Morning Plans

(Shin's PoV, Meanwhile)

—

As we left Akane behind, Sora and I walked through the empty corridors, and that Tuesday, the atmosphere around us seemed slightly different than usual.

Sora avoided my gaze multiple times, and whenever I tried to speak to her, she quickly looked away. 

It had been days since she had behaved like this whenever we were alone, and I couldn't do anything about it. She always avoided the topic, making it impossible to talk about it.

"So... what are the plans for today, Sora?" I asked, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"U-uh...!" She flinched, almost dropping the paperwork she was holding. "Don't call me by my name here... please...!" She whispered, blushing.

"S-Sorry. I couldn't help it. The habit of calling you by your name is stronger than me," I chuckled, scratching the back of my head.

"Jeez... please... don't embarrass me, p-please..." She sighed, but I could see the little smile on her face.

"So..." I looked around us for an instant before returning to her. "What are the plans for today other than finding a replacement for Yamada?"

"Well, as I told you, there's some stuff to discuss for the mini-concert on Saturday. Tsubame-senpai and the girls are waiting in the student council room. I have received a communication that she requested an immediate meeting for some reason." Sora sighed. "Other than that, we have a meeting with the representatives of class 2-B for the food stalls...Hah..." She exhaled. "If I had one yen for every single time they bothered me, I'd be a millionaire, that's for sure." 

"Hahaha..." I laughed. "Being the President is a very hard job, isn't it?" I asked, smiling warmly.

Sora looked at me for an instant and then smiled too.

"Yeah... I'll never know why I said yes in the first place, to be honest," her voice softened, and she clutched the paperwork tighter to her chest. "Maybe I just kept overworking to distract myself from my family's problems. Who knows." 

After hearing the glimpse of pain in her voice, I immediately stopped. The word 'family' always triggers something in me that I cannot explain.

Sora stopped too and looked at me with a confused expression.

"Ishikawa-kun? Something's wrong?" She asked.

"Family... problems? What do you mean, So—Fujimoto-san?" I asked.

She looked at the floor and then stood silent for a few long instants before turning her gaze back to me.

"Oh... I shouldn't have said that. Sorry, it came out before my brain could even process the words... I didn't want to annoy you with my problems, so pretend you didn't hear any—" 

"Speak, please... if it'll make you feel better," I smiled. "Friends support each other, don't they?" I said, placing a hand on her shoulder, feeling her body was as soft as silk.

After my touch, her eyes widened, and I noticed that she was... trembling, in a way I couldn't explain.

It wasn't the same tremble as Akane's; it was... different, like she wanted to say something and was doing her best to keep it for herself.

"S-Shin..." she whispered, probably not realizing she'd called me by name. "P-Please... let's do the tasks for today... I promise that I'll tell you everything on lunch break..." She then moved her gaze to my hand on her trembling shoulder. "A-And... if someone sees something like that, even if it's innocent, they might get the wrong idea, you know?" She said, but did nothing to remove my hand from her.

"I don't care about voices, but... okay." I sighed, pulling my hand away from her. "Let's go then, I won't bother you," I added.

"... Yeah. Let's go." Sora looked forward and then started walking without even looking at me.

I followed her, trying my best to put her at her ease by saying random things like 'it's raining today, isn't it?' or 'what are we gonna eat during lunch break?'

Sora ignored most of the things I said, and we walked like that for almost ten minutes until we reached the student council's room.

As soon as we stepped inside, Tsubame and her friends were already waiting for us, and as soon as she saw us, she literally ran towards us with her usual 'joy'.

"Sora-chan! Shin-kun! You're here!" She exclaimed, stopping a few feet in front of us. 

For some reason, she didn't hug her or me, and this caught me off guard. I was ready for her assault. 

But even if there was some distance between us, her peach perfume still reached my nostrils.

"Good morning, Tsubame-senpai," Sora said, trying to sound as professional as she could.

