After her classes, Rei went to the Student Hall. She was intrigued by what Yuta said the night before. She was walking back and forth outside the building, debating whether or not she should go inside. She thinks that it's not like she can do anything to help the committee nor does she have an interest in joining, to begin with, but still she just found herself outside the building

Following some deliberation, she finally came to a conclusion. Fine, just for a moment. Let’s get this over with. No harm in checking it out, she thought.

She signed her ID and proceeded inside. On the first floor, there are photocopiers, high-speed printers, and a paper guillotine.

A man who seemed like one of the student staff approached her, “Hello, do you need anything?” while giving her a sweet smile.

Rei was startled by his sudden approach. “O-oh, not really,” she said, lightly scratching her brow. “I was just looking around.”

The guy noticed and asked if she was a freshman.

“Ah, yeah.”

“Are you here to join the Student Hall Committee?” asked another man.

“Yuta?”

“’Yo, sup?” he asked, smiling at Rei.

“Just simply taking a visit.”

“Do you know her senpai?” asked the other guy after grabbing some papers from a nearby window. “You know what? Take this,” said the other guy, handing over a flyer to her along with other papers that seemed to be an application form.

“Oh, Taro. They’re looking for you in the club room.”

“Wait, no,” Rei exclaimed, but it was too late.

He left hastily, hollering at her, “Just fill out the form and go to the room at the end of the hall! Yuta senpai will walk you through it!”

“I don’t really have time either,” Yuta said, placing his hand on his chin. “But, go ahead, I’ll watch you.”

“Excuse me, I haven’t even decided yet.”

Yuta just glared at her. "Hnngh. Just do it. I'll buy you pizza," he said, winking and clicking his tongue.

“Oi, will you stop it? You’re embarrassing me.”

Yuta just bit his lip and started acting coy.

“Gosh, you’re so annoying. Fine, I’ll do it.” Rei said as she started writing on the form.

“That’s my girl. Good job,” he said as he ruffled her hair. But then his phone started ringing. “Oh, Taro Taro? Now? I’ll be there soon. I was just helping little Rei Rei here.”

“What’s with the cheesy nicknames again?”

“Oh, I gotta go now. Something urgent. You can handle yourself, right?”

“Hmp. You’re always rushing around,” she said, tilting her head to the ceiling and sighing heavily

“I'll contact you soon," he whispered as he made a calling motion with his hand. “By the way, when you’re finished, just go to the end of the hall, it’s the last room at the right.”

Rei approached the door to the room after filling out some of the paperwork. As she slightly opened the door, she decided she didn’t want to continue. But, before she could make a quick exit, she noticed a pink-haired lady behind the desk, catching their attention.

For a brief moment, the lady looked at Rei, scanning her from head to toe as if she were observing her. "Do you need anything?" she finally asked.

Rei just stood there not knowing how to respond. The girl looks like another one of the students. Probably another student staff working for the Student Committee as she was sitting behind the desk.

“Ah, uhhh, actua-” before Rei could even mutter a word, another person entered the room. As she stepped aside, Rei recognized who it was. It’s him, she thought, raising her brows.

“DENJI! Where have you been? Ugh, I’ve been waiting for you all day,” the girl said as she crossed her arms.

“Sorry, just a little busy,” Denji said as he clasped his hands as if begging forgiveness from his terrifying boss. “Here are the documents you asked for. The other campus will send theirs through email”

He immediately turned his attention to the other girl. “Rei..” he said while smiling gladly. “What are you doing here? Ah, are you going to join?” he continued as he noticed the papers in her hand.

Upon hearing this, the other girl immediately butted in, "Rei, are you going to join!?"

“Huh?” Rei raised her eyebrows in confusion. “You know my name?”

The other girl paused for a moment, her brows furrowed. “That’s not important,” she said as she approached Rei, clearing her throat. “Anyway, I’m Ichika Sato. I’m the accountant here. I’ll be happy to assist you if you want to join.” She turned over to Denji, “Right, Denji, how did you meet Rei? Are you harassing her?”

