An Unusual Friendship (Misha x Hanako; Complete)

[Hanako Fancopter]

A fan fiction inspired by a goofy smut fic that I memed on the discord. There's no smut in here (yet), since if I do this, I would make it as a real "route" for the titular pairing instead of just a horny one-shot. This is what I would consider the prologue or first chapter which only hints at the main couple. May or may not continue depending on how it's received and whether or not I feel like it.

UPDATE: Welp, I finished "Act 1" and got a better idea of what I'm doing here. This is basically going to be a "route" focusing on a particular pairing, with 4 acts (I hope) and all that jazz, but between two of the girls instead of using Hisao. Response has been great so far so I definitely plan to continue. I've used my Act 1 to establish some form of contact between all the characters, set up the social situation you see at the start of the game proper, and hint towards the main couple. Hopefully I can get Act 2 done in a month as well.

UPDATE: Got Act 2 in less than a month! Going by the feedback, I had a couple rough spots, but overall I'm still feeling pretty good about the project. My pace will probably slow down soon, possibly by quite a lot, as the summer closes out for me. I'm glad I got this far with the time that I had. I don't know how long Act 3 will take, but I look forward to writing it!

UPDATE: Staring at Chapter 45 like, wow, I forgot to even add more updates for acts 3 & 4. I've written well over 100k words now. It's kind of nutty to me. I think the story is far from perfect. There's some things I probably could have done better and I worry that perhaps I've tried to stuff too many things into too small of a space. But, at this point, it is what it is--overall I'm still pretty happy with how it's turned out, and I plan to see it through. Chapter 50 is the goal as the last chapter (may or may not be an epilogue to follow).

NOTE: This fic begins sometime in April or May of the same year that the VN takes place in. While I've done my best to stick to canon where it's relevant, some details from the game may be changed, such as the timing of certain events referenced in it.

ACT I: Excavation

Chapter 1: Meeting
Chapter 2: Acquaintance
Chapter 3: Departure
Chapter 4: Confession
Chapter 5: Alternative
Chapter 6: Consideration
Chapter 7: Rescue
Chapter 8: Reflection

ACT II: Framing

Chapter 9: Premonition
Chapter 10: Continuation
Chapter 11: Deflection
Chapter 12: Confrontation
Chapter 13: Connection
Chapter 14: Mishap
Chapter 15: Recovery
Chapter 16: Intermission
Chapter 17: Communion
Chapter 18: Divulgence
Chapter 19: Plunge

ACT III: Foundation

Chapter 20: Aftermath
Chapter 21: Union
Chapter 22: Morning
Chapter 23: Concern
Chapter 24: Blunder
Chapter 25: Solidarity
Chapter 26: Experience (Adult Content Warning)
Chapter 27: Acceptance
Chapter 28: Judgment
Chapter 29: Expedition
Chapter 30: Penance
Chapter 31: Outreach
Chapter 32: Tension
Chapter 33: Reassurance (Adult Content Warning)

ACT IV: Formation

Chapter 34: Proposition
Chapter 35: Remembrance
Chapter 36: Instruction
Chapter 37: Structure
Chapter 38: Celebration
Chapter 39: Temptation
Chapter 40: Uncertainty
Chapter 41: Reprieve (Adult Content Warning)
Chapter 42: Reckoning
Chapter 43: Deliberation
Chapter 44: Resolution
Chapter 45: Assessment
Chapter 46: Accord
Chapter 47: Relaxation
Chapter 48: Adventure (Adult Content Warning)
Chapter 49: Companions
Chapter 50: Conclusion

Epilogue: Hindsight

Halloween Bonus Chapter

[Hanako Fancopter]

Chapter 1: Meeting

Misha sat by the open window, enjoying the cool breeze. A lock of long brown hair twirled idly around one finger while her other hand tapped out a rhythm on the windowsill. The constant signing she performed throughout each day made it feel weird to ever leave her hands idle, even when she wasn’t translating for Shizune. The president was currently rummaging around for something or other in a storage desk, having promised that today she had a “surprise” for Misha and the other council members.

“Maybe it’s something for me!” Misha hoped out loud, knowing that Shizune couldn’t hear her.

The distinct creak of the door opening cut through the air. Misha knew who had come in before she turned to look; the tap of Lilly’s cane was impossible to miss.

“Hi, Lilly~! Don’t worry, nothing’s moved around today!” Misha said.

“Thank you, Misha,” she replied, blue eyes staring at nothing as she made her way over to a familiar seat, no longer needing her cane now that she knew the room’s layout.

Misha hopped down from the window and half-sat, half-leaned against Lilly’s desk, now tapping her light tune into its surface instead.

“Late again, Lilly! Shicchan’s gonna be maa-ad~!”

“I think she’ll forgive me if it was to recruit a new member. Well, a possible new member.”

“Oh!! Who is it, who is it, hm~? Is it that boy with the glasses and the scarf? He sure was asking us a lot of questions about the council the other day!”

“No, not him… Please, come in.”

Lilly turned towards the door and gave a welcoming gesture with her hand. Misha noticed that Lilly hadn’t closed it after her like usual… instead, something was holding it open. No, someone! A pair of thin fingers curled around the door’s edge and a single wide eye peeked out above them, most of the girl’s face hidden by deep purple hair.

“Hm~? Who’s there?”

“H-hello…”

The mystery girl walked around the door and took a couple tentative steps into the room. Her long, purple hair and matching eye immediately struck Misha as pretty, but there was something off with her demeanor. The poor girl held one hand up to her chin while looking down at the floor, her shoulders visibly trembling—she was clearly afraid of something, although Misha had no idea what. Was there a bug somewhere that they had missed? Misha looked briefly around, but couldn’t spot anything scary or gross… just the same old club room, nothing in it but Shizune’s oblivious backside, still fiddling around with her “surprise.”

“Misha, this is my good friend, Hanako. She’s interested in the student council,” Lilly said.

“Is she~? Oh, are you, are you, hm~?” Misha asked her.

“U-um… I g-guess…” Hanako said meekly.

“You… guess?” Misha repeated. Then, after a brief pause, she crossed her arms and turned her face up in laughter. “Wahaha~!”

Hanako looked up from the floor for the first time, genuinely confused by Misha’s laughter. Lilly took the opportunity to stand up and take Hanako’s hand, gently guiding her a bit further into the room and closing the door behind her.

“We can always decide later, of course. Things haven’t been too… lively, as of late, so I thought it might be good for everyone if Hanako joined us for a meeting. Just to get out a—err, to see what we do.”

“Hm~? What was that again?” Misha asked, confused by Lilly’s sudden switching of her last statement.

Before Lilly could answer, all three girls jumped as an unnaturally sharp snap resounded throughout the room. Shizune had finally turned around, looking equal parts surprised and skeptical towards the new person standing in her council room. Lilly sighed, for her part looking equal parts frustrated and resigned to the situation. The blind girl had asked Shizune to respect her sensitive ears several times by now, but the message never seemed to get through Misha. Either that, or the president was just that stubborn…

Shizune was already signing away at Lilly and Hanako. Misha pushed hastily off of the desk and took up a familiar stance between the two parties, forming the third point of a triangle as Hanako shrunk back behind Lilly, cowering away from Shizune’s fierce glare. Misha noticed that Shizune seemed like she was trying not to look right at Hanako, which was quite strange for Shizune, but she was too focused on her interpreting duties to give it much thought.

“Umm, what are you doing here? Who is this?” Misha asked Lilly, automatically speaking for Shizune while simultaneously trying to sign back to her the very answers to those questions. The attempt to speak both sides simultaneously didn’t work out very well, causing Misha to give a nervous laugh as she stopped and gave it another try, this time focusing only on her sign language. Lilly waited patiently while Hanako looked everywhere except at Shizune. The obvious questions were soon cleared up, but Shizune had another one to follow.

“Well then~!” Misha proclaimed, puffing her chest out and turning to Hanako with her hands on her hips, getting back into her familiar groove as Shizune’s mouthpiece. “If you’re really going to join the student council, Shicchan wants to know what skills and qual—qual-i-fies? Qual-if-fie… Qualifiers! What skills and qualifiers you have~!”

Hanako had nothing to say to this, and Lilly was looking more displeased by the second.

“Rika quit just last week, and Saki has missed the last two meetings. It looks like she won’t be coming to this one, either. We’re getting a little too short on members to be giving them entrance exams, aren’t we?” Lilly asked rhetorically. “But, I suppose… Hanako plays board games, for one. She’s rather good at chess. Surely our esteemed president can appreciate that?”

Shizune paused at this, as if considering how to react to Lilly’s deft riposte. Then, her eyes lit up and a grin spread across her face, clearly having landed on an idea.

“Is that so?” Misha asked, relaying Shizune’s curt response. She gave Lilly and Hanako her best attempt at a serious face, trying to grill a response out of them without realizing that the question was, like Lilly’s, entirely rhetorical.

“E-Err…” Hanako started, settling on just pointing at Shizune instead of continuing. Misha turned back to see Shizune holding up a large box decorated with detailed pictures of old-timey soldiers charging through cannonfire with their muskets. The surprise! Misha had completely forgotten. This must be it… a new game? The word “RISK” was printed across the top half of the game box in huge, bold red letters.

“Risk?” Misha asked aloud, more to herself than anyone else.

[The game of global domination!] Shizune signed excitedly to her, after setting the box down on a nearby desk. She began to push others together to form a makeshift table that they could all sit at, assuming that everyone present would play.

“Hm? What is it?” Lilly asked.

“It’s called ‘Risk.’ The game of global domination!” Misha proclaimed, her voice matching the excitement in Shizune’s quick movements.

“Oh dear. That does sound like a game Shizune would enjoy… I’m afraid we may not have the time today, though. We were expecting something a bit less… involved,” Lilly said, decidedly not matching Misha and Shizune in enthusiasm.

Hanako, on the other hand, looked like something other than a deer in headlights for the first time since entering the room. She was clearly still nervous but even Misha could see the spark of interest in her eyes.

“I-is it… like ch-chess?” Hanako asked, taking an unconscious step out from behind Lilly’s shoulder.

“Huh? Sure, sure~! It’s just like chess! Wahaha~!” Misha declared. “Shicchan will show us how to play. It’ll be lots of fun!”

Lilly sighed.

“You don’t know how to play, Misha?” she asked in a defeated voice.

