Chapter 55: Assistant Duties
And so, having become the unfamiliar unofficial position of 'Class President Assistant' under Kashii-san, I head to the art room after school the following week.
'Welcome! Tachibana-kun!'
Kashii-san greeted me with a bright smile.
The art room, just before 4 o'clock, is still bright and smells faintly of paint.
Opening the windows together to let in some fresh air makes the smell bearable.
'Next week, preparations for the sports festival and cheer practice will start, so I want to get this week's work done now!'
She said, explaining a few tasks. The current tasks are:
Returning the English notebooks to each person.
Submitting the handouts from the science experiment.
Submitting the preference forms for next month's parent-teacher conferences.
Huh? Isn't this a lot of miscellaneous work?
Returning handouts is done during class, but since notebooks are needed for studying at home, they have to be submitted and returned quickly.
The parent-teacher conference forms are supposed to be collected by the homeroom teacher during HR, but apparently, if the class president organizes them by number order before submission, it makes things easier for the teacher, so it gets passed to Kashii-san.
Kashii-san handles things in between, but usually, about three or four tasks pile up, and she tackles them on Wednesdays when there are no club activities.
(When I was class president in the first year of middle school, the workload was light since it was just the beginning. Though, I mostly remember the harassment over submissions.)
Kashii-san marks the submitted names on a printed roster and organizes them by number order.
She also makes sure to note who hasn't submitted yet, and after handing them to the teacher, she apparently tells the person they should submit, or so she says.
(No wonder she's busy.)
While Kashii-san checks the roster for the parent-teacher conference forms, I organize the science handouts by number order while checking the roster. We finish the paperwork at about the same time, and Kashii-san heads to the staff room to submit the two types of forms.
I take the English notebooks back to the classroom and place them on each person's desk.
'Yay! We're done!'
Kashii-san muttered happily. Doing it alone would take twice as long, right?
No, Kashii-san is so capable that she might actually be faster even on her own?
'It's the same kind of work, so it gets boring and tiresome. Tachibana-kun, you were quick with the paperwork too, huh?'
'Well, during the submission fuss, I worked with Kashii-san using this roster-checking method a few times, so I have some experience.'
'That's right, we were class presidents together for a short while, weren't we?'
I might have made her feel considerate.
'So, I'm glad to work with Kashii-san again and to continue what we couldn't back then. It makes me happy.'
Kashii-san smiled brightly and said,
'I'm glad too. So, here's a thank you for today!'
Out came cookies handmade by Kashii-san.
They're called black-and-white icebox cookies, apparently.
(Do I not know many foods?)
I feel like I encounter a lot of new foods when it comes to Kashii-san.
'Is a cold drink okay? Can you handle coffee?'
(I can't say I don't drink coffee...)
'It's fine, but I like café au lait, so maybe just some milk?'
'Okay, how about sugar?'
(I want it, but would that seem childish?)
'No sugar for me.'
Saying 'Okay,' Kashii-san pushes the desks together and efficiently sets out the coffee (with milk) and cookies.
As instructed, I wet and wring out the hand towel Kashii-san gave me to use as a makeshift oshibori, and by the time I return, everything is ready.
'Help yourself♪'
Kashii-san urges me with a smile.
I take a piece of Kashii-san's precious handmade cookies (and they're stylish too) and bite into it.
With a satisfying crunch, the aroma of cocoa, wheat, and vanilla essence fills my mouth.
The sweetness seems a bit restrained, maybe? It's incredibly delicious.
'It's incredibly delicious! Such a nice aroma!'
'Does it suit your taste?'
'It does! I could eat tons of these!'
Is it called a checkerboard pattern? The black and white look beautiful, and there's also a swirl pattern where the black is more prominent, so the cocoa flavor is stronger.
With the coffee (with milk), I can totally eat it alongside the cookies.
Before I know it, I'm the only one eating, and Kashii-san, like at the Christmas party back then, is smiling twice as much as usual, resting her chin on her hand, watching me eat.
(This expression on Kashii-san is too much.)
Once I become aware of it, I feel my face heating up. The room is turning orange with the sunset, so I don't think she'll notice my red face.
'Your hand stopped. Are you full? Got tired of it?'
(I can't look at Kashii-san's face.)
'No, it's really delicious. I might eat them all.'
'Ehehe♪ Go ahead and eat! I'm glad you like them!'
While eating cookies, we chat about trivial things and end up staying in the art room until 6 o'clock.
This might be the first time we've talked this much, just the two of us, without anyone interrupting.
Anyway, such light work didn't deserve this kind of reward time.
Kashii-san has plans to go home with Obata-san, so we part ways at the gate and head home.
If it's okay with Kashii-san, she packed the leftover cookies into a bag for me.
Even though I ate so much earlier, I find myself really looking forward to eating the cookies later.
Beautiful yet charming, dedicated to others, smart, amazing at sports, and even able to bake sweets.
(Kashii-san is truly the perfect girl.)
I thought to myself.
———————
Nighttime at the Tachibana family home. My little sister, Nozomi, and my brother, Hikaru, found Kashii-san's cookies on Sho's desk.
'Let's eat them... yum! What is this? So good!'
'Yum? Hii-chan wants some too!'
'Hii-chan, you should thank older brother!'
'Yum—!'
Sho, whose cookies on the desk were all eaten, said with a wry smile.
'I got them from Kashii-san, the class president. If you meet her someday, make sure to say thank you, okay?'
'Okay!' 'Yeah!'
(Her name is Kashii-san? It sure suits her, doesn't it?)
I heard it as 'Kashii-san.'
In the minds of the Tachibana younger siblings, Kashii-san has been registered as 'Cookie-san.'