Post by Sakagami Tomoyo on Nov 20, 2011 15:29:12 GMT -6
Date: May 8th
Time: 08:35 am
Time: 08:35 am
Sakagami Tomoyo
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It was hard to believe a girl like her, who, less than two years ago, once tore aimlessly through the farther reaches of the city, the shadows of which harbored some of the most contemptible youths of Japanese society, was now dutifully seated at her desk during homeroom, anxiously awaiting the results of the student council election.
Those who knew what kind of person she used to be would have found the scene bizarre, unsuitable, and perhaps even a joke. Her classmates found the scene to be quite the opposite; Sakagami Tomoyo was the one person who naturally seemed fit to win the role of student council president, or such was the way she was seen in the eyes of the students at this school.
Any minute now, the PA system would echo through the room with the results of yesterday’s voting. Wanting to confirm that her body was reacting just as nervously to match how she felt, she pressed her balled-up fist to her chest and felt her heart beating rapidly within.
What if I don’t win? she worried, her lips a tight line.
Being here... would I have any purpose left in this school?
If that happened, she wouldn’t know what to do. Tomoyo could barely fathom the possibility of her name not being called. She only knew that she didn’t want to have any painful doubts.
Tomoyo wanted to feel confident. She wanted to think she had the support of her friends and the rest of the student body. And she did; she knew she did. Even so, despite all the reassurance she received in the form of good wishes and pledges of support to her campaign each and every day, she couldn’t fully liberate herself from her concerns on the morning of the election results.
Tomoyo glanced about the sunlit room restlessly. Her friends, noticing her uncharacteristic lack of calmness, smiled at her and supported her in the way any good friends would. The time passed in that manner, finding a shoulder to lean on in the form of her friends’ words, and she found herself a tad bit more at ease by the time the melodious tone of the PA system rang through the loudspeaker.
The entire class quieted down to a hushed murmur.
Looking somewhat like a meerkat, Tomoyo sat up straight with her eyes wide, her head raised, and her lips parted in a small “o” as she listened for the voice over the loudspeaker. Quiet excitement filled the room. Everyone was listening, yearning to hear who would be the ones to lead the school and its students for the next nine months.
“Attention,” a female’s voice crackled over the intercom, “the student council election ballots have been tallied.”
This was it. This was the moment of truth. All her efforts of the past month... were they going to culminate in success or in failure? The entrance exams, her two months spent in this school, the endless hours of campaigning? Had it all been worthwhile? Tomoyo, drawing in a sharp breath, suddenly found it much more difficult to sit still.
“ The new student council president is...”
Tomoyo allowed her eyelids to fall like curtains and she sought solace in the quiet darkness underneath them. She brought her balled-up fist to her chest again, feeling the rapid rhythm of the obligatory drum roll.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
She swore her heart was beating so fast that it would shut down from overworking itself, but the wait was painstakingly slow and almost torturous. She found it nearly impossible to breathe; it was like her air was getting caught in her throat... or maybe it was that she forgot how to breathe?
If I win... I’ll be really happy.
That was the one thought that rose above all her other thoughts in her overloaded mind. It was a simple-minded thought; the only kind that was possible when nothing else was certain.
“Sakagami Tomoyo-san, 533 votes.”
Her name.
Tomoyo's vivid eyes shot open and sweet relief rushed through her deprived lungs.
I’m...
Her entire face lit up like a child's and her head became light with euphoria and the floor, ceiling, and students all melted away around her.
I’m the student council president now.
And once again, her world was back in motion.