A youth story of a passerby at the end of the world

"So if we want Hiratsuka-sensei to play a role, we can't let her be the one who initially centralizes power and enforces measures that might offend people. It's better for her to be an advisor, an arbitrator, a detached figure." Just like a king in a constitutional monarchy.

Yukino Yukinoshita questioned again, but seemed to soften her stance somewhat, saying, "The school leaders might still be alive, and simply bypassing Hiratsuka-sensei won't help."

"No, it doesn't matter. Putting aside whether they would take their responsibilities that seriously, most students probably haven't even seen or remembered the principal or the dean of academic affairs. Can you name them?"

Hachiman soberly described the situation not only for Soubu High School, but for most people.

She could, but Yukino Yukinoshita didn't say it aloud because she knew clearly that she was one of that small group of people. Her family knew the headmaster, and she couldn't refute what Hachiman had said.

Her mother is a member of the school's parent committee! That's why she and her sister are able to attend this prestigious school.

Hachiman continued, "In this environment, it might be okay for students to obey someone who is merely nominal and not convincing in the short term, but what about in the long term? In comparison, Hiratsuka-sensei, who is a part-time life guidance teacher, is more trusted by the students."

She's practically a handy tool; Ms. Hiratsuka really takes on all sorts of roles, and she often serves as an advisor and the teacher in charge of large-scale inter-school events.

Even the advisor for the club with such a ridiculous name as Yukino Yukinoshita is Ms. Hiratsuka; she truly cares deeply for her students.

Although Yukino Yukinoshita was refuting the two people opposite her, all three of them realized that the current situation was not working and that something had to be changed.

She was unwilling to admit that this would be a long-term disaster, but one should always prepare for the worst, at least that's what she thought, and the two people in front of her seemed to think so too.

Hachiman Hikigaya was filled with concern for his younger sister. He understood Yukino Yukinoshita's doubts, but after seeing it with his own eyes, he decided to take action!

Ah... Even if it's just for Komachi, I have to make sure there's a safe place for her to stay, and then I'll go pick her up, to pick up my sister.

Their home is in the north of Chiba Prefecture, and their school is a long distance away, so...

"So, who is this 'Emperor' you're talking about?"

Yukino Yukinoshita ran a finger through her long black hair, her pink lips uttering a question.

“Student council, I suppose,” Hachiman replied from the side, deducing from the available information.

If it is the student council, it has a natural sense of righteousness, and students will subconsciously obey any instructions issued in the name of the student council.

"Ah."

Uesugi Genshin nodded, confirming Hachiman's guess.

Leaving aside the power of the student council here, its nominal authority far exceeds that of neighboring countries; it is the organization that governs all students.

The simplest example is during the cultural festival, where the executive committee composed of representatives from each class is responsible to the student council. In other words, this committee, composed of representatives from all classes, is a temporary subordinate organization of the student council. Most importantly, this is a fact known to all students in the school.

"If it were the student council president..."

Chapter Eleven: City Retracing

"Shiromaki-senpai?" Yukino Yukinoshita rested her chin on her hand, thinking.

Shiromaru, the current student council president of Soubu High School, is a third-year student. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, a new round of student council president elections will be held this year.

However, even though Zongwu High School is a key school, it's hard to find anyone willing to be the student council president; nobody wants to be.

High school is a place to enjoy youth. Who would want to be bogged down by a bunch of trivial matters, preventing them from hanging out with friends after school?

Yukino Yukinoshita may have the ability, but as the club president, she will not run for re-election unless there are special circumstances.

"This year's student council president?"

"Yes, my sister knows her."

"The older sister beneath the snow... I see."

The rebellious older sister who went and started a band? Yukinoshita Haruno. That's what Genshin said.

"What kind of person is she?" Hachiman asked again, after all, only he would ask such a question, the two people opposite him must know something.

"She is...a gentle person." A gentle and lovely girl—that was probably her only impression of this older sister's friend.

Hachiman turned his gaze to Uesugi Genshin.

Uesugi Genshin crossed his legs, leaned back, and shrugged. "His professional skills are so-so, and his leadership abilities aren't particularly outstanding, but he has a lot of personal charisma."

"She's a very healing girl," Uesugi Genshin concluded.

“You seem to know very well,” Yukino Yukinoshita said.

