After club activities ended, on the way home.
Shinra and Yukino walked side by side on the sidewalk. Because many club activities were suspended due to the school festival preparations recently, the dismissal time for Sobu High students became random. By the time the Service Club ended its activities, not many Sobu High students could be seen on the road.
"Actually, you wanted to be the chairman, right?" Shinra suddenly said.
Yukino's steps faltered, but soon returned to normal. She asked back calmly, "Why do you think so?"
"Because you plan to take on Sagami-san's commission alone." Shinra gave his evidence.
"Since it was a decision I made personally, naturally I should bear it personally." Yukino answered as a matter of course.
If Sagami Minami had such awareness, there wouldn't be so many troubles.
"So you admit it's something you want to do?"
"Admit what?"
"Wanting to be the chairman of the School Festival Executive Committee."
"No."
Yukino's answer was still as crisp and decisive, without any hesitation.
To this, Shinra just smiled and said, "Speaking of which, Haruno-san also served as the School Festival Chairman back then?"
"Wasn't that mentioned at the executive committee meeting yesterday?"
"Did she do a successful job?"
"Very successful."
How could a school festival remembered by teachers not be considered successful? It was no exaggeration to say that year should be the most successful school festival held by Sobu High in recent years.
"Haruno-san's ability is excellent." Shinra sighed.
Yukino glanced sideways at Shinra. Tell us something we don't know.
"As her sister, the pressure must be great, right?"
"It's okay."
"Seems there is a little pressure."
After all, Yukino answered 'it's okay' instead of 'no'.
While talking, the two arrived at a crossroad. The traffic light on the opposite side turned from green to red just as they were about to arrive.
Stopping his steps, Shinra pointed to the convenience store by the road and said, "I'm going to buy dinner."
Unexpectedly, Yukino nodded and followed, "Just right, I also need to buy a bento."
Shinra was a bit surprised and asked, "Don't you usually cook for yourself?"
"Occasionally there are times when I don't want to cook." Yukino explained.
"Then let's just go to a family restaurant together." Shinra suggested.
Yukino hesitated for a moment, but ultimately shook her head and refused.
"I have to go back early."
"Go back early to plan the executive committee's next arrangements?"
"..."
Seeing Shinra's 'I knew it' expression, Yukino opened her mouth to explain something, but didn't know how to explain, because she really planned to do so.
Since she didn't know how to answer, she simply didn't answer.
Old trick.
Soon, the two picked their preferred bentos in the convenience store. When they finished paying and came out, the traffic light on the opposite side happened to turn green.
However, because Shinra had exposed Yukino's little thought earlier, Yukino's desire to communicate on the way back wasn't strong.
But Shinra didn't mind and continued chatting about the unfinished topic.
"How do you plan to assist Sagami-san?"
"Assist in handling affairs."
Shinra nodded in understanding, while his mind automatically translated it to 'take over all affairs'.
"Do you think this is helping Sagami-san?"
"Sagami-san's commission just said she wanted the school festival to run smoothly."
"I didn't expect you, Yukino, to start learning to switch concepts."
Admittedly, Sagami Minami's appeal was to help her successfully fulfill the chairman's duties, but the problem was that the Service Club's main purpose was to "change people's weak sides" and thereby "change the world".
But what Yukino planned to do next was to skip 'people' and directly start 'changing the world'.
"Hmm, no wonder you wanted to accept this commission in your own name."
After all, accepting the commission in a personal capacity would free her from the constraints of the Service Club's philosophy.
"Just didn't want to trouble others. Everyone is busy with the school festival..." Yukino understood Shinra's meaning and explained stubbornly.
"I'm very free, you know." Shinra kindly reminded. On one hand, there were indeed few things to do in the [Record and Miscellaneous] group. On the other hand, he had Hachiman as a helper, so he had plenty of time.
Yukino was speechless. In an event like the school festival where all teachers and students had to participate, was being free something to be proud of?
Shinra smiled. You don't understand this, do you?
As the saying goes: Those below use strength, those in the middle use wisdom, and those above use people.
Whether in school or outside, Shinra never took everything upon himself. Instead, he would assign tasks to suitable people, and he only needed to grasp some key parts.
This way, it saved worry and effort, and was very efficient.
