I?" They had barely started this conversation, and already she was putting herself down. Her small outburst was embarrassing with the small group that saw her. "They think I'm really silly, right?"

"I think most of them were worried for you." He left out the harsh words from Syari, but it wasn't like it should matter to her. "I don't understand why you keep thinking that we're going to hate you. This is kind of how you've been ever since I got to meet you again. Why should I care about it now?"

"It just that… You guys must be getting tired of it by now." This was no act by her, but surely at some point, they'd start to feel the burden of having to help her out. Their time would be better spent having fun, not holding back for her sake.

"Look." He stood next to her. "We're all friends here. No one's just going to abandon someone for one single flaw. But I do have to ask, why do all this then?" Yuki had to know what this entailed, so why would she just put herself through it? This was all public knowledge to anyone who wanted to run, and she was well aware of her personality.

"You're going to get mad at me if I tell you the truth." She didn't even tell Yogi the real reason on why she wanted to do it.

"Try me." He encouraged her. What possible news could she say that would anger him?

"I did it because of Matsu."

"…" He didn't know how to respond to that. In fact, Arata was bewildered on what that was supposed to mean. "Because of… Matsu?"

"You see, the truth is that… She… Likes you." Yuki struggled to get out the words, as she would be exposing one of her friends.

"I already know that." Now it was his turn to surprise the girl. Her jaw dropped when she learned that this wasn't a big secret after all. "One of her club mates told me." Yuki buried her face into her hands. Now she really looked stupid. "But if it's because of that, then maybe you shouldn't be running."

Arata could ascertain why she would feel the need to do this to try and help out her friend. Even if it was a really dumb idea. However, the part that he took major issue with was that he knew the student council president shouldn't be someone doing it because of a favor. "I'll just tell everyone you're dropping, and don't worry about the whole Matsu deal. I won't tell anyone about it."

"…" He started to walk away from her, to return and tell the news. Yuki took one deep breath and called out to him. "Wait." She said, which prompted him to stop in his tracks and turned to face her. "I… Still want to make that speech."

"You don't have to." He replied.

"I do." She was adamant. "I signed up because of a bad reason, but I also wanted to do it because I don't want to be that scared little girl." Her voice was shaky, he could sense the tension she still held within. "I can handle it… Because I know you're all there for me."

"If that's how it is, then let's get going." Chances were that Ichiri was doing her own speech as well. There wouldn't be much time left until it was Yuki's turn. "But you're free to change you mind." She kept that in mind and they returned to the group.

"Yuki, you made it." Yogi got excited seeing his cousin once more, as he ran up to give her a tight embrace. "I was worried you were going to give up."

"I'm sorry." She said to him, then looked at everyone else bashfully. "And I'm sorry about what happened back there."

"It's okay." Yurime was more than understanding.

"Yes, the pressure can be a lot." Misei said, who didn't' witness what occurred during her speech. "But I promise that we're all there for you to help." Yuki smiled at hearing their words. Arata wasn't wrong in his assessment of their friends, but she knew that it was something that would have to be constantly reminded when things were hard. So she wanted to make sure she could keep it in her head.

"Looks like it's your turn now." Misao called to her as Ichiri returned backstage. The young girl took a deep breath and braced herself as she took her first steps out to the stage. Meanwhile, Arata greeted the returning girl.

"I hope your speech went well." He said to her, but her dejected look gave little response.

"It was fine." She responded monotonically. That was all she had to say to him, as she walked past. The girl uncharacteristically didn't feel like talking with anyone else as she went deeper into backstage. Instead, she went and sat alone on a chair, not bothering to watch Yuki make her own speech.