“Nope, I’ve never seen this game before. It looks fun though. And it’s really big! Wo-ow~! Here, Hacchan, come sit by me! Yay~!”

Misha took Hanako’s hand and pulled her towards the table where Shizune was setting up the game board. Hanako gasped and jumped slightly in surprise, causing Misha to pause and look back, but Misha just smiled at her and insisted.

“It’s okay! Come on, let’s play, let’s play~!” Misha repeated.

“Oh… O-okay!”

Lilly picked up her cane and tapped her way over to the other three, the last to take a seat around the board. Hanako picked up a baggy of small plastic soldiers and began examining them curiously while Misha began signing to Shizune about the game rules.

“How complex does this game look, Hanako?” Lilly asked.

“U-um… I don’t kn-know. It’s a really big map of the w-world… so… a lot, I g-guess.”

“My, my. Chess is already enough for me, I think. Perhaps I’ll sit this out and make us some tea.”

Shizune responded immediately upon Misha’s signing of this idea.

“Participation is mandatory for all council members, Lilly~! Shicchan says, since Hacchan is so good at games, she can move your pieces around for you!”

Lilly’s frown deepened.

“Misha, please tell Shizune that this board isn’t made for me,” Lilly said, moving a hand gently across the board’s smooth surface to emphasize its lack of any ridges or bumps that she could use to navigate.

“Wahaha~! Shicchan knows that, silly! She says it’s a map of the Earth. You know that, don’t you?”

“Actually, I’m not—”

“Don’t worry about it! It’ll be fine! Me and Hacchan will take care of everything! Isn’t that right~?” Misha continued, cutting over Lilly’s protests and smiling at Hanako. The purple-haired girl gave a small grin and nodded in response, unable to stay completely sullen in the face of Misha’s enormous smile.

“We could still use some tea though! Puh-lease! I still gotta learn the rules so there’s a few minutes!” Misha continued.

“Maybe you can tell Shizune that if she wants some tea, then she should—”

“Oh, sorry, that wasn’t Shicchan. I wanted some tea for everyone! Ah, but Shicchan does say we better not spill it on her new game!”

Lilly looked ready to keep protesting, but after a pause, she seemed to reconsider and then just complied with a gentle sigh. With Shizune obsessing over her new toy and Lilly’s realization that Hanako was enjoying herself a bit after all, the air in the room seemed to get considerably lighter as teacups were set out and the game began. Looking for an ambitious early conquest, Shizune set up as many troops as she could in the Americas. Misha declared that they were all from Japan and therefore placed her forces in East Asia, leaving Hanako and Lilly to spread out in the center of the world.

Misha only had a tenuous grasp on the rules, but she was more than content to simply declare her intentions and then let Shizune roll dice for all the battles in her stead. Likewise, Lilly couldn’t do any more than give such general orders as “I’d like to expand in Europe,” but Hanako was a quick enough study to carry these orders out well enough. Lilly and Hanako quickly formed an axis consisting of Lilly in Europe and Hanako in Africa, while Shizune conquered the western hemisphere uncontested and Misha held most of Asia (with many of her troops worthlessly stationed at her “empire’s capital” in Japan, deep behind her front lines).

[Hey Shicchan, they’re working together and not attacking each other!] Misha signed.

[Of course they are. Lilly can’t really play, so Hanako has both their troops combined, practically speaking.] Shizune answered.

[Does she? Wow, Hacchan really is good at games, isn’t she? She’s as strong as both of us put together!]

[No, I want it this way. It’s better to have a stronger opponent who can really challenge me.]

[Well then let me help! We’ll team up and squish her in between us!]

“My, my. Is there something we should know about it?” Lilly asked, seemingly able to detect their signing through the long silence it had created.

Shizune glared daggers at her. Misha wondered if it annoyed Shizune that she couldn’t pressure Lilly with her stares, since Lilly couldn’t see her face.

“No, no, nothing~! Sor-ry!” Misha answered. “Shicchan says there’s no teams in this game. So we all have to attack each other! Wahaha~!”

“Do we?” Lilly asked, turning to Hanako.

“U-um, maybe… I-I looked at the r-rulebook, but I-I don’t remember th-that…”

She took the rulebook and began to look at it, but Shizune snatched it away from her and started flipping through it for herself, causing Hanako to yelp in shock and look down.

[Shicchan! Don’t scare her like that!]

[This is war, Misha! And it’s my book!]

Misha frowned at this and gave Hanako an apologetic look as Shizune continued turning the pages until she found the one she wanted. She turned the book around to face Hanako and held it up to her, pointing to a particular passage.

“See! It says only one player can win!... Does it?” Misha said, looking at Hanako for confirmation.

“W-well, it does…”

Shizune closed the rulebook and set it back down, considering herself the victor on the matter.

“I-It didn’t say players c-can’t team up… e-earlier in the game…” Hanako continued meekly.

“Well, well. Isn’t that interesting?” Lilly commented.

This drew a scowl from Shizune, but instead of pressing the issue any further on its current front, she decided to take a different angle of attack.

“… Shicchan says she’ll just take us all on and win anyways! Wahaha~!”

“I suppose she can try,” Lilly said. Misha chose not to sign this particular comment back to Shizune, wanting to get back to playing the game.

The world war now raged on two main fronts; across the two major oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific. Shizune made an ambitious attempt to strike out at both Asia and Africa at the same time, but with most of Misha’s army already sitting in Japan, this gave Misha good reason to “defend her capital” without diverting any forces at all to attack Lilly or Hanako. Hanako, too, seemed more than happy to maneuver both her and Lilly’s troops against Shizune without antagonizing Misha. Shizune’s attack forces were quickly ground up and the Americas were left wide open to counter-invasion.

Before they knew it, Shizune had been almost completely wiped off the board; Misha attacked North America and Hanako sent her own troops into South America from Africa while attacking North America with Lilly’s men by way of Greenland.

“Hm. Shicchan says we got lucky dice rolls against her!... Isn’t luck a kind of skill, though? Anyway! She says, she says, she’ll still win the war, even if you won this battle! Great job, Hacchan~!”

“I wonder if there will be another ‘battle’ after today…” Lilly remarked.

“A-another one? Can we pl-play again sometime?” Hanako asked.

“We’re not done with this game yet. I’m out of it, but you still have to see who wins between all of you!”

“W-wait, what? Y-you’re not—”

“Oh, sorry, that was what Shicchan said. Wahaha~!”

“Must we really finish the game? I think it’s getting late, and I’m rather tired… can we declare a peace treaty?” Lilly asked.

“Since Shicchan can’t play anymore anyways, I don’t think she’ll mind… haha, she says we’re being sissies!”

“I don’t mind being a sissy. We did conquer the globe, in our way.”

“I-I don’t want to fight you,” Hanako added.

“It’s settled then. A truce! And we divide up the world here!” Misha declared, slamming a palm down on the Atlantic ocean for emphasis. Her gesture caused game pieces to go flying, many landing on the floor. “Whoops! I guess they all got blown up by cannons! Wahaha~!”

Shizune stayed to help pick up the pieces and put the game away, but her sour mood was tangible to all, and she made her way out swiftly and silently when they were done.

“Ahh. Poor Shicchan. She doesn’t like to lose!” Misha said, scratching the back of her head as she watched Shizune’s figure disappear down the hall.

“It’s a shame she feels that she must always win. None of us won, but none of us lost, either. Only our devoted president did,” Lilly said. “You seemed to enjoy the game, Hanako.”

“Y-yes, I had fun. I-I didn’t know the student council played board games at th-their meetings!”

“Wahaha~! This was special, because Shicchan bought a new game, she really wanted to try it out. We have to do a lot of paperwork and stuff too! But yeah, sometimes we can just have fun. We’re in charge, so we decide!”

“I th-thought it would be bigger. If it’s, if it’s only th-this… maybe I can do it…” Hanako said.

“Well, we used to have more members, back before—well, it used to be bigger,” Lilly said.

“B-before what?”

“Nothing. It just used to be more people. Let’s go, shall we? I haven’t even begun my homework yet…”

The short walk back to the girls’ dorms consisted mostly of Misha talking at Lilly and Hanako, neither of which seemed to mind, occasionally giving brief answers or nodding along. They began with Lilly walking in between the other two girls, instinctively placing herself between Hanako and anyone else, but at some point Misha snuck around behind her and put Hanako into the middle instead. When they got to Hanako’s room, Misha put a hand on Hanako’s shoulder, which no longer trembled at its touch.

“It was fun to meet you, Hacchan! Come back and hang out with us some more! The Student Council can always use more people, yes, we can! Nighty-night~!”

Hanako gave a weak smile in response.

“Thank you, Misha.”

After Hanako had gone into her room, Lilly and Misha walked a little ways further down the hall together. It took Misha a moment to notice that this was odd, because Lilly’s room was in the opposite direction. Having arrived at her own, she put a hand on the knob and turned to Lilly quizzically.

“I wanted to thank you too,” Lilly said, giving Misha the most genuine smile she’d shown all day.

“For helping you take over the world? Wahaha~! You got this one for free, but next time all bets are off!”

“No, it’s not about the game. Well, it’s not mainly the game. To be honest with you… that’s the longest I’ve ever been able to get Hanako in a room with someone besides me and Akira. She’s been taking private lessons while she gets used to life here at Yamaku, so she rarely sees other people. I think she had some fun tonight, and I also think that’s because of you, Misha.”

“Really? What did I do?”

“You just played with her. You didn’t ask about the scars.”

“Scars? Oh, those! Wahaha, I barely noticed! Why would those matter? Hacchan’s a cutie~!”

“I see. Well, not everyone thinks so. I’m glad you do. Good night, Misha.”

“Night! Bring Hacchan around again sometime. Or I’ll make you play us in Risk without her! Wahaha~!”

Chapter 2

[Mirage_GSM]

Hmm... This wouldn't really work without a major falling out between Misha and Shizune in the time of the VN, but it does kinda work as an alternate timeline here.
Not really much to say about the story yet - if you decide to continue it - but it would be a good start if you do.

[WorldlyWiseman]

This is cute! It may too easily solve the problem of Hanako finding Shizune and Misha overwhelming, but it's not impossible that it could come up later.

You may as well call this Chapter One, though, if you're continuing the story from here.

[Hanako Fancopter]

Made some minor edits to the first part and wrote another.

