Seitokai no Ichizon - The Congregating Student Council [Part 5]

This is the chronologically last chapter in the Seitokai no Ichizon series, originally published in Seitokai no Shukujitsu in 2013. I'm giving you full closure here. I'll be releasing a combined PDF/EPUB format for the entire chapter sometime tomorrow. Huge thanks to SaXi☆♪ for editing and proofreading this entire thing.

"Welcome, everyone. First of all, let me apologize for delaying our meeting. We're sincerely sorry for the trouble we've caused. But even so, I hope to make this meeting something to remember for the alumni——uwaaah!?"

Saionji was enthusiastic as ever, but some small misfortune still befell her.

The misfortune this time:

Saionji was almost carried away by a hawk that had flown in through the open window and was now dragging her by the collar. She was only saved by grabbing onto the windowsill before she could be dragged out of the window. The hawk had to let go and fly away, looking slightly disappointed.

Facing this shocking scene, the former student council members stared on with disbelief. Saionji stood up from beside the windowsill and cleared her throat.

"And so, I hope we can all have a quiet and peaceful meeting."

"There's already no peace and quiet to be found!!"

Even though the former student council all reacted in unison, Saionji responded calmly while averting her gaze slightly.

"Whatever could you mean?"

"Wait wait wait!"

Saionji acted as if nothing had happened. Seeing this, the Prez (referring to Sakurano Kurimu today) reached out to the new student council for an explanation.

"No matter how you think about it, what happened just now was weird, right? In fact, it's a huge incident! Somebody call an adult!"

"Well, you do have a point, but..."

Along with my vague reply, the new student council members all looked at us with an apathetic expression of "...Yeah." The Prez, who didn't understand the circumstances, became even more exasperated.

"Why is everyone in the new student council so heartless!? W-we should get Saionji-san to the nurse's office right away——"

"Ah, Kurimu-san, call me 'Tsukushi', please."

"Why now of all times!? Actually, Saion——Tsukushi, why do you have such a nonchalant expression!? It's like nothing's happened!"

"Hm? Did something happen?"

"Eh!? Does that not count as something happening!? What scale does the new student council operate on!?"

"Ah, if you're talking about the thing with Mr. Hawk, that happens all the time, so don't worry about it."

"It happens all the time!? I'm even more worried now!"

"It's okay, Prez."

Seeing Saionji spin the Prez in circles, Minatsu tried to comfort the Prez.

"Tsukushi's just... that type of person."

"That type of person? Does it say 'frequently attacked by hawks' in her character page?"

This time it was Mafuyu-chan who responded with a troubled look to the Prez, who still couldn't accept what was happening.

"Mafuyu doesn't know how to explain this... but it's already the second time Mafuyu's seen this kind of thing today, so she's starting to understand a little..."

"The second time!? She's already been attacked by a hawk twice today!?"

"Ah, no, the first time wasn't a hawk, it was being trapped inside a huge plastic ball."

"Ehhhhhhh!?"

The Prez was stunned, and the sisters looked at me with an annoyed expression.

"Ken... somehow I feel like I understand why you guys aren't surprised by this anymore..."

"Right?"

"That's right. With this frequency, nobody would be able to take it if they reacted to every single thing..."

"So you finally understand..."

The new student council members all breathed a sigh at the sisters' sympathy. Although it still looked like the Prez couldn't accept it, Chizuru-san seemed to more or less get it and started comforting her with an air of maturity.

"Now, now, Aka-chan. It doesn't seem like Saionji-san is injured, so you don't have to worry about it so much. Okay?"

"Yeah... If you say so, Chizuru."

The Prez reluctantly accepted and sat down again under Chizuru-san's gentle gaze. Looking at this nostalgic scene, I felt oh so warm.

Ah, let me take the opportunity to explain everyone's seating arrangement.

Basically, the table was split into the former student council side and the new student council side. Our original plan was to have the alumni sit at the side and watch, but Saionji went ahead and said "Everyone please feel free to join the meeting!", so it turned out like this.

By the way, the specific seating order is as follows:

I sat in the usual vice president position, and in a row to the right of me were the new student council members... Kagami, Hinomori, and Minase in that order.

On the opposite side, the Prez sat directly in front of me, and beside her were Chizuru-san, Minatsu, and Mafuyu-chan in that order. Saionji, of course, was in the presidential seat at the head of the table.

Thanks to this seating arrangement, it was predictably crowded, and you could easily bump into someone's elbow——

"By the way."

Chizuru-san, with a smile completely unlike the one she showed to the Prez, looked (glared) at me.

"Why has that girl been clinging to Key-kun all this time?"

Being mentioned, I turned towards my right with cold sweat pouring down my back.

"Ehe~☆"

Kagami clung to me as if it were natural, and even blinked her eyes at me as she looked up.

...She's doing it on purpose. Even though she usually clings to me, going this far today was definitely intentional. It was a preemptive strike aimed at the former student council.

Although those of us in the new student council are acutely aware of what Kagami's personality is like, Chizuru-san, who was meeting her for the first time, couldn't possibly know. After all, at first glance Kagami is just a cute younger girl who's fallen for me...

Looking satisfied at the former student council members' irritation, Kagami clung even closer to me.

"Hey, Senpai. You should get this meeting with these grandmas taken care of already so you can go do something more fun with Kagami like we usually do."

"K-Kagami, damn you...!"

This girl just went and entered her last boss mode! She's even using her "nonchalantly disturb the hearts of others" skill that was seen frequently when we were enemies! With her excellent acting ability, if you didn't know what she was really like you'd think she was just flirting with me without any ulterior motives! Adding to that, she's skilled in stalking and espionage, are you Anshin'in-san or something!?

"...Heh, hehe."

"(Ah, usually Chizuru-san's smiles get wider the angrier she is, but right now she clearly has an anger symbol on top of her head!)"

Chizuru-san's rage had clearly surpassed a limit. Perhaps it was because she had already had arguments with Minase and Hinomori, as well as having to deal with Saionji's shenanigans, that she had no patience to spare. How much more incompatible with the new student council can you get!?

In place of Chizuru-san, who had just about lost her rationality, Minatsu, who already had some resistance to Kagami, questioned me with a blank expression.

"Um, Ken? What exactly is your relationship with her...?"

"A-ah, Kagami and I, how do I put it? For example, it's like——"

Just as I was stumped on what to say, Kagami leaned forward as if to answer for me, and started speaking with a grin on her face.

"We're basically master and servant with an unlimited number of command spells!"

"What an unreasonable relationship!"

Minatsu was stunned. I wanted to deny it right away, but that was surprisingly close to the truth, so I became stunned as well.

Mafuyu-chan looked at me with distain.

"Senpai... to be controlled this completely by someone even younger than Mafuyu..."

"T-that's not how it is, Mafuyu-chan! I'm the master in the relationship!"

"That's right! Going by what Kagami said before, Kagami's the servant in the relationship!"

"Really?"

"Really. It's just that Senpai doesn't hold Kagami's reins... Instead, with her superior intellect and strength, Kagami now controls whether Senpai lives or dies!"

"Ahh! It's the twisted gaze of a certain SHSL Despair-san!"

At this point, the jealous atmosphere I was feeling from the former council members began to dissipate. They even looked at me with sympathetic gazes, as if to say "Whoa, this guy completely failed with the conquest this year..."

In the midst of this awkward atmosphere, Saionji cleared her throat to restart the meeting.

"T-then, for our topic today, since the alumni are all here as well, I thought we'd talk about something more important to the student council than routine chores."

"I agree, I agree! That's a great idea! Since we're here too let's do something big today!"

The Prez enthusiastically supported Saionji's idea. Saionji seemed quite moved that her respected seniors would listen to her opinion. Well, the current student council members never support her on her ideas... of course she'd be excited.

As Saionji was still busy being emotional, the Prez came up with a more concrete proposal.

"Alright then, let's discuss the Hekiyou Academy relocation plan!"