Of course, Shinra didn't come to discuss management with Yukino. The reason he said this was actually just to tell Yukino that her reason was invalid.
"Since we are helping, either we don't help, or we have to be responsible to the end. Besides, didn't Sagami-san also say that the smooth progress of the school festival is as important as self-growth?"
Forced into a corner with no other way, Yukino had to compromise: "What do you want to do?"
"No, it's not what I want to do, but what we are going to do next."
...
Before the second School Festival Executive Committee meeting began, Sagami Minami couldn't wait to announce a personnel appointment—that Yukinoshita Yukino would serve as the Vice Chairman of the School Festival Committee.
Regarding this personnel appointment, neither the guiding teacher Atsugi nor Student Council President Meguri-senpai had any objections; it could even be said they were quite supportive.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say it was what everyone expected.
And Yukino didn't fail everyone's expectations. As soon as she took office, she immediately showed her skills and began to forcefully drive the operation of the entire executive committee.
She replanned the executive committee's schedule and required each group to report progress daily to ensure that adjustments could be made in time when problems were encountered, avoiding the situation where individual group progress slowed down the overall progress.
After arranging everything properly, Sagami Minami announced the successful conclusion of this regular meeting. Just as she planned to leave with the main group, Yukino stopped her.
"Sagami-san, please wait a moment."
Sagami Minami stopped, and the two followers beside her also stopped.
"What's the matter?" Sagami Minami asked with a smile. Obviously, the smooth convening of the executive committee today filled her with confidence for the future, and she was in a very good mood.
Yukino didn't answer but looked at the two followers beside her.
The followers very sensibly found an excuse to leave the scene. Before long, only Sagami Minami and Yukino were left in the entire conference room.
"Can you say it now?" Sagami Minami asked.
Yukino nodded, then took out a thick stack of documents from her bag and handed them to Sagami Minami.
"What is this?"
The smile on Sagami Minami's face slightly faded, and a bad premonition surged in her heart.
"Activity records of the previous two School Festival Committees." Yukino said.
Sagami Minami flipped through the materials and found that they were indeed the activity records of the last and the one before the last school festivals. She just didn't understand why this was given to her.
"Although these are activity records from the previous two sessions, some data in them are also very helpful to us now. Therefore, I need to ask Sagami-san to organize them and explain them to the corresponding groups."
"I also mentioned this at the regular meeting just now."
Mentioned it? Sagami Minami recalled. It seems, possibly, maybe it was mentioned?
"Shouldn't this kind of thing be done by the corresponding groups?" Sagami Minami expressed her confusion.
Yukino patiently explained to her: "What the group members need to do is to implement the work, and how to implement the work is the chairman's responsibility."
"B-But I don't know which data is useful?" Seeing such a thick stack of materials, Sagami Minami instinctively resisted.
Yukino seemed to have anticipated Sagami Minami would ask this. She immediately took out another document from her bag.
This document wasn't much, only a few pages, detailing the data needed by the executive committee. Sagami Minami only needed to search in the past activity records according to the content on it.
"Does... does this have to be done by me?"
"Of course, this is the chairman's duty. Just like only top management can grasp key corporate data, these materials contain information about past guests. To avoid information leakage, only the chairman can consult them."
"What about you?"
"I'm just the vice chairman. And besides these, I have other things to deal with." Yukino paused and then said, "Although there are a lot of materials, after Sagami-san finishes reading them, you should have a general understanding of the operation of the executive committee. The subsequent work will be handier, and your ability will also improve."
"But... this... o-okay."
Hearing Yukino say this, what else could Sagami Minami say? She could only brace herself and agree.
However, Yukino didn't let Sagami Minami go just like that. Instead, she continued: "Considering the schedule, this data is needed by Thursday. Please hurry up, Sagami-san."
"Th-Thursday?! Isn't that tomorrow?" Sagami Minami exclaimed.
"Correct, tomorrow." Yukino nodded. "Sagami-san only needs to underline the key data with a pen and use tags to indicate the source. With a little effort, it should be completed very quickly."
"A little... effort..."
Hearing Yukino's words, the corner of Sagami Minami's mouth couldn't help twitching. She looked down at the thick stack of materials in her hand. This doesn't look like a job that can be completed with 'a little effort' no matter how you look at it, right?