"I know celebrities very well, but I have absolutely no idea about ordinary people."

"So you know about me too?" Yukino Yukinoshita was trying to understand how the other person knew about her, in light of their potential future actions together.

Uesugi Genshin said in an approving tone, "Yukinoshita, who is always right and never lies, is an idealist who does things her own way. Compared to Hayama's hesitant realist, I have more faith in you."

Ye Shan never disappoints; everyone who asks him for help says so.

But in reality, the people who ask him for favors are all people who have interacted with him, in other words, his friends.

A guy like him, a little sun in the martial arts world, is only superficially friendly to people who aren't his friends, so everyone wants to be his friend, and the threshold for becoming his friend is very low.

When Uesugi Genshin is busy, Hayama, who is asked by his friend to help, tries to smooth things over by getting everyone to give up their interests to achieve a win-win situation, instead of thinking about how to solve the problem and achieve a win-win situation. In this respect, Hayama Hayato is not trustworthy.

However, the always-correct Yukinoshita is a gentle person. Although she appears cold and stern, she has a gentle and lovely side hidden inside.

In his opinion, Hayama Hayato's friends were cheap goods. Although Hayama Hayato didn't think so, even in the end, it was Hachiman who could be considered Hayama Hayato's only true friend.

"You flatter me." Although Yukino Yukinoshita's expression showed no emotion.

"Therefore, with our strength, Hachiman's wisdom, and the decisiveness of the department head, we are able to take action by supporting Shiromai-senpai and get these inactive students moving."

"Even in the long run, the initial influence we gain can guide the entire school in a rational direction." Simply put, how can you run a school well when you're with these scoundrels!

He believed in Yukino Yukinoshita's ability to execute tasks, which is why he wanted to recruit her; he couldn't gain the trust of others for the time being.

He, Hachiman, and Yukino Yukinoshita are the same kind of people: you must prove to me that you are a trustworthy person before I will associate with you.

This is why he only has Hachiman as a friend now, and the two in front of him are in the same boat.

Since this person mentioned his martial prowess, he must be confident in himself to say so. This is Yukino Yukinoshita's judgment based on her own experience.

At least compared to the ruthless decisiveness he had just displayed, his military strength was the basis for his actions, or so she could understand it.

Moreover, in her own opinion, the boy in front of her, despite wearing a school uniform, clearly had a well-defined physique and had exercised a lot.

"crash"

The door was pulled open again, interrupting the three people's conversation as they turned to look at it, or turned their heads to look at the doorway.

"Sorry to bother you."

An unfamiliar boy opened the door, but then bowed in apology and turned to leave.

"You have worked hard."

He hurriedly bowed before leaving—was it fear or admiration? Who can say for sure?

The door that had been opened closed, and Yukino Yukinoshita continued to look at Genshin Uesugi.

"I do not believe you."

She said it very bluntly: why trust someone who lied to her from the start, when they'd only known each other for less than an hour?

“A white lie is necessary at times, just like how you wouldn’t have escaped danger so quickly if I hadn’t been using Hiratsuka-sensei’s name.”

"so?"

"So, I will never lie to you again." Uesugi Genshin raised his hands to swear, but his movements were comical, like those of a prisoner.

He spoke solemnly, his eyes fixed on Yukino's blue eyes, which reflected his image.

"You don't think I'd believe you like a naive little girl, do you?" Yukino Yukinoshita said irritably, then added in a low voice, "Your promises are worthless to me. Please have some self-awareness."

"I'm serious, I would never lie to you." (Index, middle, and ring fingers are brought together.)

"So please give me a chance, okay?"

Wow, what kind of statement is this? Hachiman Hikigaya clicked his tongue. It's just a scumbag's excuse when trying to win back a girlfriend. It would only work on people who haven't read this kind of TV manga.

Yukino Yukinoshita stared into Genshin Uesugi's eyes, trying to discern something, but neither of them actually blinked.

There was nothing in her eyes but an icy coldness. In the end, she relented and could only say that Uesugi Genshin had temporarily passed the test.

"...I understand, but I will evaluate you in my next actions."

So what are the plans?

"Let's find the student council president first. Since someone has already come here, it means that the situation outside is at least not so tense. Before anyone else comes up with any foolish ideas."