"That's right, that sounds great, Sakurano-san...........wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?"

Saionji's surprise came a beat too late... This is the first time I've seen the delayed reaction gag in real life... This girl is definitely blessed by the god of comedy.

"I think it would be really fun if we could relocate Hekiyou Academy to be next to our university, any objections? No objections? Passed!"

"W-wait——"

"Also, since we had a manga adaptation, game adaptation, and an anime adaptation last year, this year we'll aim for a movie adaptation, a drama adaptation, a musical adaptation, and a gigantic adaptation! All opposed? Zero! Passed!"

"Wait a second, what exactly is a gigantic adaptation——wait, that's not the point! First of all——"

"By the way, Beat Takeshi is going to direct the movie, with the tagline of 'They're all Failures'"

"It's true on some level! No, that's not what I wanted to say, wait——"

"Also, let's increase the amount of students by a factor of five, the more the merrier. Objections? None? Passed——"

"I-I'm telling you to slow down for a second, Sakurano-san!"

"Hm?"

The Prez tilted her head at being interrupted by Saionji, who swallowed hard, then began to speak loudly in an effort to assert herself.

"Why are you deciding all these important things so easily like this!?"

"Hm? Didn't you say to talk about important topics, Tsukushi?"

"These topics are way too important!"

"Well, there's majority agreement so far, though."

"U, ugh! C-calling a vote while no one's even on the same page, then immediately ending the vote before anyone can object, and calling that a majority... that's the former president for you! It's frustrating, but her political strength is far beyond mine!"

"Hehehe——you're still too naive, Tsukushi-kun. You still have a long way to go——"

"Yes, ma'am! I'll learn from your example, former president Sakurano, so that I can be more suited for the presidential role!"

"Please don't follow her example!"

I tried to desperately stop Saionji from going down the wrong path. You can't call that type of rampage political strength. That's just being sly, a special skill that only the Prez, who has walked the path of selfishness her whole life, can use.

The Prez put on a dissatisfied face in response to my interjection, while Saionji restarted the meeting with a "Leaving that aside for now."

"What I wanted to discuss today was if anyone had any proposals for the future direction of the student council and even the school."

Saionji turned back towards the whiteboard. She wrote down the topic on the board with her elegant handwriting.

Saionji puffed out her chest as if to show off her handwriting. It's true that her handwriting is great, but still...

Saionji had written "Today's Topic: The Student Council's Future Direction" on the whiteboard, but miraculously, in the middle of the "jitsu" character, there was a black stick insect perched on the whiteboard. It ended up reading "Honda's Topic"

(TL Note: The character in question is 日, which looks like 田 when you add one stroke, thus making 本日 "today" look like 本田 "Honda")

Everyone must've started thinking "It says Honda...", "That's clearly Honda...", "Who the hell is Honda...", but Saionji was brimming with pride, and the handwriting truly was beautiful, so it was hard to comment.

At this point the former student council had begun to truly understand the kind of person Saionji Tsukushi was. Saionji herself, the only one in the dark, was probably thinking "My handwriting is so good it shocked everyone into silence!" while continuing on with a self confident expression.

"You should understand now from our interactions, but this year's student council members are completely different in ability and personality!"

"That's true in a way."

Minatsu replied with her arms crossed. The other members all nodded their heads in agreement.

"With that in mind, trying to imitate what happened a year ago would really be laughable in a lot of ways. That's why I think we should find activities that are more 'us', so we should decide this year's direction right now."

"Ooh!"

The new student council members were a bit surprised by the former student council's positive reaction.

I get it, you guys. For us, "having a proper student council meeting" is like a small miracle, though I've already gotten used to it.

Saionji seemed slightly overwhelmed by the unexpected positive reaction, but she moved forward nonetheless.

"——So, today I'd like to hear everybwan——today I'd like to hear everynyan—— ..."

"......"

"——And so, today I'd like to hear everyone's proposals and have some discussion on this topic. Alumni, feel free to join in as well."

"T-thank you."

The former student council members looked towards the ground, sneaking looks at me as if to say "This girl bit her tongue just now, didn't she? If this were last year, we definitely would've said something, right?" However, I didn't move a muscle. Saionji always acts like nothing happened herself, so no good can come from saying anything right now.

In any case, somehow we finally began to have a normal meeting.

Saionji seemed to be too tired from her excitement earlier, so both sides agreed to have me direct the meeting.

"Then does anyone have any ideas?"

"......"

Not one person raised their hand. The slackers obviously didn't bother, but even the diligent members seemed to have some reservations.

It can't be helped. I have to forcibly start the conversation somewhere. First... I looked around at all the members.

"Alright then, Chizuru-san, do you have any proposals——"

"Hold on, Sugisaki."

Someone stopped me the moment I began to speak. I turned around to see Hinomori, who I could tell was glaring at me, even with her mask on.

"Why are you letting her talk first?"

"Well, if you ask why..."

I sneaked a peek at Chizuru-san. Her dependable, mature aura only increased after becoming a university student... yeah, she's reliable as always.

However, Hinomori seemed unimpressed with my expression, and suddenly raised her hand with a "Here!" I didn't understand the situation and blinked blankly at her, and Hinomori began speaking impatiently, prompted by my lack of action.

"Hey! I have my hand raised! Call on me already!"

"Huh, y-yeah..."

If she has an idea, then I don't have to ask Chizuru-san first...

As I was flailing in confusion, Chizuru-san began to show a hint of a smile... I have a bad feeling about this.

"My, does someone who's covered themselves with a mask and a wig even have the right to join the meeting?"

As expected, Chizuru-san went on the attack against Hinomori. They had the worst first impression of each other, after all...

Hinomori, not one to give up easily, replied in kind.

"I'm not going to show my face to an outsider. Speaking of not having the right to join the meeting, wouldn't that be you, G R A N D M A?"

The veins on Chizuru-san's head bulged out. Everyone watching broke out in a cold sweat as the two continued to fight.

"Calling someone who's only two years older than you a grandma, how shallow."

"Oh my, it's not like I go around calling everyone two years older than me a grandma, that's just an evaluation of you individually."

"W-what did you say!?"

"I mean, your character setting was the mature girl in the first place, and now that you're a university student... In the LN and eroge world, you'd already be considered too old. You'd be lucky to even get a route or H-scene in the fandisk."

"...Haha..."

"W-what are you laughing about?"

"Oh I'm sorry. Hearing something like that from the 'secretly beautiful girl hiding her face behind a mask' character that's so old fashioned you wouldn't even be able to find it in an antique store... that's too funny, that one."

"G-guh... I-I'm not doing this to create some fake persona...!"

"Eh, then you're for real? A policy to not show your face to others? Are you insane? ...Ah, I see how it is..."

"D-don't look at me in disappointment like I'm your unemployed niece or something! F-fine! I got it! I just have to take them off, right!? I'll take them off, then!"

"Don't worry, Hinomori-san. I'm an adult, so I'll act surprised for you. 'Wow, you really were pretty under that mask!' For people who hide their face, this is the most important moment in their lives, isn't it? It's okay, I understand. You're just using that ugly mask and wig to lower the expectations, aren't you!? Don't worry, if you do that, I'm sure everyone will praise you even with an average face!"

"Uwaaaaaaa——!"

With her hands on her mask and wig, Hinomori made a ton of weird noises filled with conflicting emotions.

...Being this ruthless with a younger girl she just met... Akaba Chizuru really is a first class sadist.

Now that she's come this far, there's no choice for Hinomori but to take off the mask. Hinomori paused before transforming and muttered something quietly to herself... with a last burst of determination, she started to transform.

The alumni focused all their attention on Hinomori, with Chizuru at the helm. Hinomori took off her mask and wig, and in the same practiced motion her coat and long dress as well. Then as a finishing touch, she pulled back her long, sparkling, silver hair with her hands and somewhat roughly combed it with a comb——the peerless beauty was born.

