Evanescence

It Is Him

Kanata's POV

School break was definitely too short.

It seemed like it was only yesterday when I was sorting out old clothes at home to give over to foster homes, sitting on the edge of the balcony without a care in the world, and handling some papers in preparation for my high school years. They were days when I could breath in between every task because no deadlines, or close deadlines, were pressuring me to slave away against my will. Lots of free time in between to think and just enjoy life.

But before I knew what was happening, I was thrown back into the whirlwind of school life. It was a violent return, and I was quickly bombarded with tasks here, and tasks there. The rush was like riding around in a bullet train, time just passed by much faster, so much so that you hardly notice that there had been time passing. In fact, time flied by so fast that I hadn't realised it until I really thought hard: the first month of my last year as a Junior High School student had already passed me by.

The carefree days—which were definitely far too few, if I was to be asked—were done and gone, I had to return to my duties as a member of the Student Council. Duties that should be handled by more than just one or two people, but as usual, it was only both the President and I who were actually doing work. To be frank, it was usually only us in the Student Council's meeting room most of the time.

"Kanata-san, I need you to finish these papers as soon as possible. If you're worrying about classes, I've already gotten you exempted from your classes for the entire day. Also, those papers are all club requests again, so I suppose that you already know what you must do."

The President's sudden appearance made my heart skip a beat, and I could only move my head sluggishly as she carefully placed another stack of paper on the table.

As usual, the President showed no signs of stress—her wavy, auburn hair,  smooth skin, and refined poise were seemingly unaffected by the mounds of documents we had to sift through everyday. Lucky for her; on the first sign of heavy paper works, my blonde hair would already have string-like strands peeking out like old couch springs. She probably didn't have to deal with unsightly eye bags either; she was like a Roman statue, her state constant at all times.

"Uh-huh," I intelligently replied, obviously tired and displeased with the stack. I then sighed in defeat, and slumped my shoulders, positioning them for the heavy work I had to do.

"I'll get to that right about now."

Unlike the President, I felt pressure. She could speak professionally for hours straight, showing no signs of discomfort or informality for that duration. Natsumi Raimon was like a British Lady born in Japan, with all the lady-like values that are expected from those with the same affluent upbringing. On the other hand, I've always been rough around the edges, desperately trying to look prim and proper even when my parents tried to school me on etiquette. The few times my parents invited me to formal parties, all I did was sit in the corner and smile awkwardly because I had two left feet, and both my posture and attitude were not on par with the rest of the higher-echelon people, to say the least.

Her voice once again cut through the silence, snapping me out of my daze once more. This time, the redhead held a green-colored envelope in her hands. Aside from its strange color, it was already unsealed, which gave me the urge to ask about its contents.

"Once you are finished, would you like to join me in my father's Office to watch the game today? I've heard that you are a fan of soccer, so I thought it would be a nice break from work to watch the soccer game while we both sip tea. My father was ecstatic to hear about it, and though I am not as excited as he, I intend to watch it with him."