Hmm... This wouldn't really work without a major falling out between Misha and Shizune in the time of the VN, but it does kinda work as an alternate timeline here.
Not really much to say about the story yet - if you decide to continue it - but it would be a good start if you do.

Yeah, I would definitely call it an alternate timeline. I don't plan on deviating wildly from the game's setting or events, but I'm sure I'll end up contradicting canon in small details if nothing else.

This is cute! It may too easily solve the problem of Hanako finding Shizune and Misha overwhelming, but it's not impossible that it could come up later.

You may as well call this Chapter One, though, if you're continuing the story from here.

Yeah, when I first wrote it I didn't know if I was gonna skip way ahead to around the time of the VN or not. I'm still pretty much making it up as I go along, but I decided to continue from here without such a large skip, so yeah, it should probably just be Chapter 1.

---

Chapter 2: Acquaintance

Misha hummed to herself as she walked down the hall. The rest of the student body were in afternoon classes, leaving the dorms deserted. As for her, she had more important things to do than go over math problems. Namely, Student Council work! Coloring in posters was a lot more fun than fiddling with numbers, plus she only got to do one of them with Shizune. She was just about at her own door when another one creaked open a short ways down.

“Hm~? Who’s that? Hello~!” Misha said, bouncing over to the doorway before its owner had even emerged.

“Ahh!!”

“Oh, Hacchan! Hi~! This is your room, huh?”

“U-umm, h-hi, Misha.”

Hanako stood a couple steps back from the half-open door, having abandoned it as soon as she heard someone’s voice. Misha opened it the rest of the way and planted herself triumphantly in its place. With feet apart and hands on her hips, her posture contrasted that of Hanako, who looked down at the floor with a hand clutching at the top of her blouse. The room was plain, with no decorations to speak of and only the essentials in terms of possessions. A doll rested on a shelf as the one exception. It was unassuming but pretty, drawing the eye back once it was noticed—just like Hanako herself, Misha thought.

“What are you doing in here? Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” Misha asked. “As a member of the Student Council, I will have to charge you a fine if you’re skip-ping~!”

“R-r-really?!”

“Wahaha~! No, silly! So what’re you doing? Don’t worry, I won’t tell Shicchan!”

“I-I’m done for today, so I was just going… t-to the library…”

“Done? How are you—oh, that’s right! Lilly said you’re doing tutoring instead of classes. Wow, you get to skip regular classes just like us, and you don’t have to do any council work either. That’s amazing, Hacchan~!”

“I-I guess…”

“But! There is one thing you don’t get to do!”

“Wh-what’s that?”

“Hang out with me~! Come on, Shicchan is waiting for me in the council room. You can help us out today!”

“I-I don’t know… where’s Lilly?”

“She’s still in class. Not everyone comes to every little thing, y’know. Today, we’re coloring in posters! You’re not doing anything else, right? C’mon, it’ll be fun~!”

“Oh…” Hanako trailed off, the reason for Lilly’s absence from this particular task now clear. She stood quietly for a moment, glancing around her room as if searching for some other way out. The silence would’ve been profoundly awkward to most people, but Misha just waited in the doorway, beaming implacably at Hanako.

“O-okay…” Hanako said, finally looking up at Misha and stepping towards her.

“Yay~! Wahaha! Let’s go!”

Misha offered a hand and Hanako tentatively took it, allowing Misha to lead her out of her room.

“I just need to get these markers from my room. One sec!”

“S-so…” Hanako started, her voice causing Misha to pause mid-step.

“Hm~?”

“…Can we pl-play Risk again?”

“…Wahaha~! Maybe, maybe! I bet Shicchan would take you on. She’s gonna want her revenge!”

“You won’t pl-play?”

“Maybe, Hacchan, maybe~! I don’t know until we finish our posters. Then we can bug Shicchan all we want! So let’s work hard~!”

The detour to Misha’s room prompted Hanako to look carefully in, glancing at Misha first as if checking to make sure that it was okay. For her part, Misha didn’t even notice this gesture, bounding straight inside and picking up different writing utensils from where they lay scattered on her desk. Most were markers, sure enough, but a couple were Sharpies or pens, and between the lot of them there were at least five different brands of products. The rest of the room reflected this motley assortment of colors and brands, featuring stuffed animals on the shelves, posters covering most of the walls (many of which appeared to be previous Student Council products), and more pillows on the bed than anyone could realistically need to sleep comfortably.

Misha dumped her collection of coloring sticks into a bag and swept back past Hanako, barely giving the purple-haired girl time to withdraw her head from the doorway.

“It’s good that I saw you today, Hacchan. Now you can see some more of what the Council does!”

“Yes… d-does the Council get out of class a lot?”

“Are you trying to skip even more classes? Bad, Hacchan, bad~!”

“N-n-no!”

“Waha~! It depends. When we’re busy, sometimes we have to, but Shicchan won’t do it without a good reason. Well, usually! Wahaha~! So! Do you think you’ll join?”

“L-lilly says I should, but I don’t kn-know…”

“Right! Just remember, you don’t have to be in it to help out.”

“You d-don’t?”

“Nope. You’re coming to help now, right? So you might as well join! Saki quit yesterday, so now it’s just me, Shicchan, and Lilly. We could really use a new person!”

“Oh, yes… well… M-misha, can I ask… something?”

“Hm~? Sure!”

“Wh-why do you call me… Hacchan?”

“What? Don’t be silly. That’s because you’re Hacchan!” Misha declared, as if this were the most obvious explanation possible.

“B-but, you don’t call Lilly anything…”

“No, I call her Lilly! Not nothing. That would sure be weird!”

“I m-mean, you don’t give her a, uhh… funny name, I-I guess.”

“A funny name, huh? Hm…”

Misha put a finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling as they continued walking, seeming genuinely lost in thought.

“Licchan… Lilly-chan? Li-nyan, Licchi, Lillito…” she mumbled to herself, before finally shaking her head and sighing in frustration.

“See, Hacchan, none of those work. They’re not any good! L is just a really tough first name letter, I guess. Wahaha~!”

“Y-yeah, I see,” Hanako agreed, understanding the discrepancy now that she had heard the options out loud. “So th-then, are you…”

“Hm~? Am I what?” Misha asked, stopping suddenly and turning to face Hanako expectantly.

“…Are you M-m-m… Mii-chan?” she asked sheepishly.

“Micchan? No, no. I’m Misha! Waha, you sure are silly, Hacchan. Now c’mon! We’re almost there!”

“Okay…” Hanako answered, not understanding this particular exception but deciding not to question the Misha logic any further.

Shizune paused as Hanako stepped into the council room after Misha, clearly not expecting this development, but her surprise faded quickly now that she’d met Hanako before. She signed something to Misha first before addressing Hanako directly.

[Is she here to help?]

[That’s right! I recruited her! Aren’t you happy?] Misha signed back.

[Are you sure this girl is fit to be on the council? She is very shy.]

[Aww, but she’s so cute! Let her help and see!]

Hanako trembled slightly as she watched this exchange, having immediately stiffened when she entered Shizune’s presence, but it was too late to turn back. Misha had immediately closed the door behind them, cutting off any potential of an easy escape… Hanako wondered if that was on purpose or not.

“Okay! So! Hacchan!” Misha said, planting her hands on her hips in her typical attempt at an authoritative pose. “Shicchan says, this will be your official audition for the Student Council. Impress her and do a good job, and you’ll become a real member. It’s a great honor, so make sure you take today very seriously!”

“A-ah! O-okay!” Hanako answered, straightening up a bit at Misha’s faux drill sergeant routine. Shizune straightened her glasses and pointed a finger at Hanako to emphasize the gravity of the situation.

They were making posters aimed at advertising the Student Council to the rest of the school and offering new members to join, but Misha hadn’t actually given Hanako any directions past that, so Hanako found herself unsure of how to proceed. She spent more time nervously watching her two Council supervisors work on their own posters than drawing hers, managing to make a frilly border around her poster in imitation of Misha’s and write the words “STUDENT COUNCIL” on it, but not much else. After five or ten minutes, Misha got up to check on her progress.

“Hacchan, what’s this? You’re going awful slow! Is something wrong?” Misha asked, leaning over Hanako as she examined the mostly blank poster.

“W-well, I-I-I just… don’t r-really know what to write. S-sorry…”

“Aww~. Don’t do that! There’s nothing to be sorry over! You just need a good idea, some inspiration! That's right~, you just need some inspiration! Like, let’s see, why did you want to join the Student Council?”

“I-I, well… I haven’t joined yet…”

“Hmm, how about… you sure liked the board game, right? How about that? Put ‘We Have Board Games!’ People love games, that’ll work, right, right~?” Misha continued, pushing past the membership issue entirely.

“I-I guess… I did like pl-playing Risk… Hmm…”

Gaining some confidence in the idea, Hanako wrote “fun RISK sessions for all members—join today!” on her poster.

“I-I don’t think we should t-tell people they’re m-mandatory, th-though…” she said, biting the tail end of the marker as she examined her work

“Of course not~! We have to lure them in first, then tell them things later. See, you got the hang of it already, Hacchan. Great job~!” Misha reassured her. “That gives me an idea, too! Keep up the good work!”

Misha returned to her own poster, seeming sure that Hanako didn’t need any further help. Despite her earlier ministrations, Misha didn’t appear to take the task terribly seriously. While she did make steady progress, she also seemed content to get up and look at Shizune or Hanako’s posters for a while, or bother Shizune with repeated attempts to initiate a sign conversation. These were mostly rebuffed by the president, who was more focused on her work. For her part, Shizune didn’t seem too interested in scrutinizing Hanako either, apparently feeling that she should work on her own.

There were only so many places around the school that were suitable for posters; after a while, Shizune decided that they probably had enough to fill those. Putting her own neat but bland creations into a tidy stack, Shizune got up and walked over to where Hanako was working, causing Hanako to jump back slightly from her current poster.

“I-It’s not done yet—oh! Sorry! I-I d-d-didn’t mean—ah!” Hanako fumbled. The good side of her face reddened in embarrassment at her lapse in attention, the accidental attempt to speak directly to Shizune making her feel foolish. Shizune simply stared, brows furrowed, revealing nothing. The president scanned her sharp eyes slowly over Hanako’s posters. They weren’t as clean and orthodox in their formatting as her own, but they were still reasonably so, and they featured more varied imagery and wording.