"......"

The student council room was filled with silence. Hinomori's beauty had overwhelmed everything.

It's frustrating, but no matter how many times I see it, Hinomori's natural beauty is just too extraordinary. Although everyone in the student council had good looks by their own rights, on physical beauty alone no one could come close.

As everyone sat in silence, Hinomori scrunched up her lips and looked away in embarrassment as she hesitantly questioned Chizuru-san.

"S-say something. W-weren't you going to pretend to compliment me?"

"Huh...? Ah, y-yeah..."

With her mouth still wide open, Chizuru-san's rage from earlier had dissipated completely. Instead, a sigh without a hint of malice escaped her lips.

"You really are...pretty..."

"Eh?"

Hinomori was caught off guard by Chizuru-san's straightforward and unexpected reaction. Her cheeks became more and more red.

"W-what are you saying all of a sudden!? Are you stupid!?"

"...Yes, t-this is fine."

"Eh?"

"Haah, but your hair really is beautiful, just like an angel's."

"Eh? Eh? Eh?"

"Um, Hinomori-san, I know this is a lot to ask of you since we just met, but... can I touch your hair?"

"Huh?... Ah, y-yeah, that's fine."

As soon as she got permission, Chizuru-san stood up from her chair and scampered over to Hinomori and started gently caressing her hair... Chizuru-san's always loved cute things...

"Haah... it's even softer than I imagined. Among all of the hair I've touched up until now... no, it's the best feeling thing I've ever touched! This is amazing!"

"Eh? Ah, r-really?......Um...ahh..."

"Hm? Ah, sorry, do you not like it?"

"T-that's not it, um...uh......t-thank you..."

Even with Hinomori's twisted personality, it was obvious that being complimented on that silver hair that was inherited from her beloved grandmother made her extremely happy. Her luminescent blush that extended all the way to her ears could be seen clearly as she turned her head away and thanked Chizuru-san in a barely audible whisper.

And then, Chizuru-san, seeing that all too lovable tsundere attitude...

"——————————"

Well, the alumni and I could this coming from a mile away...

"Tha......"

"Tha?"

"That's too cute, damn it—————!"

"Ehhhhhhh!? Wait, what are you doing————mmph!?"

"Mokyu——! Mokyu——!"

"Wait, what!? What is this!? Did you just become some strange lifeform————mmph mmmphf!!"

——Chizuru-san's pupils became heart shaped as she tightly embraced Hinomori in her arms. Faced with this sudden change in attitude, the new student council members... even Minase and Kagami, stared in disbelief. On the other hand, the alumni looked on the scene with a sense of warm nostalgia.

"How nostalgic..."

"What!? Hey, you alumni over there! Stop with those disgusting looks and help me! Who's this perverted animal's owner!? Take responsibility for your pet and get her off me——!"

"Mokyu——! Mokyumokyumokyu, mokyu——!"

"Gyaaaa——! I have no idea what she's saying, but for some reason I feel a threat to my chastity from those innocent eyes!"

"How peaceful."

"Huh!? Are you all stupid? Are you all idioooooooooooots!?"

The student council and I continued to watch the two contently as we listened to Hinomori go through her death throes. It looks like Hinomori's been stripped slightly, but there wasn't really anything sexual about it, so whatever. All we saw was a peaceful, everyday scene that was healing our hearts.

The new student council was stunned.

In any case, Chizuru-san and Hinomori have basically dropped from the meeting at this point, so I tried to restart the conversation with the other members.

"Minatsu, do you have any thoughts on the direction of the new student council?"

"Hm? Ah, let's see. I think I like the Raikouben the best among the pao-pei."

"Nobody asked you about Houshin Engi! Listen to people when they talk to you!"

"Sorry, sorry. So, what was it again? Something about ghost stories becoming popular in the school or something?"

"That's the topic from volume 1 chapter 2! How long have you been not paying attention for!?"

"Ahh, since that time you said you wanted to become a student council member just like me?"

"That's basically the first time we met! What happened to the two years we spent together!?"

"That was basically me responding to your monologue."

"A shocking truth has been revealed!"

Honey you won't believe what happened to me! Apparently none of the conversations I had with Minatsu in the Seitokai series even registered in her mind! Isn't that insane!? There's a limit to how far you can go with a prank like that!

As I was recovering from the shock, Minase stood up from her seat and walked over to where I was sitting, then she gently lowered her hand onto my shoulder. Ahh, Minase's known me for the longest now after all, she should understand——

"Don't worry, Sugisaki-kun's monologuing has been going on for a long time now, and he still does it now in the meetings. I can verify as someone who's known him for a long time."

"She's here to add fuel to the fire!"

You really like forcing me into corners, don't you!? Minase let out a twisted, satisfied sigh at the sight of my despair, and hopped back to her own seat. This girl...

Well, I shouldn't take the words of a hot blooded airhead and a cold blooded know it all sadist too seriously. I gathered myself, and once again tried to strike up a conversation with Minatsu.

"So? What do you think the student council should do in terms of future direction?"

"Future direction, huh? Let's see..."

Minatsu crossed her arms and muttered quietly to herself. Suddenly, her face lit up as if she had thought of something amazing.

"Alright! Let's add in lots and lots of battles!"

"Thank you very much!"

I spontaneously started thanking her for that all too orthodox display of "THE Minatsu gag". with the amount of nostalgia it instilled in me, it felt like I was watching a traditional theatre production. For some reason even Saionji started clapping.

But even so, everyone still reacted with doubt at the theme of battles. Minatsu seemed to sense it as well, and scrunched up her lips in response.

"What? What don't you like about battles? They're fun, you know, battles. Right, Ken?"

"No, even if you ask for agreement from me like that..."

"Didn't you always have this face of bliss whenever I was beating you up last year?"

The new student council side was once again stunned into silence by Minatsu's words.

"What kind of crooked memory do you have!? When did I ever look happy in the face of your violence!?"

"Weren't you always laughing with that weird laugh of 'hidebu hidebu'?"

(TL Note: This is a Hokuto no Ken reference, where the sound effect "hidebu" was first popularized as a sound someone makes right before death)

"You counted that as laughter!? In any case, you can't shift the student council to a battle theme! We are not a JUMP manga that's fallen in the popularity polls!"

"Ah, Senpai! Kagami loves that, when JUMP manga start to shamelessly pander as they near cancellation. That kind of despair, as if it were someone drowning and desperately trying to grab hold of something, but in the end sinking to the bottom without a sound. And the author's pained comments in the last week, Kagami can't get enough of it!"

"You there, yandere with the twisted personality, shut up please!"

"Mmphf. Recently, Kagami's even getting excited from Senpai's scolding!"

"......"

...Right now, I have no words, like Kousuke Kitajima at the 2008 olympics, but for the entirely opposite reason.

In any case, Kagami was still clinging to my right arm, so let's just ignore her for now. I should deal with Minatsu first, so I asked her again for her opinions. Minatsu scratched the back of her head while looking slightly annoyed.

"Like I said, all I have is battles, if you take that theme away then 90% of my ideas are already out."

"You really are single minded, aren't you? Did you not experience any growth at your new school?"

"Don't underestimate me, Ken. In the past few months I've raised my power level by 4000 TP to over 10000 TP."

"I have no idea those units are based on!"

"Ah, TP is supposed to be short for 'Terra destruction Power'. 1 TP would be the amount of power you need to destroy one Earth!"

"What exactly are you trying to become!? W-wait, let's not worry about that right now, about the new student council's direction——"

"Then let's go with 'protecting world peace'."

"That's completely unreasonable!"

There's no way we can protect a planet with someone who has 10000 TP and casually wanders down to the convenience store to buy JUMP all the time living on it!

"In any case anything related to battles is forbidden! Don't expect any firepower from the student council!"

"Really? But I'm sensing an aura that even scares me coming from that girl named Kagami over there. Speaking in Hunter X Hunter terms, if I'm Meruem then she's like Hisoka..."