For example, going home... If you live nearby, you should definitely run home as soon as possible. But what's the point of having this idea if you live far away?

"it is good."

After Uesugi Genshin and Yukino Yukinoshita finished speaking, they stood up, and Hachiman silently followed behind.

The three of them opened the classroom door and walked into the corridor. They could see a large group of people scattered throughout the corridor, probably at least thirty people, since the building was long but not wide.

One floor can accommodate one grade, and one grade has about 10 classes, although they write it as Group A-J here.

Each class has about six rows and five columns, with a total of 30 students. Based on this, the total number of students in the school is approximately 800-900.

In other words, this number is obviously too small, but considering that this is the fourth floor of a special building, which mainly consists of abandoned classrooms.

The classrooms for the three grades are located on the second to fourth floors of the opposite teaching building. The entrances to the two buildings are on the second, third, and fourth floors, while the larger groups of people are on the ground floor.

The three of them circled the fourth floor but did not see Shiromaru-senpai. Instead, Hiratsuka-sensei was still carefully checking the sturdiness of the roadblocks.

"Hey, the three of you together."

At that moment, Hiratsuka-sensei's relaxed smile encouraged those around her; she truly was a good teacher.

If someone is frowning and sighing at this time, it will greatly affect morale.

"Yes, Hiratsuka-sensei, thank you for your hard work." Yukino Yukinoshita bowed very politely.

"Haha, wow, you've basically finished. Hachiman and Uesugi did a great job." She laughed heartily, walked over, and patted them both on the shoulder.

"Hmm." Hachiman simply hummed in response, while Uesugi Genshin smiled.

Incidentally, both of them were behind Yukino Yukinoshita, since they both have a low-cost approach to things.

"Has Hiratsuka-sensei seen Shiromai-senpai?"

"Shiroi? No, I've been on this floor the whole time and haven't seen her. If you're looking for her, go downstairs and check."

"Ok."

"I'm counting on you." Next, Hiratsuka Shizuka had an even more important task: to check each entrance, a necessary measure to ensure safety.

"About 40 people," Hachiman said, stating the number he had just counted.

Genshin Uesugi, Hachiman Hikigaya, and Yukino Yukinoshita went down to the third floor. The number of people had obviously increased. Not only were there people standing in the corridor, but some club classrooms with open doors could also be seen, and there should be people inside.

After all, it's harder to escape from higher floors, so most people on the fourth floor went down to the third floor to feel safer.

“Let’s check them one by one,” Yukino Yukinoshita said.

Then the three of them looked into the first classroom that had its door opened, and it wasn't an illusion; everyone standing in the corridor was looking at them, either directly or indirectly.

If it weren't for the previous actions, it might just be a matter of aura.

With a calm expression, Yukino Yukinoshita walked at the front with her head held high, while Hachiman walked with his poker face and hunched back as always, and Uesugi Genshin, whose long hair made him look slightly gloomy.

The three of them stood out among the crowd, which was filled with a sense of panic, just like Yukino Yukinoshita's black over-the-knee socks with white trim!

“Logically speaking, it’s highly likely to be on this floor,” Uesugi Genshin said from behind Yukino Yukinoshita.

"Third grade?"

The third-year students live on the fourth floor across the street. They can come directly from the fourth floor, but I didn't see them on the fourth floor.

He'll know if he comes from his side, but Hachiman doesn't recognize Shiromaru.

They checked each one one by one, but didn't see Cheng Huixun halfway through. However, they became familiar with him on this floor, and in the end, everyone paid him a lot of attention.

"Ah~~ It doesn't hurt anymore, it doesn't hurt anymore." The three of them heard a light, comforting voice as they opened a door.

"Am I going to die, senior?"

"It's okay, everything will be alright, we're safe now," the girl replied cheerfully.

I saw her bandaging a girl's wound with a cloth while talking to her.

It was indeed Cheng Huixun, with black hair and black eyes. She had two braids on either side of her head, and three hair clips were pinned to her bangs, two on the left and one on the right.

Although braids are supposed to be a rustic hairstyle, she managed to create a beautiful effect, just like a country girl from Orleans, exuding a cute and energetic charm with a touch of naivety.

It's hard to imagine that she's the student council president of this school. She's as gentle as a cat, and if there's any difference, it's that she's even cuter than a cat.