Finally, Shizune nodded her head in approval and gave Hanako a small smile. Hanako’s one visible eye turned towards her in bashful acknowledgment, though she still couldn’t bring herself to look directly at Shizune. Having noticed their interaction, Misha appeared beside them and began signing right away.

“Shicchan says they’re good, Hacchan. See! I knew you could do it! So that means—oh! My posters? They’re right here, Shicchan!”

Shizune did not look nearly as pleased at the results of Misha’s efforts, though she didn’t quite look angry, either. Her expression seemed to mix confusion and amusement. Most of the posters followed Hanako’s idea of advertising Risk games, but took the concept a little bit farther than she had. Misha’s posters featured cartoonish soldiers racing across misshapen imitations of Earth’s geography, sometimes pulling cannons behind them without any need of horses, and other times simply riding on top of the cannons themselves. When horses appeared, they were as likely as not to be unicorns, and Misha’s cannons seemed to fire glitter and rainbows more often than real munitions.

“Wahahahaha~! Aren’t they great?!... What? They’re good, but we can’t use them? Awww! Shicchan, why not! Look, this one here has Hana-chan! She’s so cute~!”

Sure enough, one poster featured a chibi general Hanako ordering her troops forward to overrun a similarly stylized Shizune, who was holding up a white flag in response.

“Me? Wh-wha?!”

[Why does it show me surrendering? You know we can’t put that up!]

“It’s the game from the other day!... See, Hacchan doesn’t want to use it either! Whoops, I mean, that’s what Shicchan said. Well, maybe I did get carried away a bit. Wahaha~!”

“S-so we won’t use th-that one?” Hanako asked.

“Nah! Shicchan says we have enough without these. Why don’t you take this one, then? You can hang it up in your room!” Misha said, rolling up the poster with Hanako on it and handing it to her.

“O-okay…”

Hanako seemed dubious at the prospect of hanging the thing up, but she took it and tucked it under her arm nonetheless.

“A-are we… done?” she asked.

“Yep~! And, Shicchan says, congratulations! You’re an official member now~! Yay~!”

Misha clapped a couple times as if to celebrate the occasion.

“U-um, well… Misha, actually, I…” Hanako started.

“Actually?” Misha prompted.

“I-I don’t kn-know… i-i-if I-I…” Hanako continued.

“You don’t know if you’ll join after all?” Misha finished for her.

Misha frowned at Hanako’s reluctance, a rare expression for her, and one which didn’t seem to help Hanako’s indecision.

“I-I-I j-just m-mean th-that, th-th-that…” she stuttered, unable to get a thought out. Shizune stared at her with arms crossed, her gaze relentless and inscrutable as she waited for an answer.

“I… I…”

“Hm~?”

“Ivegottogodosomething!”

With that, Hanako turned and fled from the room, rolled-up poster and all. Misha scratched the back of her head, wanting to call out or follow after her, but genuinely at a loss for what she would say. Hanako’s hasty retreat had caught her completely off guard.

“Huh? But she wasn’t doing anything else today…” Misha wondered.

[I told you she was too shy. Come on, let’s put these away for tomorrow.] Shizune signed.

[Maybe we should have played Risk again instead? I really thought she would join…] Misha replied, looking crestfallen.

[If she only wants to play games every day, then she can’t be in the Council, Misha. If someone can’t even speak for herself, she can’t handle Student Council duties. We can’t just do things for them.]

[Sorry, Shicchan…]

[Well, she was Lilly’s friend. Maybe Lilly will bring her back. I didn’t get my hopes up to start with, though. You look sadder about it than me.]

[I just wanted more people to be in the Council again, Shicchan. Like it used to be. Isn’t that why we’re making these posters? I miss everyone…]

[If they wanted to be lazy and quit the Council, then they didn’t belong here, either. It’s not for just anyone. These posters are to find people who have real initiative, not bring back people who didn’t. Let’s go.]

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3

[Mirage_GSM]

You just need a good idea, some insp—in-spir-rate? In-spie… Inspiration!

I always interpreted Misha's difficulties with long words as troubles translating sign language. In the VN, Misha never has trouble with any words when speaking normally.

[VampireSurfer]

Hey nice read. The part "Why does it show me surrendering? You know we can’t put that up!" made me crack up!

[Hanako Fancopter]

Glad some people have enjoyed reading it! That really motivates me to continue. I think I'll add previous/next links and a table of contents if I make it to 5 chapters.

You just need a good idea, some insp—in-spir-rate? In-spie… Inspiration!

I always interpreted Misha's difficulties with long words as troubles translating sign language. In the VN, Misha never has trouble with any words when speaking normally.

Yeah, you're right. I'll change that bit.

Chapter 3: Departure

Misha traced a finger back and forth on the desk, each swing of her imaginary pendulum getting shorter until it stopped completely. No one had responded to the posters advertising the Student Council. They had only gotten one interaction: the words “FEMINIST PROPAGANDA” scrawled over one poster. Misha had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but whatever it was, it had immediately put Shizune into a foul mood, doubly so because there was no real way to find and punish the culprit. Misha tried to tell herself that they just hadn’t been up for long enough yet, but spending all day with an angry Shizune made it difficult to stay totally positive.

A loud snap caused Misha to jerk her finger hard against the desk’s surface, breaking the end of its nail. She winced and looked up to see Shizune glaring.

[What are you doing?] Shizune asked.

[What? Oh, sorry, I—]

Next to her finger’s tracing spot, the stack of papers they were supposed to be sorting remained untouched. Misha tried to start signing that she had simply spaced out, but Shizune’s hands kept moving, not interested in allowing an answer.

[This is no time to play around, Misha! We need to take our council duties that much more seriously now that there’s only a few of us left. We’ll have to work twice as hard if we’re going to rebuild this institution!] Shizune said, each motion cutting the air like a dagger swipe.

[I know, I know, Shicchan! I’m sorry, okay? I won’t let it happen again!]

Misha gave Shizune her best puppy-dog eyes—which were pretty powerful, as far as weaponized cuteness went—and the president’s frown lifted slightly. This reprieve only lasted a few seconds before a faint sound intruded upon the silent council room. Only Misha heard it, but Shizune immediately recognized the way she perked up in response, causing both to turn and face the door.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Lilly~!” Misha responded, glad that the third remaining member had shown up after all. She beamed at Lilly, but her face quickly fell when she noticed that Shizune’s frown had come back stronger than ever at the sight of Lilly. It was good that Lilly couldn’t see her back, Misha thought.

“Hello, Misha. I assume Shizune is here?”

“Yes, Shic—uhh, why are you late again? That’s what—”

“—Shizune wants to know,” Lilly finished for her. Misha noticed that she wasn’t looking particularly happy either, although it was harder to tell with Lilly’s composed exterior. “I was speaking with Hanako about the Student Council. Again. Although I think this will be the last time,” Lilly said.

Shizune wasted no time in beginning to sign more questions, but Lilly cut Misha off when she tried to speak them. Misha was used to Shizune cutting people off, but not Lilly. The air in the room was starting to feel heavier.

“She said that you brought her in here and made her color posters for you, then tried to pressure her into joining. Now she’s decided that she doesn’t feel comfortable with the Student Council after all. And why did I hear about these recruitment posters from her, not from you, Shizune?” Lilly asked.

“Shicchan says she didn’t need to tell you because you couldn’t help make them anyways—wait, made her? What?! No, it wasn’t like that! I didn’t make her do anything. I j-just, I saw Hacchan in the hall, and I thought she could help out, since, well…”

Misha’s voice trailed off, falling short of any good explanation. Lilly made it sound like she dragged Hanako around against her will! She hadn’t done that! Had she? She felt her cheeks flushing in embarrassment as she remembered how Hanako had started to lose her voice before running from the council room. Had she done that? She and Shizune?

“Well, perhaps if I had been invited, Hanako would have felt more comfortable. I’ve decided it’s for the best that she doesn’t join, though. If the council president feels that she doesn’t even need her vice president, then perhaps she can make do without new members after all.”

This was a strange thing for Lilly to say. She had gone from trying to recruit a friend to saying they didn’t need new members after all? Misha didn’t have time to ponder it; Shizune was signing furiously and she had to focus on translating the conversation.

“Your friend actually was pretty helpful, but she ran away from council duties in the end. That’s not really surprising, considering who she associates with~!” Misha said, her voice staying in its default upbeat tone despite the implication of the words.

“One can hardly be blamed for missing council activities when they aren’t told about them, can they?” Lilly responded.

“If you had any real in-it-ee-ative, you would suggest some activities yourself~!”

“Is that so? My, my. I’m surprised I was invited to today’s meeting at all. I’m not much use when it comes to sorting papers either, I’m afraid.”

“Then maybe you should have just skipped out like everyone else~!... Wait, really, Shicchan?”

Misha could see a familiar competitive glint in the president’s eyes. To Shizune, this was like another game of Risk… but it wasn’t like that to Lilly. It wasn’t like that to Misha, either. She was beginning to realize just how dangerous this conversation was, but it was too late.

“I think I will, as a matter of fact. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but talking to Hanako made up my mind. I’m quitting,” Lilly declared. Her voice quavered just a bit, offering the slightest hint of anger. For Lilly, that was practically shouting, and even Misha didn’t fail to pick up on it. Unfortunately, she couldn’t translate this tone to Shizune, who either didn’t notice or more likely, didn’t care.

“G-good! It’s time to pick a vice president who is more serious about their duties anyways. Misha will do a much better—Shicchan, no! Lilly is the vice president! Don’t—don’t do this…”

Now Misha’s voice quivered in turn, more noticeably than Lilly’s had. Shizune gave Misha an angry glare, insisting that she continue translating, but now Misha had things that she wanted to say herself.

[Shicchan, please! I don’t want Lilly to quit.]

[She made up her mind, Misha. It’s not our fault. If they are going to act this way, then we don’t need her or her skittish friend.]

[But, but… we all had fun together! Just a little while ago! Why… Why does this have to happen?]

[You’d have to ask Lilly that. If she can’t handle being part of this organization, then I can’t help that.]

Misha gave Shizune a sad frown, pleading with her face now that she had run out of words. She knew it wasn’t going to change things. Not with Shizune.

“Perhaps I should leave now,” Lilly said, puncturing the brief silence. “Misha, please tell Shizune not to bother Hanako again.”

“Lilly! Wait!” Misha said, running to her side. Shizune was still signing things, but Misha ignored her, following Lilly out into the hall. The door closed behind them, as if Shizune were using the sound of its slamming shut to finalize Lilly’s exit.