"No, she's more like a completely different category from what you're imagining."

Kagami herself also nodded at my comment.

"That's right, Minatsu-senpai. Kagami's normally just a powerless little girl...but if it's an order from Senpai, then Kagami can easily erase 100000 planets with every method available."

"That's ten times my combat power!"

"But if Senpai isn't involved, Kagami's confident she would even lose to a wild flying squirrel!"

"Hey, Ken, what is wrong with your underclassman!?"

"I would like to know that myself, to be honest..."

I had my hands full with this girl who kept getting stranger day by day... She was definitely more normal when we were enemies; apparently there exist people that you shouldn't conquer. The only thing that hasn't changed is how this girl keeps messing with my harem ideal in the worst way possible.

We've gotten quite off topic, but it didn't seem like Minatsu had any other ideas anyway.

In order to restore some semblance of normalcy to the meeting, I tried to talk to the person that had their feet firmly rooted in reality.

"Minase, what do you think we should do for this year's student council?"

"Hmm, let's see..."

Minase looked up from her notebook and adjusted her glasses. It seemed like she wasn't listening to the meeting and was just now considering the topic.

Minase rested her fist beside her mouth and starting thinking silently. It's frustrating to admit, but right now Minase had a picturesque quality to her, and everyone present was swallowed by the air of intelligence she was giving off.

After a few seconds of thinking, Minase began speaking in a slow but measured cadence.

"This kind of goal setting should be concrete, easy to understand, and something that can be easily pursued. With that in mind, I think the student council should——"

I nodded enthusiastically at Minase's fluid and logical words. Yeah, I choose the right person, she'll definitely give us something realistic and attainable——

"Abuse Sugisaki Ken."

"It's easily attainable!"

It was a proposal that was concrete, easy to understand, easily pursued, attainable, and firmly rooted in reality!

"But I refuse!"

"It's ok, Sugisaki-kun, you don't have to worry about it. It's something for the female members to decide."

"What kind of unreasonable logic is that!?"

I couldn't think of a good comeback right away, so I had to just sit and stomp the floor in frustration. Chizuru-san, who had temporarily stopped playing with Touko, looked towards Minase while muttering strange things like "A different type of 'Key-kun tamer' than me, huh...". What the hell is a "Key-kun tamer"!? My life is too sad in a world where that job exists!

With my head in my arms, I could still see Minase stare at me with an ice cold glare.

"I've heard that working for the women you love is your source of happiness, Sugisaki-kun."

"That's true, but that doesn't mean you can use me however you like!"

"I understand. Then as compensation we'll give you president Saionji's underwear."

"Eeeeh!?"

Saionji was horrified at the thought of her underwear being presented as a reward

But I rejected that idea immediately.

"I don't need it!"

"Eeeeh!?"

Saionji seemed incredibly startled. Was she thinking that it wasn't like me to say that...? But for something like this, the god of comedy would definitely mess it up somehow, and the cons would end up outweighing the pros. I could even see the possibility of the police being called.

I glanced briefly towards Saionji in the presidential seat, who was caught in the crossfire before resuming my argument with Minase.

"If we're talking about underwear, then give me yours as a reward, Minase!"

"Eeeeh!?"

I ignored the fact that Saionji seemed to be shaken again. Minase let out a deep sigh.

"Giving their underwear to Sugisaki-kun is something only the lowest of the low would do."

"What are you trying to say!? Weren't you trying to get me to do that just a minute ago!?"

Saionji tried to join the conversation with tears in her eyes, but dealing with Minase was more important right now. I replied while gripping my hand tightly into a fist.

"Then let's change the conditions, I'm going to add something to the proposal of 'abuse Sugisaki Ken'."

"Ah, that's it, Ken-san! It'll be mostly ok if it's just 'abuse Sugisaki Ken within reason'. Then I won't have to part with my underwear——"

"I want it to be 'sexually abuse Sugisaki Ken'!"

"The nuance has changed so dramatically with just one word——————!!"

"I understand, I'll accept that condition."

"Of course! There's no way Runa-san would accept that——————wait, whaaaaaaaaat!?"

"It looks like this year's president has it hard as well..."

Seeing Saionji perform her one man comedy act, the Prez let out a sigh. It wasn't really the time to be worrying about that, though.

I swalled my saliva and confirmed once more.

"Um...really?"

Minase nodded.

"Really. I'm dead serious. If that's alright with you, that is."

"Y, yeah..."

A pink coloured scene was rapidly expanding within my imagination. Being sexually abused by this glasses wearing sadist...it's frustrating to admit, but I want to experience it! This is already beyond the level of any eroge!

But, while I was feeling the greatest ecstasy, Minase started with a "However."

"I'm also going to add a condition."

"Hm?"

"Like I said, I'm going to add another condition to the proposal of 'sexually abuse Sugisaki Ken'."

"Mm, hmm..."

I couldn't help but cross my arms at Minase's new condition. This is...definitely a trap. It's Minase after all. She's going to add something that completely changes the meaning.

However, seeing me like this, Minase reluctantly tried to compromise.

"I see, then how about this? If you're that suspicious of me, then I won't be the one to add the condition. We'll add the safety of another perspective from one of the female members, so we can have a proper condition added. What do you think?"

"That's fine!"

I jumped out of my seat at Minase's compromise. If it's like this, then she can't add a hellish condition like she planned.

"Alright then, who should I pick..."

I quickly looked around the room. The Prez was spacing out with her lips slightly parted, and Minase stopped paying attention once a complicated topic came up; she obviously had no idea what was going on, so those two are out. As for Saionji...giving her this topic would only stress her out, and in the worst case scenario the god of comedy would get involved and something that's bad for everyone might be picked, so she's out. Chizuru-san and Hinomori are off in their own yuri world, and Kagami...that's out of the question. And so...

"Mafuyu-chan, can you do us a favour?"

"Huh? Is it ok for Mafuyu to do this?"

Being addressed so suddenly, Mafuyu-chan's shoulders stiffened. More surprising was Minase's gentle expression as she talked to Mafuyu-chan.

"Please. You're the most suited for this."

"Ah...if that's how it is, then Mafuyu wants to live up to expectations as well..."

"Please."

Mafuyu-chan became slightly embarrassed at Minase's assertive request. Surprisingly, Minase seemed to be quite mature in regards to this matter. In any case, this is the situation we're in now.

After considering it for a while, Mafuyu-chan turned towards Minase and I with a "Alright, Mafuyu's finished."

"Go ahead, Mafuyu-chan."

"Alright, understood."

Mafuyu-chan cleared her throat, while I swallowed my saliva again as I watched along with the ever calm Minase.

"Um, then, as the representative of the female members, Mafuyu will add a condition to 'sexually abuse Sugisaki Ken'..."

Mafuyu-chan started speaking......haha, ha, ahahahahaha!

I won.

This is victory for me. Ignoring the case where Minase added a condition herself, a condition from a neutral third party...not to mention, one who's always incredibly kind to me in Mafuyu-chan is undoubtedly beneficial to me——

"Please change it to 'homosexually abuse Sugisaki Ken'!"

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

With this all too sudden turnaround, I let out a scream while wearing an Umezu Kazuo-esque expression! The student council exploded into laughter!

In the middle of all this, from the corner of my eyes I could see Minase. She wasn't laughing out loud, but only smiled with satisfaction at a well executed plan——

"Y-you! You set me up! You set me uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!"

"Oh my, whatever could you be talking about, Sugisaki-kun? This was decided independantly by a neutral third party, wasn't it? If you have a complaint, you should take it up with former treasurer Shiina, not me."

"Guh...!"

No! There's no way! She was aiming for this outcome from the very beginning! Not only did she predict Mafuyu-chan's response, she predicted I would ask Mafuyu-chan based on the surrounding conditions, it was all within her control! Damn! What added safety!? My chastity alarm is ringing like crazy!