“EHHH?! I’d never do something like that. It’s a long story. I just wanted to help Rei here figure out some things.”

“And that would be?”

Denji shook his head. “Ask her,” he said as he turned his gaze to Rei.

“Ah, another senpai told me I should pay a visi-“

“Looking for place to join?” Ichika inquired.

“Not really?”

“Did you meet Yuta on your way?”

“O-oh, you know him?”

“Sigh. What am I going to do with you?” Ichika said, her hand on her brow, disappointed.

Denji just intently watched the exchange between the two as he stood there. He didn’t dare interrupt their conversation, as curious as he was about what was going on.

“Anyway, do you want to look around? I’ll give you a tour.” Ichika said. “Put these here first,” she continued, grabbing the papers in Rei’s hand and quickly placing them on the top of a table.

“I-,” before Rei could even mumble a word, Ichika hastily took her hand and dragged her out of the room.

"Where are we going?" she asked, as if she were a child being abducted by a stranger. Her eyes widened as she stared at Ichika, perplexed, waiting for an answer.

Ichika didn’t respond and just kept walking as she held Rei’s hand. Rei just followed along, and behind them was Denji. Rei just let the whole situation be owing to the fact that there’s a familiar figure behind. Meanwhile, Denji motioned for Rei to just go with it, as if he has a sneaky plan behind.

They arrived on the second floor, where there were various rooms. There were students outside chatting or simply attending meetings with piles of papers and what seemed to be other club-related materials.

The group came into a halt.

“Okay, here we have rooms for over a hundred of student clubs and organizations,” Ichika said turning to Rei as she continued to hold her hand. “This building is primarily under the control of students." If you noticed the printers on the first floor, the students use them to create leaflets to attract new members as well as other things like printing notes and other study guides.”

Rei scanned the entire floor, conscious that her hand was still being held. She remained silent.

“Rei, are you listening?”

“Ah, yeah,” she replied, after coming to her senses.

“So, basically, we use this building for club offices and meetings. The Student Hall Management Committee and its counter services and management operates here.”

“Oh, Ichika, there’s the Chief maybe he can explain it to Rei,” Denji whispered. He then approached a middle-aged man. After talking to him they went to Ichika and Rei.

“Oh, chief,” Ichika said. “Right, Rei, this is our Chief of Personnel, he supports the committee trainees so they can be promoted to staff.”

“Hello, nice to meet you. Are you looking to join us?” the chief asked Rei.

“I, uhh-”

Denji and Ichika watched her stutter. Rei just looked at the lady next to her not knowing what to say and then casually taking a glance at their intertwined hands. Why is she still holding her hand, she questioned. It's not like she’s a child who might get lost or anything.

“Maybe I should give you a rundown of what the Hall Committee does here?” the chief said.

Ichika looked at Rei, anticipating her response. Rei returned her gaze with a slight nod.

“Well, then,” the chief said, clapping his hands. “The Student Hall Committee is an organization that makes important decisions regarding the operation of the Student Hall and Campus Plaza. The Student Hall and Campus Plaza are important facilities for students' independent and self-governing activities on campus, and should reflect the opinions of the entire university. The Student Hall Committee meets at least once a month, and important issues such as budget, personnel, opening hours, and regulations are discussed and decided at the meetings.”

Denji observed Rei's gaze flitting about as if she were growing impatient with the chief's protracted and in-depth explanation.

“Daily operations are entrusted to the Student Hall Management Committee by the Student Hall Committee,” continued the chief.

Rei began staring blankly ahead, prompting Denji to interrupt the chief.

“Chief, maybe skip those parts for now.”

"Sorry, chief, I think this kid’s getting bored." Ichika said, raising her hand that was holding Rei's, prompting the latter to return her attention to the group.

"Oh, I thought I saw something,” said Rei, looking at their hands still intertwined, reminding her that they have been holding hands for a while now. Rei then looked at Ichika, “A-are we still- what's?”