“I can show myself back to my room, thank you. I’m sure the council president has more important duties to attend than guiding a former member out,” Lilly said.

“I’m not the council president. Or the vice president!” Misha responded.

“Aren’t you? Wait… Misha?”

Lilly stopped for a moment and turned towards Misha’s voice.

“Where is Shizune?” she asked.

“She’s still in the council room. It’s… it’s just me,” Misha said.

“Really?”

“Really! Lilly, please, don’t quit! I’m sorry I scared Hacchan like that, I really didn’t mean to, I didn’t! I just wanted to help her get into things!”

“What do you mean? Didn’t Shizune tell her to come?”

“No! It was me! I didn’t tell her she had to do anything, I promise. You have to believe me!”

“…I believe you. Hanako didn’t mention that, she just said… well, I assumed it was Shizune. You and she are so rarely ever apart, Misha, and you’re always speaking for her, I simply thought…”

“No, it wasn’t Shicchan! Please, don’t be mad at her! Will you come back? I’ll take allll~ the blame! Let me say sorry to Hacchan!”

“Thank you, Misha. If you want to apologize to Hanako, I think that would be a good idea. We can walk to her room together. I don’t think I will go back to the council, though.”

“Lilly! Why not?”

Misha tried to give the puppy-dog eyes, but they were half-hearted and hollow. It hurt to say it out loud, but she knew how Lilly felt.

“You and Shicchan really don’t get along, do you?” Misha said, replacing her first question.

“No. We don’t. We haven’t, at least. Not for a while now. I don’t think the Student Council is in a very good place under Shizune. I know Shizune is your dear friend, Misha, but she can be very hard on people. I don’t think she did it on purpose, but she has caused too many people to leave.”

“I know that, I know! Everyone has left, Lilly, even you. Everyone but me… Shicchan doesn’t mean to hurt people, she just… she wants them to do their best.”

“Perhaps she does want that. But she needs to see what other people want, too.”

The rest of the short walk passed in silence, with Misha feeling too downcast to make any of her usual smalltalk. Lilly seemed content with the silence, content with the situation. Misha didn’t understand how she could always be so calm, even when bad things happened, but everything that had happened today had surprised her. She wasn’t ready for any of it. Lilly had been. She had been thinking about this for a while, she had said. Why hadn’t Misha noticed that anything was wrong? She wished she could have done something before all of this happened…

Before long they stood in front of Hanako’s door. Misha knocked twice, then waited, but there was no response.

“Umm, Hacchan, it’s me, Misha…” she started, leaning forward and speaking into the door. “I’m sorry I nagged you about joining the Student Council, and stuff… I didn’t mean to, I mean, I shouldn’t have pressed you, so… I hope you forgive me. I know you won’t join, and that’s okay. I hope we’ll still be friends~.”

Another pause, and Misha thought she could hear some kind of movement inside the room, but still there was no reply and the door stayed closed. Lilly sighed.

“Do you think she heard me?” Misha asked.

“Yes, I’m sure she did. That was very kind of you, Misha. I’ll talk to her again later. Sometimes, Hanako only wants to be alone. She needs her space.”

Lilly moved away from Hanako’s door and continued down the hallway, Misha following alongside her.

“Lilly, I guess I should say sorry to you too. She’s your friend, and you wanted her to hang out with us and have fun, but I just screwed it all up…”

“Don’t say that, Misha. I don’t think you meant to upset anyone. Hanako is… you and she are very different people. It might be hard for you to understand each other.”

“Hm~… Maybe, like you and Shicchan?”

Lilly sighed again, then allowed herself a light giggle.

“Yes. Like Shizune and I. I’d like to repeat what you said to Hanako… I hope we’ll still be friends, too, even if I’m not on the Student Council anymore. I’m sorry things turned out this way.”

“Aww, Lilly, that’s what people say when they break up~! I’ll miss you, too~!”

Misha leaned forward and gave Lilly a brief hug. The taller girl stiffened at first, but put a single hand up to Misha’s back in reciprocation before they parted.

“I’m gonna go back to Shicchan now. She’s going to get lonely if I leave her back in the council room all alone. Bye, Lilly~!”

Lilly waved goodbye as Misha turned and retreated back down the hall. It was a rare thing for Misha to get sad or upset, and at one point today she had sounded on the verge of tears, but just now she’d nearly been back to her standard, bubbly self. Lilly couldn’t understand how she could bounce back from one mood to another so easily, but perhaps that was a strength that made her uniquely equipped to deal with Shizune. It was good that someone could, because Lilly had reached the end of her rope in that department. Now she needed to settle down in her room and take a nice, long, hot…

…bath.

Chapter 2 | Chapter 4

[Hanako Fancopter]

Chapter 4: Confession

Misha returned to find Shizune hard at work with the paper-sorting, brows furrowed in concentration. She was so focused that she didn’t notice Misha’s re-entry. Misha used the opportunity to sneak around behind her and put her hands over Shizune’s eyes, sliding them up under the lenses of her glasses. Shizune jerked in surprise, causing her glasses to fly off and clatter onto the desk in front of her, then yanked Misha’s hands away and whirled around.

[Don’t do that to me when I’m working! It is NOT funny!] she signed, lips parting in silent exclamation on the word “not.”

[Sorry Shicchan! I just wanted to cheer you up a bit…] Misha replied, looking down apologetically to punctuate her signing.

Shizune sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before retrieving her glasses.

[It’s okay. You just surprised me, that’s all. But, can you please stop doing that to me? Do it to other people if you think it’s amusing. What were you doing with Lilly?]

[I was trying to tell her not to quit.]

[I thought so. Did it work?]

[No. She won’t come back, even if you asked her to, I don’t think.]

[You should have just let her go. These past couple of weeks she has done nothing but complain anyways.]

[Maybe, Shicchan. I still wanted to try, but… maybe things will be better with just the two of us, for now. At least there won’t be any more fights…]

[There might be if you don’t do something about that hair already. It’s messy again!] Shizune signed, trying to change the subject.

[It’s always messy! It looks like you got a lot of the sorting already done.] Misha countered, going for her own topic switch.

[Well, someone has to do it, since Princess Teabags couldn’t.]

[Princess Teabags?]

Misha giggled, letting out a light “wahaha” before turning to Lilly’s tea set where it rested on a corner table.

[Don’t worry, Shicchan. I won’t tell her that name if I’m translating to her!]

[You can tell her if you want to. I don’t care.]

Shizune’s eyes followed Misha’s to the tea set.

[I guess we won’t be needing that anymore.] she signed.

[I’ll take it back to her tomorrow. You don’t have to come with me.] Misha offered.

[No, I’ll do it with you. I am the Student Council president. It’s my duty to make sure her things go back to her now that she’s quit. Besides, if I don’t go with you, it’ll just look like I’m hiding from her.]

[You’re not scared of Mrs. Teabags?]

Shizune scrunched her face up in a mock scowl.

[It’s lucky for her that I don’t impound her tea set for her insubordination. She should be scared of me!]

“Wahaha!”

[That’s right! She’ll have to pay for her own tea now. No more putting it on our budget!]

[One less thing I’ll be doing for her! You know, you’re going to be the vice president now, Misha. Technically, you’re supposed to do the budget.]

Misha frowned.

[Do I have to be? I don’t know how to be a vice president!]

[Who else could it be?]

[Can’t it be you, Shicchan?]

[I can’t be the president and the vice president at the same time.]

[Hm, I guess. Alright, I’ll do it. But you have to help me do stuff! Especially budget stuff! You know I don’t like math.]

[Don’t worry, I’ll help you with it. If it’s just going to be two of us, we’ll probably do all the work together anyways.]

[Shicchan, that sounds like there won’t be anyone else! Don’t talk like that. Remember our posters? We only put them up a couple days ago!]

Now Shizune frowned.

[We just have to put mine up, too!]

Misha retrieved one of her over-exaggerated Risk advertisements from the pile they’d been left in, propping it up against the wall and making a dramatic flourish like a magician presenting a trick. Shizune forced herself to grin but her eyes were still frowning.

[Thanks, Misha. But… since even Lilly has quit, I really don’t have my hopes up. Lilly is very popular with her classmates. She will probably turn everyone against the council… we will just have to wait until there are more students. If there are any transfers next term, maybe we can snatch them up.]

[Shicchan! Lilly wouldn’t do that! Would she?]

[Wouldn’t she? I don’t mean she would lie about me or anything like that. She doesn’t have to. Just make her passive aggressive statements over the top of her tea cup that she’s sipping on, like she always does. When she started to fight with me, that was when people started quitting.]

[Passive aggressive? What does that mean?]

[It’s when someone acts like Lilly.]

[Like a tea princess?]

[Yes. Like a tea princess. You know everyone always liked the tea princess more than me.]

[Shicchan, that’s not true. People like you! They just… might not say it right to you, because you scare them! But everyone knows you do a lot of work as the Student Council president. I really think they appreciate it!]

[Maybe. Misha… can I ask you something?]

[What is it, Shicchan?]

[Do you really think that?]

[Think what?]

[That people appreciate everything the Student Council does?]

[Of course, Shicchan!]

[A while ago Lilly said that I was making too much busy work, that I had been pushing people too hard, without good reasons. Do you remember that?]

[I had to translate it for her!]

[I thought she was just being ridiculous, but we still had more people at that time. Then they began to stop coming. I didn’t want to say anything where Lilly or anyone else would see it, but I worried that people really were avoiding the council to avoid me.]

Misha waited for Shizune to continue but that was the end of the signs. Shizune’s words felt incomplete, like she had been thinking out loud and didn’t really know where to go next. She looked sad; Misha didn’t like seeing her that way. It made her feel anxious in turn. She furrowed her brow in concentration, determined to cheer Shizune up. No matter what else had happened today, she could still be here with Shizune, could still be there for her. She could at least do that much.

[You were right to say that’s ridiculous, Shicchan. I think… I think people did stop coming because they didn’t want to do work, but! That doesn’t mean it was just busy work, and it doesn’t mean they wanted to avoid you! They were used to just hanging out in here like it was any other club, so they didn’t like it when you wanted them to actually be a Student Council. So… they drove themselves away! Not you!]