"That'll be all for my proposal."

"Guh. W-wait, that's right. This is just a proposal! The direction the student council is taking isn't set in stone..."

"Ah, no, I slipped in a 'let this proposal become fully binding' quietly while I was making that last change, so you've already agreed to it, Sugisaki-kun."

"Are you the deviiiiiiiiiiiiil!?"

"Well, it's not like we can only have one direction to focus on, so please continue the meeting, with the understanding of Sugisaki-kun being homosexually abused this year."

"What motivation to continue do you expect me to have!?"

Seeing my sorry state, Saionji tried to comfort me by saying "I, it's ok, as long as this information doesn't leak out of the student council, there's no harm, right?" Sob...thank you, Saionji. But...somehow I feel like you're going to be the one to leak this information with a combination of your clumsiness and affinity for comedy!

But I guess there's no point in just being depressed. I tried to stop thinking about it with all of my mental strength and restarted the meeting.

"Then... Mafuyu-chan, take responsibility for putting my chastity in danger and come up with another plan for the student council's direction."

"Ah, Mafuyu doesn't really have anything else to add. Thanks for your concern."

"Stop feeling satisfied at the previous outcome!"

I raised my voice in frustration at Mafuyu-chan, who was trying to escape the conversation but now pouted with an irritated look on her face.

"Mafuyu needs to text someone right now..."

"Like I'd let you! You're definitely going to leak that information to Nakameguro, aren't you!?"

"You're unbelievable, Senpai! To assume Mafuyu would do such a thing..."

Mafuyu-chan stared at me with a look of sincere distress. Damn it, what am I saying to her when she's finally here to visit after such a long time...

Just as I was reflecting on my choices, Mafuyu-chan started speaking again with a sigh.

"Really, Mafuyu's going to use a proper mailing list, of course. Nakameguro-senpai and Mamoru-senpai are obvious, but Mafuyu's also going to contact the 1st year C class boys including Akiba-kun, Kareno-sensei, the chairman, Geno-san, etc... even Hasegawa Kodaka-kun."

(TL Note: Most of these are side characters in the LN that have never shown up in any other adaptation)

"Are you trying to contact every single guy I've ever met!?"

She's even going to bring that one collab chapter we did with Haganai into it! She's getting way too into this!

Approaching us from behind while I was in shock, Minase again came to add insult to injury.

"Ah, please add my father, Minase Terao and treasurer Kagami's father, Mr. Misaki Kaito, onto that mailing list."

"Hey, you there! Stop casually adding middle aged men to the list! What kind of daughter are you!?"

"Ah, Kagami completely supports that addition! Just imagining Senpai on top and Misaki Kaito as the bottom is making Kagami strangely excited!"

"The new student council members are all terrible daughters!"

After ignoring my complaints, Minase and Kagami gave their fathers' phone numbers to Mafuyu-chan for real... the family circumstances of the student council were too frightening...

In the end, my desperate struggle was for naught, as Mafuyu-chan only began considering the problem seriously after sending out the ridiculous information that I was to be homosexually abused this year to all of her mailing list.

"Let's see, a theme for the new student council, huh...? Ah, Ga——"

"Anything related to gaming is rejected."

"...............................Ah, Onee-chan, when's the next flight home——"

"I'm sorry, Mafuyu-chan! I was wrong! I shouldn't have rejected it before you said anything! I'll apologize so please don't leave!"

"Mafuyu recommends promoting games!"

"Even so, I'm not going to accept that suggestion!"

It was the same as with Minatsu, the gag had become so predictable that it bordered on a traditional art form. The Prez and Chizuru-san had some joy mixed into their expression of nostalgia, but how could I not react as a member of the new student council!?

"In the first place, what are you hoping to achieve by promoting games?"

"Um, making a mountain of human trash? What about it?"

"Is there no limit to how crooked your thinking is!? Who does that benefit!?"

"There'll be more skilled players on the battlefields of Call of Duty and the influx of human trash will stimulate the Dragon Quest Online market!"

"Stop trying to groom people to play with while visiting your old school!"

"Mafuyu wants to continue making lots of friends at Hekiyou even after transferring!"

"Trying to make it sound good won't help! If you want to corrupt people so much, then do it at your new school!"

"Ah, that's already been completed."

"You've already done it!?"

Seeing my dumbfounded face, Minatsu tried to comfort me with an "It's ok, don't worry!"

"Under my Spartan education, all the students' physical capabilities are all easily superhuman!"

"How is that supposed to calm me down!?"

"Under Onee-chan's guidance, their reaction time and stamina have also improved; great for the human trash gaming life led by Mafuyu...it's a perfect situation!"

"What the hell is this...?"

The school these two transferred to (Arakami High) was done for in so many ways. People of Arakami, I'm sorry.

Mafuyu-chan continued as I looked on, disheartened.

"But Mafuyu thinks there's a lot to be learned from games."

"Although that is true to an extent... do you have any examples?"

I imagine she'll say it's good for mental training or something like that, but Mafuyu-chan brought her hands together in front of her chest with a smile and started speaking gently.

"To do everything in moderation, Mafuyu's learned that through personal experience."

"It's already too late for that! More like you haven't really taken that to heart at all, have you, Mafuyu-chan!?"

"Ahaha, what are you talking about, Senpai? Playing games for more than 24 hours a day can't be classified as extreme."

"Your standards are completely broken! I really should've rejected the gaming proposal right away!"

"W-wait! Mafuyu didn't say there was only one thing to be learned from gaming!"

"Well, that is true...what other things are you talking about specifically?"

"The importance of friendship!"

"I see, there are games with great stories like that——"

"That sense of despair when you find a game that doesn't support online play and have to meet someone physically!"

"That reason is too painful! Wait, making friends for that reason doesn't mean you learned anything important!"

"You can also learn how wonderful familial love is!"

"There are a lot of emotional scenes in gal games these days..."

"Aging parents who deliver meals every day to your room while you lock yourself in, not working and playing games all day long, that's when you can truly feel the warmth of familial love!"

"I'd rather not feel that warmth!"

"You can also learn to tell right from wrong!"

"Well yeah, if you play fantasy RPGs, you'll internalize the meaning of justice——"

"When one day your sister and her friends barge into your room yelling things like 'wake up already!', you think 'Ah, these guys are in the right... but Mafuyu's not going to change, heehee!'"

"You haven't learned a thing! You're just falling deeper and deeper!"

"And also, learning the meaning of life——"

"I don't want to hear it! I feel like I'm going to be dragged into an endless pit of despair!"

I cried out with tears in my eyes, which finally made Mafuyu-chan back down with a "Really? That's a shame."

Damn, I was a fool to expect the Shiina sisters to become a little more normal after transferring from the collection of weirdos known as Hekiyou. These two came back as higher purity monsters!

In any case, in order to close the topic, I should leave no room for Mafuyu-chan to complain with some vague conclusions.

"I understand that we can learn a lot of things from games, but I don't think we should be pushing this in school. Even you don't like being forced to play games you don't like, right Mafuyu-chan? For example, I'm terrible with airplanes, so flight simulators are completely beyond me. Mafuyu-chan, for you..."

"Mafuyu's terrible at 'Style Savvy'."

"As a girl, that's what you should be good at! I actually feel sad for you!"

A response of "Oh! Oh!" came from an unexpected direction. Looking over, it was Hinomori who had somehow escaped Chizuru-san's vicious attack.

"I'm super good at those games! It's combining gaming and fashion, as if it were made specifically for me!"

"Really...?"

"Hey, Sugisaki! What's with your attitude towards me!? Be more impressed! Make your pupils turn into hearts when you gaze upon my perfection!"

"Well... the fact that you're good at those games just makes you seem more bitchy...

"Guh, what the hell did you just say to me, you virgin NEET!? Disappear with the law of cycles!"

"M-Mafuyu's impressed! You're amazing for being good at those types of games!"

