Valentine's Day

Chapter 2

        It was late in the afternoon. Sayaka was still working on the perfect gift for the president. Her hands were sore and her tight side ponytail was slipping out scarcely. The president was going to leave soon, so she had to finish quickly. Although she did have to pick up some paper she printed out earlier. Sayaka sighed and stood up to retrieve the documents. She was sure no one was still here except some council members, and none of them entered this particular time. Usually. Because when Sayaka returned, her present had disappeared.

        "W-what..?" Sayaka muttered under her breath, now covering her mouth in shock. She peered over the room, but no one seemed to be there. Her hands now rested at her sides, shaking and balling into fists. Who could have stolen it, and why? The purple-haired girl frowned deeply and tried to hold herself together. What could she give to the president now? The girl couldn't take this. She needed to calm down somehow. She settled on reading a book in the library to allay herself.

        Sayaka swiftly opened the door once more and walked to the library. She hoped she wouldn't run into the president. It would be quite embarrassing to have nothing for her to show. What would she think of her now? It was unlike Sayaka to ignore her duties. She decided to finish her remaining work later. For now, all she could focus on was reading a book.

        One of the perks of being the secretary of the student council was having access to almost all rooms after school ended. Sayaka arrived at the library and sighed in relief, smelling the refreshing scent of old books and coffee. She slid the current book she was reading out of the president's special shelf and sat down. Being the student council president, Kirari could pretty much have most things she desired, including her bookshelf. She was thankful the president let her store her books on the shelf too. Sayaka noticed over time that the president did read often, despite having such a heavy responsibility attached to her role.

        Sayaka stopped running through her thoughts and started reading, taking the bookmark out of her current page. She smiled, feeling relaxed.

**Time skipped by about half an hour**

        Sayaka read intensely, hanging on to the last word of each paragraph. She hadn't even noticed Kirari walking in until she was standing at her feet. Sayaka's eyes widened as she glanced up from her book and met the president's eyes. Something about her eyes seemed confused.

        "P-President! When did you get here?" Sayaka mentally slapped herself for such an insolent response. Kirari raised an eyebrow.

        "Only a minute ago, did you not hear me saying your name?" The secretary scratched the back of her neck nervously breaking eye contact. It was unusual for Sayaka to not be so alert.

        "I'm so sorry, President, I must have been too indulged in my book," Sayaka replied apologetically. Kirari smiled gently and knelt to meet the height of the chair Sayaka was sitting in. Sayaka leaned forward subconsciously; her posture now being slightly inconvenient.

        "It's okay, dear, don't worry about it," Kirari said sweetly. Sayaka looked down to avoid meeting her gaze, her face slowly heating up. She glanced back up to notice the president hesitating.