Shizune’s face lifted as she watched Misha’s explanation and Misha nearly sighed in relief at her acceptance of it. Did Misha really believe what she had said? She thought she did… but right now, even if she didn’t, that didn’t matter. What was important was that she was here to support Shizune. Alone in the council room with just the two them left, it really did feel like there was no one else who would. She couldn’t feed into Shizune’s doubts at a time like this.

[Thanks, Misha. Promise me something?]

Misha beamed at Shizune.

[Anything, Shicchan~!]

[You’ll stay, and be my vice president?]

[I promise~!]

Shizune smiled as well, then leaned forward and embraced Misha, momentarily stunning her. She had never actually seen Shizune hug anyone before. It didn’t last very long but Misha still had time to return the gesture, closing her eyes and resting her head on Shizune’s shoulder until they broke away. It didn’t feel like they needed to say anything else now. The two of them turned back to the papers, working in silent contentment with each other’s company.

After finishing her stack, Misha hopped up onto the table and looked out the window behind them, then over to Shizune. The warm light of the sunset draped itself over her shoulders like a blanket. She was still working on her sorting, having finished before Misha but now double-checking to make sure she did it right. Always doing more than she needed to, Misha thought. She didn’t want to leave this room… Misha wished she could just stay here, with Shizune, like this.

She slid a finger across the table to get Shizune’s attention.

[Hey, Shizune. I want to tell you something.]

---

It was dark outside when Misha got back to her room. She didn’t feel like turning on the lights, opting to just flop down on the bed and lay still in the darkness. Were it not for the strip of moonlight shining in through the window, she wouldn’t have noticed the small note slipped under her door. Misha got back up and retrieved the scrap of paper, recognizing Hanako’s neat script from the poster-making session. It bore three words.

I forgive you.

Chapter 3 | Chapter 5

[Mirage_GSM]

Nice chapter, but "I forgive you" is a bit formal for Hanako...

[Hanako Fancopter]

Yeah, she'd probably fumble around with her words if she said it in person. I didn't figure that she would stutter or anything like that on a written note, though. I imagined it as something she spent the day thinking about and working herself up to (maybe she even meant to say it in person, but got cold feet due to her social anxiety and settled for the note instead).

[Hanako Fancopter]

Next chapter! Might add navigation links soon too.

---

Chapter 5: Alternative

The next few days passed in a daze. Misha’s whole life felt like performing sign language now—she was just silently going through the motions. She had enough practice that she could translate for Shizune on autopilot during classes, but as soon as they were over she made a beeline for the door, looking anywhere but at her best friend. Her former best friend? Misha didn’t know what they were now. She hadn’t been back to the Student Council room since that day. She didn’t know what Shizune had been doing, hadn’t spoken to her. Maybe there wasn’t a Student Council anymore.

When she got back to her room after classes each day, Misha laid down with the lights off and just tried to sleep. It came quickly enough, but never before tears stained the pillow. Knocking on the door woke her up sometimes. She didn’t answer. Shizune tried passing her notes in class a couple of times, but it was just small talk. She sent them back with one word answers. The nurse stopped her in the hall one day and said that someone was worried about her. He asked if she was alright. Misha said that she was and walked away from him.

It all blurred together. She didn’t want to think about any of it. She couldn’t. Another day of classes passed. Misha stood in her room, not wanting to lay down and cry but not wanting to do anything else either. Flipping the lights on for the first time in days, she noticed Hanako’s note, still sitting on her desk where she had left it. Misha flipped the note over and wrote on the backside.

I’m glad, Hacchan! Do you want to hang out with me?

---

“Hi, Yuuko~!”

Misha hadn’t been to the library since she checked out her sign language book quite some time ago. It was big, but quiet and almost completely devoid of people, a deserted maze of books and furniture. Dust motes floated in the soft afternoon light and the smell of old paper tickled Misha’s nose. By the time she reached Yuuko’s counter, she could no longer see down the hallway leading back into Yamaku. It felt like stepping into a different place.

“Eep! Oh, hi Misha!” Yuuko said, having jumped at Misha’s voluminous voice. “Can I help you?”

“Sure! Is Hacchan here?” Misha asked, looking around.

“Haa… chan?” Yuuko asked.

“Yeah~! Hacchan! You know—cute, has long hair?”

“Uhh…”

Yuuko stared at Misha nervously. Was she trying to describe herself?

“Has an adorable stutter~?”

“Oh! You mean Hanako! S-sorry, yes, she’s here reading somewhere. Do you want me to go find her for you?”

“Nah. She can’t hide from me! Wahaha! Thanks, Yuuko~!”

“I-is she hiding from you?!”

“What? No! We’re hanging out! Why would Hacchan be hiding from me?”

“S-sorry, I didn’t know that you and Hacch—I-I mean, Hanako were—”

“Yuuko! Why do you keep saying you’re sorry? Stop being silly!”

“Sorry, I’ll stop being silly! I-I mean! I’m not sorry, I’m sorry that I—ahh! I don’t know!”

“Hm~, you don’t know why you’re sorry that you’re sorry, is that right? Right~?”

“Right! Maybe. I don’t know what I am!”

“Wahahaha~! Okay then! I’m gonna go find Hacchan. Just come tell me when you figure it out!”

“Ah, Misha!” Yuuko said as Misha started to walk away.

“That was fast!” Misha replied, stopping mid-stride. “So, what are you, hm~? I really want to know!”

“Huh? No, no! It’s not that. Can you return that book you checked out last year? It’s, err… a bit overdue…”

“Oh, that thing? Sure, Yuuko~! I’ll do that for sure!”

Misha turned back around and strode off into the depths of the library. Yuuko sighed. She was never going to get that book back…

Before long, Misha began to wonder if Hanako was hiding from her after all. She walked up and down the rows of books, humming lightly and running a finger along them as she went, but her purple-haired friend was nowhere to be seen. She was just about to run back to Yuuko when a faint voice came from somewhere nearby.

“U-um, Misha… over here…”

“Hey, Hacchan~! There you are!” Misha said, emerging from a row of shelves to find Hanako sitting on a bean bag. “These look comfy! Wahaha~!” she continued, practically diving into a bean bag next to Hanako.

“H-hi,” Hanako said.

Misha rolled around a bit to extract her face from the fluffy surface of the beanbag, then looked up at Hanako from a nearly upside-down angle.

“Hi~! What’cha doin’, hm, hm~?”

“Reading…”

“Reading what?”

Hanako held her book up at a ninety degree angle to the floor so Misha could see its cover. It hid all of her face below the one large eye that peered over it, forming a makeshift mask—Misha started reaching up to grab it, but stopped when the sudden movement caused Hanako to jerk slightly.

“Ah! Sorry, Hacchan. Can I see it?” she asked, lowering her hand and opening it in a gesture of request.

“S-sure.”

Hanako pulled the book down from her face and placed it gingerly in Misha’s waiting hands.

“’The Great Gatsby?’” Misha said to herself, looking in and around the covers as if searching for something more to the book. “Hm~? What’s that?”

“U-uh… wh-what’s what?”

“A Great Gatsby, Hacchan! Is it a monster~?”

Hanako smiled a bit in amusement.

“N-no, but it sounds like it could be one, I-I guess. It’s about… well…”

Misha had moved on to flipping through the pages and then looking at the story summary on the back, so Hanako just waited to see if she would read it. She seemed to settle on a particular passage and traced it with her finger while reciting it aloud.

“The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted ‘gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,’ it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s,” she intoned, putting on a surprisingly good literature-teacher voice, which immediately melted with her next statement.

“It’s a book about parties, drinking, and sex? I didn’t know you were so into that stuff, Hacchan~! Ahahahaha!”

Hanako blushed, her mouth dropping open a bit at this accusation.

“N-n-n-no, it’s n-not r-really about th-that stuff!” she insisted.

“Wahahahaha~! It does have all of that stuff in it, though, hm~? I wonder where the sexy parts are!” Misha said, beginning to flip through the pages again in a mock search for them.

“Th-there’s not any… it’s r-really old, so it doesn’t have any, erm…”

Hanako’s blush deepened slightly.

“…adult content…”

Misha stopped her smut search to look up at Hanako, the cute girl’s bashful expression bringing a genuine smile to her own face.

“…it d-does have some p-parties and dr-drinking. B-but, it’s really… it’s really a story a-about love,” Hanako explained. “Gatsby l-loves a woman named Daisy, but she is already married to a cr-cruel man named Tom, so he can’t be with her. He throws parties with lots of dr-drinking because he hopes she will notice him.”

“Hm~. That sounds pretty interesting, Hacchan! What happens next?”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Well~! Does he confess? Do they get to be together, happily ever after~?”

“Umm… I don’t know yet. I’m st-still reading.”

“I’m sure they will be, yes, yes~! So~!”

Misha flopped around on her bean bag until she was laying on her stomach with her hands holding her cheeks, looking up at Hanako expectantly.

“What are we gonna do now, hm?”

Hanako managed to return Misha’s gaze for a couple of seconds before glancing away.

“Uhh… I-I don’t know…”

“Hacchan! You wanted to hang out, but you don’t have anything planned? That’s no good~!”

“W-well… aren’t we already h-hanging out?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true~!”

Considering the matter settled, Hanako retrieved her book from the nearby shelf Misha had stashed it on and went back to her place. Misha, however, remained right where she was—hands cupping her cheeks and bunching them up, big golden eyes staring at Hanako. After a moment she began to hum again and sway her shoulders to the tune. Hanako didn’t know whether Misha was teasing her again or seriously considered this to be “hanging out,” but either way, she clearly wasn’t getting off the hook so easily.

“U-um, Misha… you didn’t give Y-yuuko a name, did you?”

“What? Oh! Nope, I guess not~! Does she need one?”

“M-maybe. Y-y-yuu-chan is good… right?”

“Hm. Yucchan! Yes—I think it sounds good! But~!”

Misha held a finger up to indicate that this was an important point.

“Hm~, how do I say this? Yuuko isn’t one of us~! She’s… older. Yeah, older! She’s even in college, and she works at jobs. Here, and at the Shanghai! So~!”

“…S-so?”

“So it’s too weird to give her a nickname~!”

Hanako nodded at this explanation. She guessed Misha was technically right, Yuuko’s social status and circumstances were a bit different from theirs, although it didn’t really feel like it. Probably because she was so clumsy and nervous all the time… she also didn’t really look older than the Yamaku students. Either way, at least Misha seemed to have some type of logic for her naming conventions this time around.