Mafuyu-chan joined in with a grin. Hinomori's face showed an instant of joy at being praised, but she quickly shied away and averted her gaze. This sight made everyone, not just Chizuru-san, think "(This girl is a super obvious tsundere and actually really cute...)". While that was going on, Hinomori seemed to think of something and started asking Mafuyu-chan some questions.

"Ah, that's right. You know a lot about games, don't you Shiina? This one is really weird sometimes."

"What do you mean, weird? Is it something like a bug?"

Hinomori nodded her head vigorously with a "That has to be it!"

"I always get stuck when dealing with customers in my store. I ignore their requests and always recommend them the most expensive clothes while laughing to myself, but it never works out. That has to be a bug, right!?"

"Wait wait wait, if anything, the bug is with your way of thinking! What exactly do you think you're doing with your sales!?"

"Hm? A legal form of fraud?"

"What an unbelievably crooked way of thinking!"

"But you're buying low and selling high, right? All you get is profit."

"T-that's not completely wrong, but..."

Mafuyu-chan glanced at me with concern. Yeah...that's right Mafuyu-chan. This girl's stupidity is really annoying; it's completely different from how the Prez is.

In any case, I still had to deal with Hinomori.

"So Hinomori, why do you think our students always line up to buy their bread at the school store?"

"Because they're idiots."

"What kind of answer is that!? It's because it's cheaper and tastier than the ones at the convenience stores! Got it? That's how the market works!"

"But I'm part of the convenience store faction myself."

"You're so frustrating!"

"Ah, Mafuyu prefers convenience and time saving over price when buying games as well!"

"Mafuyu-chan, why are you siding with Hinomori on this!?"

The two of them were now discussing things like "That's right! I don't want to fall to the level of the ignorant masses!" and "That's right! It's better to just pre order instead of standing in line for something 100 yen cheaper!" These guys... they're both failures, just different types!

I sighed with a sense of utter exhaustion. Chizuru-san tried to comfort me with a bitter smile.

"Looks like you have it hard this year too, Key-kun. Good work."

"You said it... If you count the times where we started late, we have an even lower success rate for proper meetings than we did last year!"

"I-is that so...?"

Chizuru-san was a little taken aback by my frustration... Ah, I should take the opportunity to ask her about her ideas, too.

"By the way, do you have any good proposals, Chizuru-san?"

"Ah, about the new student council's focus? Let's see..."

Chizuru-san started thinking with her hand resting on her lips. Chizuru-san sure hasn't changed, reliable as always. This is just the kind of aura she gives off.

"Ah, I've got it."

Chizuru-san seemed to have come up with something, and started giving her proposal with the smile of an angel.

"Expulsion if anyone looks at Key-kun with lust. Key-kun's expulsion, that is."

"Stop it with these traditional comedy-like proposaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaals"

Making me look forward to it, then hitting me with that kind of dark proposal, so you've shown your true colours! Yeah, I get it already! I didn't think for even a moment that I would be getting a serious response! I wasn't secretly hoping she would become better adjusted after going to university at all! Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Just as I was sighing as I lied on my desk, I felt movement next to me from Kagami. Not good, it feels like it's going to turn into a war zone——but when I hurriedly sat up, in contrast to my expectations, Kagami was smiling with delight.

"That's a great idea, Akaba-senpai!"

"Whaaaaaaaaaat!?"

Kagami ignored my shocked outburst and continued on.

"Kagami's thought about it a lot, but the thing that helps Senpai's harem ideal the most is this school with its abnormally high amount of pretty girls!"

For some reason, Chizuru-san was smiling and agreeing with Kagami, who had jumped up from her seat in her enthusiasm.

"You're right, Kagami-san! For most people, if there's a bucket of Häagen-Dazs beside them when they get hungry, of course they'd eat it. But if there's nothing near them, then they'd endure it and eat a proper meal later!"

"That's right! Just replace the food with lust and Senpai's true love..."

"Which would be me, Akaba Chizuru!" "None other than Kagami herself!"

The two voices overlapped. The room filled with tension, just what kind of outcome could this bring...? The two black hearted girls paused for an instant and decided that it was not yet time for the slaughter. They stared at each other with what we perceived as an insane, demented grin, and continued their conversation, thankfully without a fight breaking out.

"Kagami thinks drastic measures have to be taken when dealing with people like Senpai and that thing in Kagami's family."

"I agree completely, Kagami-san. Love is not fostered, it must be taken."

"It is fostered! I vote for fostering love!"

"To Kagami, love is something to be bound down."

"Agreed."

"What do you mean, 'agreed'!? Chizuru-san, why are you nodding your head with that weird expression on your face!?"

Chizuru-san ignored my concerns and continued.

"Kagami-san. Surely, one must include all of the heart, body, movements, and destiny as things to be bound."

"Agreed."

"No, please, Kagami, not you too with the 'agreed's..."

"To Kagami, believing in the man you love and waiting for him is just downright idiotic. If you truly want it, you have to act, even if it breaks the law."

"Agreed."

"What is with you and 'agreed'! You're admitting to some dangerous ideologies without a second thought!"

"Although if you get caught, then you'll lose everything, so you have to be careful... By the way, Kagami-san, don't you find exchanging murder targets fascinating?"

"Agreed."

"FBI behavioural analysis unit! I have two people here who are perfect for the newest season of Criminal Minds!"

"Well, in the end Kagami would plan to frame Akaba-senpai for Kagami's part of the crime and disappear quietly... hehe, but you're thinking the same thing as well."

"...Hmph, I agree completely on that, as well."

"What is that, some new slang? Do you like 'agreed' that much!?"

Honestly, it's easy to use and interesting, 'Agreed'. I'm kind of getting the urge to use it too!

Their dark conversation was still unfolding, but I choose to turn away... let's just leave quietly.

But with this, it was hard to continue the meeting. As I was thinking about what to do, I happened to glance over at Saionji... For some reason, she was staring at me out of the corner of her eye. When our gazes met, she turned away in a panic.

"Hm? What's wrong, Saionji?"

"...It's nothing. I don't have any feelings whatsoever about Ken-san happily chatting with the alumni."

For some reason, Saionji was pouting. Why is she giving me this treatment when I'm just trying to move the meeting along as the vice president...? Is it jealousy? That's what she seems to be feeling, but this isn't really anything to get jealous over. I thought about how to apologize while scratching my head. At the same time, the Prez sighed from across the table with a "Seriously, you guys."

"Sugisaki, you're so useless! Useless as always! You're like Nobi Nobita if you take out the kindness, sharpshooting skill, and proficiency at cat's cradle, then add in eroticism!"

"What a despair-inducing character evaluation! Since when did I become that terrible of a human being!?"

"The base character setting."

"Then it's already over!"

The Prez tried to cheer Saionji up as I sulked at having my personality be rejected.

"Don't worry about it so much, Tsukushi! Sugisaki's always like this... no matter what, he's basically always laughing like an idiot! I've even seen him naked, blindfolded, with Chizuru dripping candle wax onto his back, and he still looked like he was enjoying himself with drool coming out of his mouth!"

"Isn't that scene unsafe for underage eyes!?"

Saionji was stunned, but that never happened; probably something the Prez dreamt... unless Chizuru-san erased my memory.

I still couldn't follow exactly what was going on, but the Prez continued on with her follow up.

"Like I said, don't worry, Tsukushi! No matter when, where, or who he's with, Sugisaki's always smiling!"

After listening to the Prez's words, Saionji replied somewhat meekly.

"That's true...that reminds me, he was laughing with joy when we got caught in a mafia shootout one time as well..."

"That's right. No matter the time, Sugisaki's... wait, what!?"

The Prez was horrified at the incident Saionji described, but Saionji didn't seem to notice... By the way, I was laughing ironically with despair at the series of misfortunes that befell us. There was no joy to speak of, none whatsoever.

"If I think back some more, there was that time we were stuck in that locked room full of traps as well, he was grinning the whole time..."