"Can I find someone else to help?" Sagami Minami tried to seek external help.
However, she received a cold and cruel answer from Yukino.
"No. Didn't I say before? Out of consideration for information privacy, only the chairman has the authority to look through these materials."
"Even if others look, no one else will know, right?"
Hearing this, Yukino lowered her head and pondered for a moment before answering: "Indeed so."
"Then!" Hope rekindled on Sagami Minami's face, but unfortunately, Yukino's next words shattered her hope completely.
"But if information leakage really happens, the chairman will be the first person responsible."
The meaning Yukino wanted to express was obvious: You can find someone else to do this, but if something goes wrong, the first person they look for will definitely be you, the chairman.
"Can't we just not use the previous data?" Hearing that she would be the first person responsible, Sagami Minami immediately dispelled the idea of using others' hands.
In her original plan, she wanted to let Yukino take charge of everything, and she only needed to be responsible for coordinating (sitting back and enjoying the results).
But reality gave her a big slap in the face. Now, let alone slacking off, even a beast of burden couldn't withstand such torment, right? Must find a way to dump the work!
"We could, but that would mean a huge workload." Yukino said.
"Like?"
"Take the Media Publicity Group as an example. Whether it's putting up posters or setting up websites, previous years had detailed plans and arrangements. Basically, with slight modifications, they can be used directly.
But if we don't refer to the previous data, it means everything will start from scratch. The areas for putting up posters need personnel to recalculate according to the map movement lines and crowd flow. The website setup also has to be built from scratch. Not only is it time-consuming and laborious, but the group members will definitely have opinions if they know."
Yukino looked at Sagami Minami here and continued: "Of course, if Sagami-san insists, I can explain to the group members. I believe they will understand."
Explain? How to explain?
Understand? How to understand?
Chairman Sagami chose to increase everyone's workload because she wanted to slack off?
In Japan, the most taboo thing is causing trouble for others.
Sagami Minami was certain that if she dared to do this, her reputation on campus would collapse immediately the next day. At that time, let alone replacing Miura Yumiko, not becoming Hachiman No. 2 would be considered kindness from everyone.
"Forget it then." Sagami Minami smiled very reluctantly.
"Mm, if there's nothing else, I'll go back first." Yukino raised her wrist, looked at the time, and didn't forget to remind before leaving: "The data is needed tomorrow. The group leaders will contact you individually then."
"Okay..." Sagami Minami answered weakly, forming a sharp contrast with her high spirits at the end of the meeting.
Looking at the thick stack of materials in her hand, she suddenly regretted becoming the chairman.
This was completely different from what she had imagined. What kind of chairman is this? This is clearly a beast of burden!
...
Yukino walked out of the conference room and saw Shinra waiting for her at the corner of the stairs while playing on his phone.
"What's the meaning of doing this?" Yukino asked.
Those activity records were real, and there was indeed a rule that only the chairman was qualified to view them. But as everyone knows, rules are just rules, and specific implementation depends on the actual situation. And the reality is that no one really follows this rule.
In previous school festivals, basically, as long as one was an executive committee member or a student council member, or even an ordinary student with a legitimate reason, they could consult these materials. There was no such thing as only the chairman being able to view them.
After all, these things ultimately had to be implemented by executive committee members. Moreover, this information was actually public information, so there was no privacy to speak of.
Purely bullying Sagami Minami for not knowing the ropes.
"Helping Sagami-san understand the chairman's duties as soon as possible to achieve rapid growth?" Shinra said uncertainly.
"The truth."
"Find something for her to do so she doesn't think about random things all day and cause trouble for everyone."
Even if Yukino really wanted to take on all the chairman's work, this step was necessary.
They had to make Sagami Minami busy. Only in this way would she not interfere with the subsequent work and disturb the normal work process because she had nothing to do.
Besides organizing past data, Shinra had prepared a series of tasks for her next, guaranteeing to arrange everything clearly for her and make her the busiest person in the entire School Festival Committee.
Of course, Shinra wasn't arranging blindly. As long as Sagami Minami could persist, her abilities would definitely improve greatly, which could be considered realizing her initial goal—self-improvement.
"What if she doesn't cooperate later?" Yukino felt once or twice was fine, but if they kept doing this, Sagami Minami would inevitably quit.
"No, she will cooperate."