“Oh, sorry, I just got carried away," said Ichika as she released her hand.

Denji simply stood there contemplating the relationship between these two.

“All right. Should we continue miss?” The chief asked, looking at Rei as he waited for her response, inquiring about her name, but the latter didn’t respond, prompting Ichika to nudge her.

“Ah, it’s Rei,” she said. “And I think I get you. To sum it up, the Student Hall Committee entrusts the day-to-day management of the Student Hall to the Student Hall Management Committee?” Just saying these words depleted her energy.

Ichika turned to face Rei after simply repeating what she had said earlier.

“Yes! In any case, if you want to join, you will be trained as an apprentice to learn every aspect of the operation. You will be trained here in the office, but you can also be trained online if you wish," the chief continued, looking at Rei, who gave a slight nod despite looking tired. “Apprentices are expected to be promoted provisionally within 3 months, but may be promoted over a longer period of time.”

“But what do you do here?” Rei asked out of nowhere, drawing Denji's attention to her for initiating a question.

Denji acted as if coughing. “I got it, chief, if you have something to do, I’ll just explain the rest. I’ll take it from here.”

“Oh, alright. I do have a lot of work schedules to prepare.”

"Thank you for your hard work, chief," Denji said, saluting the man.

Denji sighed in relief. “That would have taken forever if I hadn’t taken over.”

“The chief does get passionate when it comes to Student Committee,” said Ichika.

Anyway, Rei, continuing, our activities here consist of two parts. Namely, counter services and management which Ichika mentioned earlier. At the counter, we do administrative tasks like lending keys and equipment. We also do patrols around the campus before closing time. And as for the management part, Ichika you wanna take this?”

"Oh, okay, I'll make it brief. The committee has six departments: chair, accounts, facilities, secretary, personnel, and general affairs. Each department has a chief of staff.

“Why does it have to be six?”

“To divide the work, of course. But all the other staff members work in all departments. This allows us to have staff available as needed and to collaborate with the committee as a whole.”

“Ah.”

Also, you get paid per hour for your work during your apprenticeship.” Ichika paused to make sure Rei was listening and continued, “Working at a student hall building and patrolling have different pay scales.”

“I don’t think money’s a problem here. I mean, look at her watch and headphones hanging around her neck,” Denji said, teasing Rei, giving her a sweet smile, as he noticed her eyes were beginning to become gloomy, possibly from tiredness. He has a gut feeling that this girl isn’t your ordinary girl.

Rei touched the headphones on her neck. “Ah, this. My sister gave it to me.”

“Sister?”

"Kiko?" Ichika said, biting her lip. She began to flush a bright red, but her face showed mournful eyes, as if she was yearning for something.

Rei was taken aback but kept her cool. She was more surprised by Ichika's reaction than by how she was familiar with that name. She just stared at her, examining her expression, perplexed by her reaction.

Ichika felt Rei's gaze on her and tried to ignore it by avoiding her questioning stares. "Ahahaha, Rei, are you tired?" she said, regaining her composure. “You must be weary of the information overload?”

“I should probably leave.”

"Yeah, you should,” Ichika said as she noticed Rei’s starting to look downcast. The group started to head to the ground floor, and Ichika continued, “By the way, Rei, if ever, you will be required to train at the counter. If the Student Hall Committee approves your application, you will be promoted to a Steering Committee member.”

As the group walked, they passed a room that seemed to be another facility. When a keyboard piano was brought into the room, Denji muttered, "Look, Rei, we also haveave a music room here for practice. You like music, don't you? You're always wearing something in your ears. "

Rei gritted her teeth at the sight and hurriedly walked away.

Ichika noticed this. "Denji!" and quickly followed Rei.

“What’d I do?” he asked looking confused.

“I-I’ll leave for now.” Rei said and turned back after the two escorted her out of the building.

Ichika glared at Denji and returned to the building.

With trembling hands, Rei put on her headphones. “What’s wrong with them?”

Denji stood back and watched her walk away, concerned.