"Ehhhhhhh!? What!? What kind of situation is that!?"

Saionji's ridiculous experiences were too much for the Prez, but Saionji was so absorbed in thought trying to remember that she didn't notice... By the way, I was grinning because I was trapped in a locked room with a pretty girl, not to mention that I could see the outline of Saionji's underwear since her clothes were soaking wet from one of the traps...Ahh, actually, it's probably better not to explain this one.

"If I really try to think back, the time we were floating through space——"

"W-wait, Tsukushi! Isn't the variety in your experiences way too much!? People say I have outrageous ideas all the time, and even I can't keep up with what you're saying, what gives!?"

"Ah, I apologize, Kurimu-san. That wasn't related to the student council at all, I've strayed off topic with my pointless ramblings..."

"No no no, that's not pointless at all! Actually, those stories should be written into light novels instead of these meetings!"

"These stories? I see...... Ah, but, that's probably not going to work, Kurimu-san. Only counting the time since I've known Ken-san, it would easily take up at least 300 volumes. It's not realistic to novelize all of it."

"This person whose very existence is fantasy just told me 'it's not realistic'!"

The Prez was stomping her foot on the floor now. Yeah... I get what you're feeling, Prez. Your worldview will be shaken if you try to seriously talk to Saionji.

And just like that, the Prez continued listening to Saionji's ridiculous adventures for a while longer, and after being surprised and getting excited by herself a few more times, finally returned to her original topic with a clearing of her throat.

"In any case, I'm saying you should have more confidence in yourself, Tsukushi."

"Sigh, is that so? But still..."

Saionji sneaked a few glances at me while speaking. Actually, I've noticed that the other members are also listening in on the conversation, and especially the new student council members, who were giving me the same looks as Saionji... what's going on?

Seeing this, the former student council, for some reason, started sending the same understanding, gentle looks to the new student council. In the middle of this strange situation where I was the only one out of the loop, the Prez announced, not just to Saionji, but to all of the new student council members:

"It's decided then! This year, the student council's theme is to have confidence in yourself! It's ok! Because Sugisaki loves all of you in the new student council!"

"What!? Wait, what are you saying all of a sudden——"

Blushing profusely, I had no time to react to the Prez's sudden claim before Minatsu stopped me with a "Don't you say this kind of stuff normally all the time?", grinning all the while... T-that's true, but! What is this!? Having someone else say it is so embarrassing! Especially in front of the new student council... Saionji, Minase, Hinomori, Kagami, we normally didn't have any displays of affection or any kind words for each other...This really is super embarrassing!

The new student council members' gazes all settled on my glowing red face...guh!

"W-what are you all grinning at! I-it's not like... um...... I love you, ok!? I love all of you! I-It's not like that, ok!? W-wait, it is like that! H-how do I put it... Ah, damn it!"

I scratched my head in my confusion, and the new student council members all started laughing. Then, Saionji replied to the Prez in her brightest voice.

"That's right...yeah, that's the kind of person Ken-san is, after all."

"Yeah, that's just how Sugisaki is!"

"Like I was asking, what are you talking about..."

The two of them seemed to have communicated something between them, and the other members all smiled and nodded as well, so it seemed like I was once again the only one who didn't understand the situation... What the hell!? What is this atmosphere!? It feels really weird! They suddenly started getting along by themselves! This is like the feeling you get when you introduce two friends to each other and they somehow get along better than you did with either of them, that kind of complicated feeling!

While I was feeling confused by myself, the other members started talking amongst themselves.

"But that's the alumni for you. You really do understand Ken-san."

"Hehe, of course! We were together for a whole year, so there's no way we'll lose!"

"If we're talking about that, then I've been with Sugisaki-kun the longest... I still have no idea what he's thinking though, not that I have any interest in knowing."

"Actually, not to mention knowing his thoughts, I'm pretty sure you can already manipulate Key-kun's thoughts quite well..."

"Hmph, all Sugisaki deserves is to be kicked and stepped on."

"Huh, Hinomori, so you do understand. That attitude is the type of treatment Ken looks forward to the most. I would know."

"Well, in the end Kagami's going to have Senpai all to herself. Kagami can't accept Senpai's harem ideal after all."

"Mafuyu agrees with Kagami-san's line of thinking! Although of course, Mafuyu will be the one to be chosen at the end!"

"......"

I couldn't follow the conversation at all, but I could tell they were talking about me. There were no compliments, but also no insults. It feels like a battlefield full of jealousy, but all the participants were having fun... what a strange conversation.

And like that, everyone continued chatting with that same feeling and atmosphere... And, even though I was still on the sidelines... is this...

The happy student council the Prez wished for?

Now that we've achieved our original goal, it should be about time to wrap things up, that's what I was thinking while watching over all the smiles on the faces of the student council members. Unexpectedly, the door to the student council room opened without so much as a knock. Everyone stopped talking and looked towards the door, and standing there...

"Wow, I heard about this, but you guys are getting pretty lively here, huh?"

"Magiru-sensei!"

There stood the student council advisor, looking apathetic while holding a folder of documents in one hand above her shoulder.

Joyous voices came from the former student council members. Magiru-sensei walked into the room with a smile while closing the door behind her. As I was getting up to give her my seat, she stopped me with a "No need, I have a staff meeting afterwards." and leaned her back against the wall. And then, after a few minutes of hearing from the old student council members about how they were doing, with a "Whoops, it's almost time. I'm glad to see you guys all doing so well.", cut off the conversation and started walking towards Saionji.

"Do you have a moment?"

"Yes, what is it?"

It's a rare sight, but Magiru-sensei started speaking to Saionji with a serious voice. The other members resumed talking amongst themselves, but I might as well see what they're talking about since I'm right beside Saionji.

Magiru-sensei took out a print out from her folder and placed it in front of Saionji.

"The paperwork for that volunteering activity for next month's holiday we talked about before, it's almost due... did you contact all the places and get the preparations ready?"

"......Huh?"

"......Huh?"

Magiru-sensei responded to Saionji's honest voice of confusion with her own. Everyone else seemed to notice their voices and turned their attention towards us. Chizuru-san asked Minase in a whisper.

"What are they talking about?"

"Looks like we completely forgot the volunteering the student council was supposed to be a part of next month."

"Um, is this about the biggest volunteering activity we have all year? The one that takes the most work? That's really bad if you haven't started working on it yet..."

Our present predicament was transmitted to everyone in the room through their conversation. At the same time, Saionji who was beginning to sweat, pulled out a clear folder from her backpack, compared the contents with Magiru-sensei's files, and finally dropped her hands onto the table dejectedly.

"A... apparently, the schedule I received... had a weird misprint only on the date..."

"Ahh......"

Everyone seemed to understand, judging from their voices. They former student council seemed to have accepted that "It can happen if it's Saionji".

As Saionji sat with sweat pouring out of her forehead, Kagami asked "So, more specifically, what's the problem?"

Magiru-sensei sighed as she answered.

"Um, I don't really want to say this, but... in the end, the deadline for this is going to have to be noon tomorrow, and so——"

"Now's no time to be having a reunion, right?"

Chizuru-san coldly concluded. Magiru-sensei confirmed it with a sigh and a "That's right."

The student council was draped in a heavy silence. The Prez began with "Then, we'll be leaving now, you should get to work...", but seeing how it was already dark outside, her face became ridden with guilt.

With this atmosphere, both the new and former student councils tried to find excuses, but that wasn't going to solve anything, it was a terrible situation.

And then, when the room once again began to quiet down.

At last I had a chance to speak, I faced Magiru-sensei and announced in my clearest voice:

"Sensei, I've already taken care of everything related to the volunteering activity yesterday, so there's nothing to worry about."

"——Eh?"

Not just Magiru-sensei, but all the members were taken by surprise. I continued explaining while scratching my cheek.

"Um, there wasn't really an opportunity to say this, but for the volunteering, I've already contacted the relevant people, arranged the materials we need, made the schedule, and completed the other small errands. That's all the student council needed to do, right?"