“Hey now, Hacchan, say! How’d you know Yuuko doesn’t have a nickname, hm~? Were you hiding up there listening to me after all?”

“N-no… why w-would I do that?”

“Well, how else would you know?”

“I, uhh… I-I didn’t have to get up, I j-just, erm, heard you.”

“You just heard me?”

Misha seemed genuinely confused by this notion.

“I think, I th-think… people don’t have to be very cl-close to hear you, Misha.”

“Wahaha~! That’s pretty good. You’re funny, Hacchan~!”

It was Hanako’s turn to be confused. She didn’t really see how it was funny, but Misha seemed to be having a good time, so she didn’t think too much about it.

“You like reading, huh, Hacchan?”

This was a rather abrupt change of topic. Hanako had a pretty good handle on Misha’s attention span by now, though. Truth be told, it was a bit refreshing to speak with someone who was more or less immune to the awkward silences that always seemed to happen when Hanako talked to other people.

“Well…”

Hanako looked around as if to emphasize where they were.

“…y-yeah…”

“That’s great, Hacchan, it’s really great~! Reading is good for you!”

“I-I didn’t know you liked r-reading so much, Misha.”

“Don’t be silly. I never read! The Student Council vice president has no time for books~! Wahaha~!”

“Ah…”

That made more sense; Hanako spent at least some time in the library pretty much every day, and this was the first time Misha had entered it so far as she knew. That was probably a good thing considering Misha’s volume and the whole idea of the library being a quiet place. It was lucky for them that no one else was in here today or Hanako would be more worried that Misha was disturbing people.

Now an awkward silence actually did descend upon the two of them. Misha didn’t say anything else, but she wasn’t looking at Hanako anymore either. No humming or tapping or flopping around or any other of her usual fidgeting activities. Her last statement had been said in her typical upbeat voice, but it seemed like a cloud had fallen over Misha as soon as she realized what she’d said. Vice president? Hanako supposed she would be. Lilly had told her about how she quit the council, partially over the poster flight incident. Now it would just be Misha and Shizune left in the Student Council…

Misha was looking down at the floor, a behavior that Hanako herself knew all too well. That wasn’t good.

“U-umm… M-misha, are you… o-okay?”

“Huh?”

This startled Misha out of whatever thoughts she’d been having. She seemed to take a moment to remember where she was, then her trademark smile returned.

“Yeah, Hacchan, yeah~! I’m great~! Wahaha~! Yay, yay~!”

That was a bit strong of a denial, even for Misha.

“I-it’s not b-b-because of… me, is it?” Hanako asked.

This question was met with a look of hurt and surprise.

“B-because I, I-I… I wouldn’t j-join?”

“Wha? Hacchan, no!”

Now Misha’s expression changed to frustration. She got up and put her hands on her hips.

“It’s not your fault… I promise! Don’t think that!” she commanded.

“B-b-but after th-that… th-then Lilly qu-quit, s-s-so…”

Hanako stood up as well, clutching her Great Gatsby to her chest and taking a couple steps back.

“I-I-I’m sorry, I-I…”

Her stutter was getting worse with every word and she had started to tremble in her shoulders again. Misha realized suddenly what was happening, anxiety rising in her chest in response to Hanako’s. She made as if to step forward towards Hanako, then stopped herself and fell back down onto her beanbag instead, hands falling limply between her knees.

“Hacchan, don’t go. Stay… please…”

Misha’s wide, golden eyes pleaded with Hanako. She wanted to go, to go straight back to her room and lock herself in, and she knew Misha would let her now, but…

“…O-okay, Misha.”

Hanako stepped back over to the beanbags and re-seated herself in the one next to Misha, who sighed audibly in relief, something Hanako had never seen her do. She looked sad again and this time she didn’t make any effort to hide it or bounce out of it. Hanako didn’t want to look straight at her but opening the book again didn’t feel right at the moment, so she settled for her old standby: the floor stare. After a moment Misha’s hand entered her vision, moving tentatively over to one of hers and closing around its fingers.

“Hacchan… please don’t think I’m sad because of you, okay? Okay. Let’s just talk about something else.”

Misha squeezed her fingers gently, then released them. Hanako looked up at her and nodded.

“O-okay… how about, or, wh-what if… we read together?” Hanako suggested.

“Out loud?”

“N-no, what I mean is… m-maybe we can find a b-book you would like, and… we could j-just read here. T-together.”

“Oh, I see… hm~, yes, I think that’s a good idea, Hacchan! I probably should start reading more, huh? If we’re going to be friends~!”

“Al-alright then… what kind of books do you l-like?”

“Lots~! I like stories with a lot of adventure and action~! Oh, but romance is good too, it’s always good for people to fall in love! And, and~! Scary stuff, that gets my heart racing! Dragons and elves are fun too, they’re so pretty. One time I even saw a story with spaceships and giant robots! That looked interesting~!”

So that didn’t narrow it down very much. Although, on second thought, maybe it did…

“O-okay…”

Hanako got up and began to walk with Misha following instinctively behind her. Only a couple rows over was the light novel section, consisting of several large shelves well-stocked with such material. The covers were fully illustrated with bright colors, featuring characters drawn in a manga style, and every type of story that Misha described was in here somewhere. Hanako knew that there were some which combined more than one of those aspects and there was probably even one that juggled all of them, if they looked hard enough.

“I th-think you’d like these,” she offered, gesturing to the shelves.

“Ah! Light novels! You know…”

Misha went right to pulling different ones out at a rapid pace, discarding them and moving on so quickly that Hanako wondered whether or not she was really looking at them.

“…I don’t think I’ve ever actually read one!”

“R-really? They’re o-okay… I-I used to read a lot of them. Now I read other b-books, though…”

“Oh, Hacchan’s too good for light novels, hm~? She only reads real literature! Wahaha~!”

“L-light n-novels are real l-literature, too!” Hanako insisted.

“Are they? Well, if the literature expert Hacchan says so, then I guess it’s okay~!”

“D-do you see any you like?”

“Hm~, well…”

Hanako’s question prompted a sudden stop to Misha’s novel-searching, which had scattered at least a couple dozen of them on and around the shelves by now. Misha scratched the back of her head and scrunched up her face in concentration, carefully scanning the haphazard collection she had amassed.

“…I like them all!” she declared. “But~! I can’t read them all at once, so~! You pick one for me, Hacchan! Any of these, and I’ll start there!”

“A-are you sure? I-I don’t want to pick one you might not l-like…”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be something you picked for me, so—that’s why I’ll like it~!”

“Okay…”

Hanako began to examine all of the light novels that Misha had pulled out from the shelves, taking a bit more time on each one than Misha had, though not much. She quickly organized them into two piles, ones that she recognized and ones that she didn’t. From there she separated out the ones she only knew of and the ones she had actually read, leaving a fairly small selection in the latter category. Finally Hanako took those and looked at them again, considering carefully.

“Wh-what about this one?”

The light novel she eventually picked was called MIX-C. The main character, Carolina, was a waitress in a café famous for its parfaits and smoothies. It was a slice-of-life comedy which revolved around Carolina and the other waitresses, with a lot of attention given to all the different confections they created for the customers. It was also a bit different because it was set in America, though a lot of manga tropes were used anyways. It was cute but Hanako hadn’t read past the first couple of them before moving on.

She could tell right away that she’d made the right choice. The front cover had an illustration of Carolina holding a parfait in one hand and a smoothie in the other while striking a pose—Misha’s eyes widened and homed in on the exquisitely detailed parfait as she took the light novel from Hanako, who could practically feel Misha’s mouth watering at the sight. This also seemed to confirm her suspicion that Misha was barely even looking at them before, as she was certainly acting like this was the first time she’d seen this one.

“Wow~! It looks so good! I mean, cute~!”

“Yes, she’s very pretty,” Hanako said, pointing at the picture of Carolina.

“You think so?” Misha replied, tracing Carolina’s coiffed pink drills with one finger. “Her hair looks like bubblegum! Wahaha~!”

“I th-think she has a special drill-shape parfait she makes…”

“Mmmm! Pink drill parfait~!”

Misha closed her and held her breath for a moment as if savoring that mental image.

“Thanks, Hacchan. It’s perfect~!” she said, holding the book to her chest with both hands like she was hugging it.

“B-but you haven’t read it yet…”

“That’s right! So~, let’s go do that!”

Misha took Hanako’s hand and tugged gently on it, leading her back to the beanbags as fast as she felt comfortable with. Hanako smiled at her bouncing brown hair as she skipped a bit, thinking how she was like a kid on Christmas over this even though it was just a book recommendation. Misha really took pleasure even in small things. Once they were re-seated Hanako opened her mouth to say that she hoped Misha liked her selection, only to find that her friend was already engrossed in the pages.

She decided to let Misha read without interruptions, going back to her spot in The Great Gatsby. The two of them settled into a comfortable reading session. It actually felt a bit strange to spend so much time next to Misha in silence, but it was nice. The only sounds were the turning of pages and an occasional bout of humming from Misha, which Hanako didn’t mind. If anything she appreciated the reminder of company. She wasn’t sure how much reading Misha really got done, as she seemed to take far too long on some pages or almost none at all on others, as well as randomly go forwards or back. As long as she was enjoying the book in her own way, Hanako thought.

It seemed like hardly any time had passed before Yuuko appeared, reminding them that the library was about to close. Misha got up and began to stretch as Yuuko scurried off to handle whatever business librarians handled at the end of the day. Hanako winced as something popped quite audibly in her back. Apparently even Misha’s joints were loud.

“Mmmm! That was refreshing, Hacchan!” Misha said, as if they’d gone for a long run.

“D-did you like it?” Hanako asked, looking at the light novel.

“Yep~! It makes me wanna get a parfait. Wahaha~! I think I’ll check it out so I can read it some more. Thanks for hanging out~! I had a good time.”

“Y-you too.”

“Do you wanna do it again sometime?”

Hanako looked Misha in the eye and nodded as they walked up to the counter together.

Chapter 4 | Chapter 6

[Mirage_GSM]

I felt as if there was a bit missing at the beginning of the chapter, but after rereading the end of the previous one, I can guess what it is...

[Hanako Fancopter]

I felt as if there was a bit missing at the beginning of the chapter, but after rereading the end of the previous one, I can guess what it is...

I went and matched my description of the scene very closely with the details from the game to try and make it clear, but this chapter explains it directly, just in case.