"Hello, Yamamoto-san. We're here," I said. "What's the problem for Saturday?" 

"Oh, straight to the point, right? I like that~, Fufu~," She giggled, and in that moment I saw Sora tightening her grip on the paperwork she was holding to her chest.

"Well... we're here just for a little bureaucratic thing, nothing hard, I swear," she raised her hands up, smiling warmly. "So... about Saturday's concert..." she took a small piece of paper from between her chest, revealing some of her tanned skin and her pink bra.

'Again...'

She then unfolded the paper and cleared her throat.

"Ahem... this is just a little change for Saturday's concert. We'll perform a total of five songs, and in the last one..." Tsubame looked at me, smiling warmly. "This handsome guy here will play the piano in the last one. I have been told that this requires your permission, Sora-chan, because the school is actually gonna give special credit to everyone who'll do things for the festival... I think... Ah damn... so boring..." She said, holding out the piece of paper to her. "I just need your signature here for the changes to be effective, so that I can also have special permission to snatch him away for the future rehearsals when the official festival arrives." 

Sora's eyes widened slightly, and she shifted her gaze between her and me.

"You mean... that Shin is gonna play with you? That's all? I thought that something bad had happened, you know." She let out a sigh of relief. "If that's all, then..." She said, handing me the paperwork, before grabbing a pen from the pocket of her school jacket.

Tsubame stared at her for a few instants, and then a mischievous smile appeared on her face. 

"How did you just call him...?" She whispered, covering her mouth with her other hand.

After her words, I saw Sora's body stiffening completely.

"Ah... I—" She tried to speak.

"Oh, don't mind that, Yamamoto-san," I said, stepping in. "We're close friends outside school, and there's no need for formalities when you're around." 

Tsubame smiled mischievously again. 

"Oh... now it's called like that? Friends? Fufufu~," She said. "I won't tell your girlfriend, I promise—"

As she was about to finish, Sora snatched the paper from her hand and signed it without even reading what was written on it.

"T-That's it, we're done now, right?" She said, handing the signed paper back to her. 

Tsubame stood silent for a few instants.

"Yeah, thank you, Sora-chan, love youuuuu!" She exclaimed, returning to her joyful gyaru persona. 

Sora wasn't looking at anything in particular. Her gaze was straight to the floor.

'Now that I think about it... she might know where Kenji is.'

"Yamamoto-san," I called. 

She immediately looked at me. "Yes, darling? What is it?" She smiled. "Do you want a date with me?"

I giggled and shook my head. "No, I just wanted to ask if I can text you later. I have something to ask you." 

She stared at me in disbelief, like I had dropped a bomb, nearly dropping the signed paper from her hand.

"Oh, you know you can always text me, darling. I'm always... open for you." She even winked at me. 

"Thank you, Yamamoto-san," I bowed in respect.

"Darling, there's no need to be this formal with me, you know? I'd prefer you to call me by my name," She sighed.

"We have to go now. Sorry, Tsubame-senpai." Sora suddenly spoke. "If there's nothing else you need to tell me, I'd really like to finish all the remaining tasks before lunch break."

"Sora-chan... something's wr—"

"Please, Tsubame-senpai. We don't have a lot of free time." Her voice became sharper.

"F-fine... see you Saturday, then..." She then waved her hand weakly.

I didn't even have the time to say 'bye' before Sora literally dragged me out of the room, almost making me drop the things she had given me.

"H-hey...!" 

"Don't speak, Ishikawa-kun, please... We don't have much time." She said without looking at me.

And then, we walked to our next meeting: class 2B.

'Class 2B... If I remember well... that's the class where Daiki's girlfriend is, right...? Mmmh... too many coincidences...'

"So... are we heading to class 2B now, Fujimoto-san?" I asked, trying to soften the air around us. 

"Yeah. Exactly." Sora said flatly. "I think that this will be a long meeting, so be ready..."