We are back! And it has come to my attention that I need some concrete data on how a Japanese school year works. So if anyone has any information, please speak up.
Also, it occurs to me that I am not good at chapter beginnings and endings. And I now understand the prevalent desire to have cliffhangers in chapters. So if anyone has suggestions on writing, please tell me that too.
Anyways, let's get started
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Previous Chapter
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Chapter 4: We want YOU for the Student Council
Tick…Tock
I swear, the clock seemed to actually be slowing down as the minute hand neared the twelve. I could feel the tension of at least 34 eyes as the class watched the clock. Waiting for the end of…whatever Mutou was talking about right now. Hm, what was he saying?
“So if you take the integral…”
Ok, nothing important. Good. Back to the clock watching.
The minute hand was finally one nudge away from the end. Just one more nudge. I could hear the beating of my heart, thumping faster and faster as the second hand crawled away from the six. Then to the seven. The eight. The nine. The ten. The eleven. The eleven and a half. The eleven and three quarters. The eleven and seven eights. The…wah?
“Um, sir?” Misha says. “There’s something wrong with the clock.”
Mutou turns towards the clock and sees it stopped exactly a moment before class would be let out. I could just barely hear the sounds of every other bell in the school going off.
“Hm, must be broken,” Mutou mutters before shrugging it off. “Alright, class dismissed.”
With that, nearly everyone jumped out of their seats and, carefully, sped walked out the door. I myself was calmly putting away my books. Though I had the strangest feeling I was forgetting something.
That something answered in the form of Misha and Shizune, appearing out of nowhere.
“Hicchan~!” Misha practically yells. No, strike that, she yelled it, my eardrums can attest to that.
“What?”
“Hm, don’t you remember? You said you’d help us out in the Student Council for today~!”
“Ah ri…wait, no I didn’t. I said no such thing. I was coerced! I was definitely coerced!”
“Hm? I’m pretty sure you agreed. And you can’t back out on your agreements now. Three hours of Student Council service for making us miss the deadline.”
“See! Right there! That’s down right blackmail!”
“Ah, don’t be silly Hicchan. This isn’t blackmail. This is aggressive persuasion without realistic chance of rebuttal.”
“Ah, but…but…” I look for a way out. Spotting Hanako, I make my clever gambit. “You see, I already made plans and those plans were premade before the incident so therefore they have a higher authority than your aggressive persuasion without realistic chance of rebuttal.”
I briskly walk towards Hanako, waving to attract her attention. She meets me halfway, looking slightly confused by what was going on.
“Trying to get out of doing student council business, go with it,” I whisper to her before facing Misha and Shizune again.
“See, we’re going out…to find a bookstore…to broaden our learning experiences.”
Ok, not the most believable lie, but better than nothing.
Evidently, Shizune thought I could do better, that smirk of hers blatantly states as much.
“Ah, but can’t you ‘broaden your learning experiences’ in the student council? After all, we are connected to every organization in the school~! And that means it’s a great place to c-c-compile data for your learning experience.”
“But I already worked with the student council a few times before.”
“Tsk, tsk, Hicchan. Just because you take three days of an English course doesn’t mean you know everything about the English language.”
I can’t help but feel that analogy is completely inappropriate yet correct for the situation, at the same time. It’s a curious feeling, but no time for that now.
“But still, going out to experience something new is better than doing something old, correct?”
“Hm, true.”
Yes, I got her.
“So that means you two should definitely come to today’s Student Council meeting.”
…hah?
“Y-you two?” Hanako stutters, evidently just as surprised as I am.
“Of course, if both of you come to the Student Council room, you’ll both get to experience the duties of an elite corporate system. Not only that, you’ll also experience giving back to the school and possibly be instilled with a sense of duty. As a bonus, since your gracious boyfriend here has already helped us a few times before, he can further aid you in your own e-endeavors in doing your duties to the Student Council~!”
Ignoring the fancy words Misha was spouting, Shizune has effectively cut off all routes of escape. Worse yet, I somehow got Hanako involved as well. I should really apologize to her as soon as I can.
“Well, coming?”
I glance at Hanako, who seemed to be debating whether or not she should run and abandon me or stay and suffer through three hours of paper work. Eventually, she comes to a decision, walking forward.
“I-It might be g-good, having a new experience,” Hanako whispers as we walk towards the waiting Misha and Shizune.
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Unexpectedly, due to the addition of Hanako, the assumed three hours of torture became a one hour session, though I do suspect that Shizune was exaggerating the work load amount. Soon, the last piece of paper was filed away and we were all left with nothing to do.
“Hm, this team performed adequately, good job everyone~!” Misha translates.
“So, we can go now, right?” I ask.
“Of course not Hicchan~! You still owe us one hour and fifty-three minutes of service. Oh, but Hanako can leave any time she wants.”
“I would like t-to wait for Hisao.”
“Alright~!”
“Um, that still doesn’t cover the fact that we have two hours—”
“One hour and fifty-two minutes~!”
“Fine, one hour and fifty-two minutes of nothing to do.”
“Oh don’t be silly, we have the perfect thing to pass the time with~!”
As dramatic as possible, Misha walked over to a cabinet and dragged out a very familiar looking box. Slamming it on the table in front of us, she triumphantly declared: “Risk!”
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An hour and a minute in the game and only Shizune, Hanako, and I were still in. Wait, that’s a bit strange way to say that. What I really mean is that only Misha has lost so far, her territory and troops being taken over by Shizune early in the game. Come to think of it, it may have been too easy.
“Come on Hicchan, aren’t you going to attack?”
“Oh no, I’m not falling for that again,” I retort, remembering a disasterous first attempt at aggression. “Just wait until I build enough forces to overtake you!”
“Ha, don’t you know it is bad strategy to let your enemy know your tactics? Unless you’re faking me out, then I retract that statement. Unless THAT was the fake out, then I retract my retracting of that earlier statement but add some acknowledgement.”
Shizune swiftly turns to Hanako, who was still deciding which way to invade what.
“And what about you? Trying to go for my undefended areas I see,” Misha confronts.
“W-which ones?” Hanako asks
“What?!”
Shizune scans her territories, searching for the extra undefended zone Hanako alluded to. Unable to find anything of the sort, she once again faces Hanako.
“Oh, clever, trying to get me riled up, but I’m not fooled. There is only one viable option for you to attack from and I’m fully prepared for it~!”
Hanako then moves her forces to a spot Shizune somehow completely overlooked.
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The end result of our world conquest attempts was Hanako winning after Shizune made a fatal error in her end game. She demanded a rematch, but it was almost nighttime and everyone had homework to do.
Walking towards the dorms, Hanako and I finally got to enjoy a moment of peace and quiet.
“T-that was fun.”
“Yeah, those two are friendlier than they look.”
“Though, I’m not sure I want to do that again…at least not right away.”
I can understand that, Shizune does leaves a person with an odd sense of aggressiveness.
“And, it would lead to less time…”
“Less time doing what?”
“…Spending t-time together of course,” She admits.
“Hm, that’s a problem,” I agree. “But…I think we have plenty of time for that. Maybe this Saturday?”
“…Y-yes.”
“Ah, alright then. Good night, Hanako.”
“Good night, Hisao.”
We wave each other goodbye and walk to our respective dorms. Yeah, this was a good day.
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Next Chapter
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I hope this chapter was satisfactory. If not, then I'm sorry.
