A Change in Position

Just another normal day at school, just like any other. Or at least, that's what Arata thought what it was like.

"What's that?" His seatmate and friend, Yogi noticed a charm attached to his bag.

"This? Oh it's just a mascot from an anime." He answered. Ever since he told them about his hobby, Arata wasn't afraid of showing off some of the things he bought with money he made from his jobs. This adorable bear-like creature was featured in a magical girl anime where the main character searched for cards.

"It looks really nice." The compliment was always appreciated. Even if they didn't share the same tastes.

Days like this were nice. Just chatting along during break, he could just forget about his worries and enjoy his friend. Today though, was going to be different.

"Excuse me, but could I talk to you?" A boy walked up to the two. The school treasurer, to be precise. He was directing this question towards Arata. "Alone, I mean."

"Sure." There was no reason for him to say no. This was most probably just like the other time, where he needed someone to fill in. Without protest, he followed the boy out of the room. In the hallway where it was currently empty of any students or faculty.

"I don't really know how to word this." He hesitated. That clued Arata in that this might not be a simple request. "But, do you think that you might be able to take my position as treasurer?"

"Take your position? As in, replace you?" The boy nodded for the answer. "But what's wrong? Why do you want to drop the position?"

"It's not that I want to." The boy clarified. "Sadly, due to circumstances in my life. I'm moving away from here, and that means I won't be able to continue as treasurer." The tone in his voice, made it clear he was saddened by that fact.

"Then I'm guessing you want me, because of the time that I filled in for you?"

"Yes, but it's a little more than that." The statement piqued Arata's interest, which prompted explanation. "While you were filling in, you did something that I thought was really impressive. You stood up to president Jingu." Stood up to? He must've been referring to when he argued for the gardening club's sake. That wasn't really something he thought would be considered a benchmark for ability. Especially given he was biased for a reason.

"Are you sure that's enough?" Arata asked. "I mean, this is a pretty big responsibility. It's not like you should allow just anyone to take this."

"I really think you're the best person for this." The boy stood firm in his position. "Please, it's not as much work as you think. I'm certain it won't get in the way of your everyday life."

"…" Arata sighed. Considering what he went through with everyone as it is. The person in front of him wasn't wrong.

Even then, there were still many looming questions for him. The biggest of which being who exactly kissed him during the fall festival. Other things included actually getting around to solving the mystery of his childhood friend. Along with getting Yuki to not be so apprehensive with him anymore.

"I'll accept." Of course, it's not like he couldn't do all these things at the same time.

"President, I have some news to tell you." After school, the pair went to the student council room. The two girls that took the positions of school president and vice president were sitting idly.

"Really? And from the looks of it, this involves Arata?" Misei looked at them with a blank stare.

"First, I have to inform you that I'll no longer be the school treasurer. Because of things in my life, I'll be moving away." From the look on her face, Arata could tell this was news to her.

"You haven't told them?" Arata asked him.

"Sorry, but I wanted to have a replacement lined up before I broke the news."

"I see, then you feel that Arata will be a proper substitution for you." She wasn't mad about that fact, even though she felt that the original was far superior.

"Yes, he'll be a great replacement for both me and my brother."

"Brother?"

"I didn't tell you, but you're kind of taking his role too. You see, he's the school secretary." Arata wasn't certain anymore if he'd have taken this if he knew that too. Hopefully the two jobs weren't going to be too hard, or else he'd lose a lot of free time in school.

"I'll be fine with it, unless either of you two are against it." He turned to the two girls.

"It'll be inconvenient if we have two people take these spots with the school elections coming up in a couple months." Misao allowed it, along with Misei. Who would've had the final say anyway.

"I hope that Arata will be able to fill those shoes for the time being."

"I'll try my best." He gave them a thumbs up, as a false show of confidence. This certainly was far from his list of things he'd ever do in school. But for everyone's sake, he'll do what's expected from him.

"Yo man." A new voice entered this conversation. "I see you've got us our replacement." From the words he said, it was clear to Arata that this was the treasurer's brother.

A bit of an odd person from the looks of it. For starters, they didn't looks like they were related. The treasurer had black hair and wore glasses. Meanwhile, this person had bleach blonde hair, with a leather jacket on top of his uniform. If he didn't know better, he'd think that boy was a delinquent, but seeing as he's the now ex-secretary. He couldn't have been a bad guy.

"I did." He answered. "And president, I want to say it's been an honor to serve with you." The boy bowed, but something about this gesture stood out to Arata. It was like that boy was saddened that he had to go. Did he…

"Come on man." The brother jumped on top of him playfully. "We don't go until the end of the week and you're saying it as if we're leaving right now."

"Right sorry." He apologized. "I guess I got a little caught up in the moment."

"Yeah, we should all get some dinner together before we have to leave, the new guy should join us too."

"I'd love to join you, ummm." Arata realized that he didn't know either of their names.

"Really, you don't know some of the members of the student council?" The rambunctious one asked. It was a testament to how well Arata was at not concerning himself with the school until recently.

"I'm sorry, but I guess you could call me ignorant."

"Okay ignorant." He made a joke, which got no laughs except a nervous chuckle from Arata.

"I realize that I didn't give my name the last time we met." The treasurer had his hand over his face in embarrassment. "I'm Rukaya Tomohisa, and this here is my brother. Rakuyoshi"

"Yep, and you're free to call us by our first names. You know, since it's better than calling us both Tomohisa."

"Sure." Arata shook hands with both of them. "My name's Arata Kashimura. If I'm calling you both by first name, then you're free to call me Arata." With everything out of the way, it was time to explain to Arata. Exactly what he was filling in for.

The treasurer duty was pretty simple, especially given his background in both mathematics and his financial skills when it came to his own budget. The secretary side of the jobs sounded very simple. Providing support to the president and vice president, along with aiding in other school needs.

"Supporting the president? I always thought that was your job?" He asked Misao.

"You bet she does." Rakuyoshi answered. "Makes my jobs a lot easier at least!" He laughed.

"Like we said, that's not all a secretary does." Rukaya continued. "You also now have the duty of assisting clubs and other students with their problems. Within reason of course."

"Assisting, so I'm like a service person for the school?"

"If that's how you want to put it, then sure." This made Arata a bit concerned if he was the person for the job. Going from the school loner to the one helping literally everyone, that sounds really strange. Surely all the students would notice that.

"I don't doubt that you'll do a fine job." Misei had some real confidence in saying that. He didn't feel that way, but it was too late to back out now.

"Okay, well it looks like I've got everything now, so when do I start?"

"Officially now, the two of us are resigned." Rukaya responded.

"Yes, conveniently enough. We have an assignment for you already, as a secretary." Misao handed him a bunch of paperwork. A lot of words that he didn't care to read.

"So, what's this all about?"

"The school's planning on shutting down the library."

"Oh okay, then… Wait what?!" That sounded insane to him. Don't the student need this library?

"Due to the lack of usage. The faculty believe that shutting it down will help the school budget. Especially since the town's local one is nearby." That may be true, but losing that space? It just didn't seem right to him.

"That's crazy, are we really just going to let that happen?"

"That's where you come in." Rakuyoshi gave him a knuckle rub on the head. "This is where all the fun of being the secretary is." So that was his job now. To find a way to save the school library?

Is this really something, that he's suited for?