"Ah, yes. If that's the case then the rest should be left to the staff... ah, wait, the staff meeting's already begun! See you guys later then! And Sugisaki, did you really get everything done!?"

"Yes, don't worry. You can report that we're ready at the staff meeting."

"Ok, bye then!"

After saying goodbye, Magiru-sensei hurried out of the student council room in a panic. While everyone else was still stunned, I started to speak again with a "Now then."

"And so, you can all go back to your happy conversations. Ok, go!"

"......"

"...Huh?"

Even though I was encouraging everyone with a smile, they all sat still and stared at me...what is this? It's so unsettling.

"You're still... or rather, you went and did that again?"

"Again?"

"I'm talking about that self-sacrifice thing!"

"Um..."

I was confused as to why Minatsu was getting mad, but Minase chimed in, adjusting her glasses with an annoyed expression on her face.

"It's not any of my business if Sugisaki-kun works himself to death, but being taken care of like that annoys me just a little."

"A, annoyed? Taken care of? It's not like that, I simply..."

I didn't even have time to explain before Hinomori started to complain.

"Hey, I'm still part of the student council, aren't I? It's not like I want to do work, but... but... do you not trust me that much?"

"Trust? That's not it, I did it myself this time because..."

"Sugisaki! The student council means everyone works together! We already——"

"Ah, damn it!"

Why won't you let me talk!? I knocked over my chair while interrupting the Prez forcibly, and shouted with all my might:

"I was really looking forward to today from the bottom of my heart, got a problem with that!?"

"......What?"

Everyone blinked in surprise.

Embarrassed, I looked away and continued.

"I noticed that we didn't do the work for the volunteering event yesterday while taking care of some paperwork, but calling the student council over at that time was a little...you know. If I left it like that, we would have less time for the reunion today! If that's the case...of course I did it! By myself! What's wrong with that, huh!?"

Seeing me get defensive, Saionji started asking hesitantly.

"N, no, um... but, if you asked us to help yesterday..."

"Like I said, it's not that I don't trust you guys! At that hour, it would be faster for me to do it by myself compared to waiting for everyone to come from their homes."

"I-if it's Senpai's orders, Kagami's ready to come running as fast as possible——"

"Yesterday weren't you really looking forward to the first time you could have dinner together with just you and your mother since a long time ago!?"

"Ugh..."

This made even Kagami shrink back... for some reason, it was as if I were scolding Kagami. The situation became incomprehensible, so I cleared my throat to try to calm down a little.

Minatsu spoke again with an apologetic expression.

"Th-then, you weren't trying to pull some self sacrifice thing again...?"

"I wasn't! In fact, it's more like the complete opposite. I just..."

I took a look around at the student council... the room where the girls I loved gathered. I felt again how fortunate I was... and couldn't help but smile as I replied.

"I just want to see more of the smiling faces of the people I love chatting happily, even for just a second longer."

"......"

"......Hm?"

For some reason everyone was hanging their heads while blushing ear to ear. What happened?

Is my fly open or something? I returned to my seat to check.

"......Hm?"

Although it wasn't completely open, the zipper was hanging down a few millimeters from its closed position. I see, it must've been reflecting light off of the metal. That must be why everyone was blushing and turning away as if unable to look directly at something dazzling.

I'm amazing for being able to deduce the cause from just these small clues. I'm a deductive genius, a master of the female heart.

As I was feeling good about myself, the other members started whispering in a voice I couldn't quite hear.

"...Key-kun... this year, too... that's not fair..."

"...What the heck? Even Kagami's... that's too fiendish..."

"No... self... awareness...... annoying."

Whoa, am I...being hated that much? O-of course, having your fly open in front of a bunch of high school girls, that's to be expected.

And so, as I was being depressed by myself in the corner, there came a knock on the student council room door. Everyone else seemed to be absorbed in their whispering, so I had no choice but to answer with a "Come in——" while running to open the door, and standing there was...

"Ah, Sugisaki-san. Nice to see you."

"Yeah, nice to see you too, Kazami."

The younger journalism club president Kazami Meiku stood in the doorway with a camera around her neck. The complete opposite of Hinomori, her uniform was neat and tidy without any modifications. She entered without a commotion, and she didn't suddenly yell out any weird lines (not counting last year when she was being ordered by Lilicia-san to do so, that is).

She had the same kind of simple elegance she always did, but strangely, after spending so much time with the flashy, one of a kind girls in the student council, seeing her like this calms me down somewhat. Today that seemed to be doubly true, and I found my face loosen involuntarily, and Kazami, seeing such a thing, started giggling in amusement.

"Surprisingly, we seem to be quite similar, Sugisaki-san. Even though you talk about your harem all the time, the thing you want most is a calm, peaceful life."

"Ah, you might actually be right. Recently, I've been really relaxed in my alone time at home."

"Ahaha, that seems just like you. But that's what I like about you, Sugisaki-san. It feels kind of like something out of a light novel."

My heart skipped a beat from her natural use of "like", but since Kazami didn't mean anything by it, I consciously held back the fluttering of my heart... Because of the way we met and our relationship now, I couldn't really approach her the same way I did with other girls. We were normal friends, senpai and kouhai, so it was a little embarrassing for some reason.

I tried changing the topic by clearing my throat quietly.

"So, are you here to take a picture?"

"Ah, yes. I heard the former student council was coming back to visit, so of course we'll use that as material."

"I see. Working hard there, journalism club president."

"Haha, thanks for all your concern, student council vice president."

"You're welcome. You've done a lot for me too, thanks."

"Not at all, I can't thank you enough for giving me a lot to write about."

"It'll be like that in the future as well, Kazami. I scratch your back, you scratch mine."

"Of course, Sugisaki-san."

Weirdly, Kazami's grinning face and this conversation that was without any joking or fooling around seemed to be healing my heart. Why am I feeling this way? I guess this is what daily life is supposed to be like...

Now then, if it's Kazami's request, then we have to take a group photo. Even if it isn't very newsworthy, I still want a picture of all of the student council members together for myself. Alright!

"Gather around, everyone! We're going to take a group photo now——!"

I clapped my hands enthusiastically and turned around to face the room to find——

"......"

"Huh?"

For some reason, all of the new and former student council members were staring at Kazami and me. They were chatting so excitedly before, but now no one was talking... What happened?

That glare made even me, who was close to everyone, break out into a cold sweat, so there was no way Kazami could endure it. Her shoulders shook and quickly hid behind my back while holding my arms tightly.

"U-uh...S-Sugisaki-san? W-what's happening...?"

Kazami looked at me with a frightened gaze... Oh no, she's really cute——wait, hold on!

"......"

For some reason, the student council members had increased the pressure in their glare. This must be how Kenpachi's Reiatsu feels in BLEACH.

Kazami and I continued standing in the doorway, and from nowhere, I could hear a voice that seemed to be projected directly into my mind.

"The one we really need to be careful of is in neither the former nor the new student council!?"

That wasn't the voice of anyone in particular; it was probably everyone's feelings resonating at once.

Kazami was completely unprepared for this much attention, being as normal as can be, so I had to reluctantly attempt to salvage the situation.

"W-well, it's already pretty late, so let's just get the photo over with and go home——"

"There's still so much we have to talk about!"

"Whoa!?"

Everyone simultaneous howled at Kazami and me with an intensity rivalling Tanaka Kunie...We never had a choice in the first place.

(TL Note: Famous Japanese Actor)

In the end, not only Kazami, who of course was forced to join in, but Magiru-sensei who came back to see how things were going and Lilicia-san who was visiting the journalism club as an alumni were also caught up in the conversation. The meeting continued on and on...

"Alright, this is the next topic!"

The conversation none of us could get tired of kept continuing without end.

Hekiyou Academy student council.

It'll surely continue to be a place where lively people gather everyday to have fun conversations.

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