---

Chapter 6: Consideration

Misha squinted as she stepped out into the sunlight. It always seemed brighter on the school’s roof somehow. She’d been going back to her room during lunch the past few days, but after yesterday, she was feeling a little adventurous again. The roof was just that—only a little adventurous. Misha knew Shizune wouldn’t come up here. It was against the rules, after all. The lock on the door had been missing, though… that was weird.

“Yikes! Who’s there!”

Misha froze, turning towards the source of the voice. A short girl with cute twintails: Emi. What a relief! For a moment she was terrified that Shizune had somehow anticipated her behavior and ambushed her. Just as quickly, she realized how silly she was for thinking that.

“Oh, hey Misha!” Emi said with a wave of greeting. “Sorry! I was scared Shizune finally caught us.”

“Doesn’t this mean Shizune will appear, though? If Misha is here.”

This statement came from Emi’s lunch buddy Rin, who was leaning to the side at a weird angle, trying to get a look inside the stairwell to confirm her suspicions of an approaching Shizune.

“Erm…” Emi began, giving Misha a look like she expected her to fill in the rest.

“…Nah, Shicchan’s not coming,” Misha said flatly. “What are you guys doing up here?”

“Oh, we always eat up here,” Rin offered candidly.

“Rin! I told you not to go around telling people! Especially not the Student Council!” Emi said, ribbing her lightly.

“It isn’t the Student Council. It’s Misha,” Rin countered.

Emi nodded in agreement.

“You’re not gonna say anything, are you?” she asked Misha.

A week ago she might have. She would have had to get onto them, at least. A week ago, Shizune would’ve been here too, though.

“Nope. Actually~! I wanted to eat up here too. I didn’t know someone else already made it a secret spot!”

“That’s too bad. I don’t think it counts as a secret spot anymore,” Rin said.

“Maybe it’ll just be a secret with one extra person in on it! Come join us, Misha!” Emi said, waving her over.

Misha obliged, taking a seat next to them on the bench they’d chosen and opening her own lunch. For a few minutes they ate in silence. Misha didn’t really know Emi or Rin all that well. They were friendly enough the few times they’d interacted before, but they were in different classes and never really had much to do with the Student Council. Normally she would have started up a conversation. Today, she was just happy to have somewhere she felt okay to sit and eat. Instead it was Rin who spoke up first.

“Why do you think Misha’s eating up here?” she asked, looking at Emi for an answer.

“Hey! Misha’s right here. Don’t just look past me, Ricchan!” Misha responded.

“I asked you not to call me that. My name isn’t Ree. Or Chan, either. It’s too confusing to have extra names,” Rin said.

“But you answered to it right away~!” Misha pointed out.

“What if there is someone else named Ricchan?” Rin asked. “What do you call them?”

Misha looked up and put a finger to her chin, clearly having never thought of this.

“Okay! Good point, Rin,” she finally decided.

Emi laughed at their exchange, prompting both to look at her and ask “What?” in unison.

“Nothing. You two are cute, that’s all,” she said. “But I am wondering, Misha. I guess you can’t eat in the Student Council room anymore? Why pick the roof though?”

Misha froze again, taken off guard by the first question. How did she know?

“I… I can eat in the council room still, I just…” she said, fumbling for an excuse that would let her dodge the real answer.

Emi gave her a knowing smile, but not in a way that was coy or teasing. If anything she looked a bit sympathetic towards Misha.

“It’s okay. Everyone knows you quit. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No! I didn’t—wait, how would you know?” Misha asked.

“Really? The whole school has been talking how you and Shizune, well… how you broke up,” Emi said.

“They have?!” Misha replied, shrinking down and clutching her arms around herself as if they were all here looking at her right now.

“You and Lilly both quit on the same day. The president’s translator and the vice president… It would’ve been pretty big gossip for just one of you to leave,” Emi explained.

“I guess your arms finally got tired. Don’t feel bad about it. I wouldn’t have lasted very long in that job either,” Rin remarked.

“No, it’s not that. My arms are fine! See!” Misha said, flailing them around to demonstrate. “Emi! Why do you think I quit?” she asked.

“Huh? No one’s seen you outside class this week… and Shizune’s been walking around without you, so…” Emi replied, clearly confused by this line of questioning.

So she didn’t really know, then.

“Hm. I see! Well~! Hm, hm, hmm~!” Misha said, filling the air while she searched for a change of topic.

“To be honest, Nurse told me he’s been worried about you and asked if I knew anything. I just told him you were probably down because the Student Council’s over, though,” Emi said.

Misha responded rather fiercely to this, getting up and placing both hands on her hips while narrowing her eyes to what little extent she could. Emi flinched, not expecting to produce such a provocation.

“Stop saying that! I did not quit the Student Council!” Misha exclaimed, jabbing a pointer finger at Emi for special emphasis. All of a sudden she felt her eyes watering up. Not here, not here… she threw herself back down on the bench just as suddenly as she’d gotten up, looking away and sniffing the tears back.

“Misha…”

Emi placed a hand on her shoulder.

“…if you didn’t quit, then what’s got you so down? What happened?”

Misha sat still for a few moments to collect her emotions before looking back to Emi. Her momentary burst of anger had subsided, replaced by sorrow and remorse. She stared at the floor as she spoke, a technique learned from Hanako.

“It’s… it’s hard to talk about, okay? What happened is that I… I did something I shouldn’t have.”

“Okay. Do you want to tell us what that was? Remember, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Did Miki give you one of those funny smelling cigarettes?” Rin asked.

Misha looked up at her in confusion.

“Let her talk,” Emi said.

“What? That happened with you once. You said it was something you shouldn’t have done,” Rin said.

“Rin! I told you not to tell people this stuff!” Emi said, scowling at her. “Now please! Let Misha talk!”

Rin shrugged and got up, walking off towards the fence on the roof’s edge.

“Emi, I, uhh… I had someone that I really liked. I didn’t just like them, but you know, I really liked them,” Misha continued.

Emi nodded in understanding.

“Well I… I confessed. They didn’t like me back.”

Misha hung her head in shame, having finally said it out loud. Saying it made it more real all of a sudden. A single tear broke through her emotional barriers and rolled down her cheek.

“Was that person Shizune?” Emi asked cautiously.

Misha looked up at her.

“How’d you know this time?”

“I mean, people already joked about it. You were hanging out with her literally all the time, and you always did whatever she wanted you to. Everyone else really said it as a joke, but I saw how you looked at her sometimes. I, err, let’s just say I have a bit of experience. With liking someone that you can’t have. Now you’re saying this, and… who else could it be?”

“You had it happen too?... Who?”

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is—”

Misha’s eyes lit up with understanding. She looked over at Rin to make sure she wasn’t paying attention, then leaned in close to Emi’s ear with a conspiratorial whisper.

“Emi, are you in love with Ricchan~?”

Emi looked at her like she’d just suggested that she stop running.

“What?! No, Misha! I am not in love with Rin! Oops!”

Emi covered her mouth and looked towards Rin. She’d said that a bit too loudly. Luckily, Rin appeared to be staring transfixed into the sky and hadn’t reacted at all. Misha giggled, but her mirth was only momentary.

“You’re right though, Emi. It was Shicchan. And now I don’t know what to do,” she said, looking sullen again. “It’s been really terrible… I’m the worst sort of person, aren’t I? Shicchan was already having trouble with Lilly and everyone else, then I just went and made everything even worse.”

“I’m sure it’s not like that, Misha! You can’t help who your heart wants. What did she say?”

“She didn’t really say a whole lot. I don’t think she wanted to talk about it. She tried to pretend I just hadn’t said it. Then I…”

“So she didn’t get mad at you? She didn’t tell you to leave or anything like that?”

“…No.”

“I bet she didn’t know what to do. You probably surprised her a lot, Misha. You know she’s been going around trying to talk to people with notes?”

“She has? I’m still translating for her in class, though…”

“Yeah, but she’s still trying to do the Student Council. She keeps going up to people and giving them notes telling them to do different things, or that they’re breaking some rule or another. People are starting to ignore her, though. If they just walk away, she can’t talk to them.”

“Really? Shicchan, you’re so stubborn…”

“Misha, just trust me, when you like some and you’re not compatible with them, it can be a pretty big misunderstanding. It doesn’t mean the person doesn’t want you around. You just have to figure out a new relationship.”

“A new relationship?”

“That’s right. It’s kind of like starting over. You have to set it up, though.”

“It’s good to re-create yourself sometimes,” Rin said, appearing behind the bench.

“Ahh! Rin, don’t sneak up on people!” Emi said.

“I do that when I have to. Not sneak up on people. Destroy myself and make a new me. I did it when I moved here,” Rin continued. “If you can’t do something, then you become a new person that can do that thing. It’s sort of like a superpower, but everyone has it.”

“Hmm…”

Misha looked up, considering this concept carefully.

“Is this another one of those things I’m not supposed to tell anybody?” Rin asked Emi.

“Yes! Absolutely! Rin, I’m serious this time. Do not tell people about this,” Emi said.

“You’re serious every time.”

“Rin!”

Emi’s eyes hardened. Rin paused, then nodded that she understood.

“Don’t worry Misha. We won’t tell anyone your secret if you don’t tell them ours,” Rin said.

“That’s right. Please don’t tell Shizune about the roof!” Emi added.

“Okay~!” Misha said, jumping up suddenly. “I won’t, so you better not either! I’m trusting you guys with this. You have to pinky swear~!” she continued, offering her hand to Rin.

Rin stared at the extended pinky for a moment, then raised one leg and placed her toes over it while balancing effortlessly on the other.

“Can I do a pinky-toe swear?” she asked.

“Wahaha~! Of course!” Misha said, her laughter matched by Emi. “Alright~! I’m going now! Thanks, you guys. Thanks a ton! I’m really glad you talked to me!” she added, already halfway to the door.

“Wait, where are you going?” Emi called after her.

“To find Shicchan. She needs me!” Misha called back.

After she was gone, Emi looked down at the bench.

“She left her lunch…” she observed.

“It’s good you aren’t in love with me after all, Emi. Being naked around you every day would be pretty awkward if you were,” Rin said.

“You heard that?!”

Chapter 5 | Chapter 7

[Lap]

"An Unusual Friendship" is understating it... it's such an unusual friendship that I avoided this one for a while, it just sounded too weird, but I'm glad I gave it a shot. You're making it work, somehow . Can't wait for more!