What to do if Sagami Minami didn't cooperate... Shinra felt this was the only thing not to worry about, because Sagami Minami cared about her face.
As the saying goes, suffer to save face.
The more people care about their own face, the more they can endure. They won't fall out over small things, let alone this was originally the responsibility Sagami Minami should bear.
Moreover, Sagami Minami wasn't working for nothing. The data from previous years was indeed important. Organizing this data could indeed greatly reduce the workload of each group's personnel and highlight Chairman Sagami's contribution to the executive committee.
Except for being a bit tired, the rest was basically all benefits.
...
Thursday, the third regular meeting was held.
Sagami Minami, wearing dark circles that couldn't be hidden even with makeup, began to accept work progress reports from each group leader.
Perhaps because she had seen the activity records of the previous two school festivals, she already had a general understanding of the problems each group might encounter.
Therefore, regarding the questions raised by the group leaders, Sagami Minami could actually give some answers. Although slightly immature and rigid, this precisely proved the correctness of Shinra's route.
The curative effect could be said to be immediate.
And when Sagami Minami handed the data list she had painstakingly organized to the group leaders, their impression of this chairman also changed somewhat, and they became a little more respectful when speaking to her.
Compared to leaders who only paid lip service, leaders who could do practical things and share the work for subordinates were obviously more popular.
Don't worry about whether Sagami Minami did it voluntarily or not; just say whether she did it.
Judge deeds, not hearts!
And after Sagami Minami keenly sensed this change, her mood, which had been somewhat depressed due to forced work, was comforted.
However, before she could be happy for long, she heard a familiar voice ringing in her ear.
"Sagami-san, please wait a moment."
This time, without Yukino looking, Sagami Minami's two followers sensibly said to Sagami Minami that they would wait for her in front and left the scene immediately.
Soon, only Sagami Minami and Yukino were left in the conference room again.
"Wh-What is it again?" Sagami Minami looked at Yukino with some trepidation, her gaze firmly locked on the school bag by Yukino's hand, afraid that the other party would pull out another stack of materials and throw them at her, asking her to deal with them by the next day.
"Nothing major. It's just that the Personnel Coordination Department is troubled by not being able to recruit aspiring performers. Therefore, I suggest setting up awards to call on students to sign up through the form of honor + prizes."
"Mm, you mentioned this at the meeting before. Is there any problem?"
"The problem lies in the specific rules of the award and the specifications of the prizes."
"...You don't want me to plan the relevant details, do you?"
"Oh, that's not it. The specific details can refer to other awards. What I want to talk about is the application form for the prize budget."
"Shouldn't this be the work of the Accounting Audit Group?"
"That's true, but the problem is that setting up new awards requires communication with guiding teachers and the school, so it's best for the Chairman of the Executive Committee to come forward personally." Yukino explained.
Although the executive committee was just a temporarily established academy organization, the rules that should be followed still had to be followed, that is, one cannot bypass the immediate leadership to report to higher levels.
"You are the vice chairman; you should be able to do this kind of thing too, right?" Sagami Minami indicated she could delegate power.
However, Yukino shook her head and said, "If I come forward, there will be suspicion of overstepping authority, which easily leads to unclear division of power and responsibility within the organization, resulting in a decrease in efficiency... In short, it's best for Sagami-san to come forward personally."
Yukino said a long string of words, but Sagami Minami only heard four words from it: Unavoidable.
Sagami Minami asked: "Is there a time requirement?"
Yukino answered: "Just report the situation to the school before next Monday."
Hearing it was next Monday, Sagami Minami breathed a sigh of relief, subconsciously feeling that there was still plenty of time.
But she quickly realized that today was Thursday, and weekends were off. Saying to complete it before next Monday meant she had to hand the proposal to the teacher before school ended tomorrow, right?
So it's still one day!
"Isn't this a bit too rushed? After all, the specific rules haven't been finalized..."
Sagami Minami wanted to fight for a little more time. Then she saw Yukino take out a document from her bag, which detailed the specific scoring rules and the budget for prizes.
"This is the specific plan. Sagami-san only needs to write another application form, then submit it to Teacher Atsugi and explain the situation."
Sagami Minami took the document from Yukino with a numb expression and replied hollowly: "Okay, I know."
"Mm, thank you for your hard work."