Chapter 7

I slow down my pace at her calling and wait for her to catch up.

"So Hikki, do you know where to find Hiratsuka-sensei? Asks Yuigahama, looking around for her as we make our way through the hotel.

"Yes, I believe that she is still in the hotel's bar. I saw her there earlier before we met up."

"Ohh, but wasn't that a couple of hours ago?"

We weave in and out of other students and guests way, making our way to the bar.

"Yeah it was, but I think that's where she still would be."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, first of all, she's a teacher so she has to stay either at the hotel or close by so students can find her if they are checking in. Also two, she drinks a lot so where else would she be?"

If this was still Chiba, she'd probably be out trying to score a date, but since we're so far away, she probably thinks that there's no point in trying to start a relationship if we're so far away from home.

"That's pretty rude Hikki! But, I guess that makes sense."

After checking in with sensei, without making any remarks about her drinking habits, and thus no damage to my person, Yuigahama and I separate. With her to find her clique, and I to meet up with Yukinoshita to pick up my Pan-san.

I make my way to the elevator again and click the up button.

As the elevator doors open, some students exit, probably dumping off their stuff before going back out for more shopping. After they all exit, I enter and hit the button for the floor Yukinoshita is on.

Exiting the elevator and walking through the hallway towards her room, I notice that it is devoid of any students, they are probably all still out enjoying their last day here. Reaching Yukinoshita's door, I curl my hand into a fist and knocked on the door with my knuckles.

A girlish squeal coming from the other side catches my attention, but before I can dwell on it, the door opens with Yukinoshita looking a bit out of breath. I notice that she has her phone clutched in one hand behind her. The screen was facing me so I can see the camera app is open.

I raise an eyebrow at that, "am I interrupting anything? I can always come back later."

"Uhh, no, you're not interrupting something. You just… caught me off guard there." Yukinoshita doesn't quite making eye contact with me.

"Ok then. Anyways I'm here to pick up my Pan-san," trying to move the conversation along and make it not awkward.

"Ummm, yes, right. One second, I'll go get it for you." Yukinoshita turns around and heads back into her room, while I wait in the hallway.

I try not to think of the implications of why she had her phone open on the camera app, or why she was so startled when I knocked on her door. The rumblings coming from her room didn't help either.

Thankfully Yukinoshita comes back with a Pan-san in her hand. She reaches out with it, however, before I can grab it, she withdraws it from my reach. I look at her, confused by her actions. She quickly turns around and runs back into her room before coming back with Pan-san in her hands again. She quickly shoved it into my hands without making eye contact or saying anything before closing her door.

I'm left speechless at her actions. This wasn't the normal Yukinoshita I knew, she's usually very prim and proper, but her display right there was odd and a little childish, like someone being caught doing something they weren't supposed to and were trying to cover up their actions. In the end I guess it doesn't really matter as I got Pan-san back in the end.

I turn around with my plushy in hand, trying to make it back to my room as quickly as possible. I don't want others to see me with this in hand. I hastened my pace back to the elevator, and as I do so a kind of flowery smell invades my nostrils. There wasn't this smell earlier when I was walking to Yukinoshita's room. There couldn't have been any changes in the time I went to her room and now, could there?

Am I just that oblivious that I missed something when I was talking with Yukinoshita? No that can't be it. Even though her behavior was a little distracting, I don't think that I would have missed someone or something changing in the hallway behind me.

I hit the call button for the elevator and it opens immediately, guess no one had used it since I got off. I enter and hit the button for my floor. While it moved, I go back to thinking.

Wait, something has changed since I walked to Yukinoshita's room. It's right here in my hand. I pull the Pan-san closer to my face and there it was, the smell. The elevator doors open and I exit. I'll get back to it when I reach my room.

Quickly walking to my room and unlocking the door, I enter and close the door behind me. In the solitude of the room, I take in a deep whiff of the Pan-san…. It smells flowery… I can't exactly narrow it down what flower, but it's familiar enough. Actually, taking a closer look at Pan-san, there are somethings that are off about it. One of his shirt sleeves was all rolled up, the price tag was missing and the head band wasn't on all the way. That's strange, what could have caused it to end up like this? Whatever I guess if the tag is the only thing missing then it doesn't really matter, that shouldn't bother Komachi anyways. I fix the headband and shirt, then toss it in my suitcase and close it, not wanting my roommate to see it.

Looking at the time, it was a little past 19:40. I was still feeling a little peckish from lunch, so I think I'll skip dinner and maybe just get a snack. I guess I can just go out and explore the area around the hotel for a little while before turning in for the night.

Waking up I reach for my phone to check the time. Of course I subconsciously check for any notifications as well. My phone showed that it was 7:30 and that I had a text message. Rubbing the tiredness out of my eyes, I unlock my phone and read the message. It was from Komachi.

From Komachi:

Nee Onii-chan your favorite imouto here.

Idiot, your my only imouto.

Just reminding you to get everything on the list. If you do, you'll get a lot of points. It's ok if you don't get everything though, Komachi will still love you no matter what. Wow that must of gotten me a lot of points.

Sure, sure. You're just saying that to cover the fact you're hounding me to get you your gifts. Whatever, I already got her what's on her list.

To Komachi:

Yes Komachi, I already got what's on your list, so you can calm down about not getting everything on it. Aren't I the best and most reliable Onii-chan?

With that sent, I leave my phone on the nightstand and shuffle my way over to the bathroom, still a little groggy.

Turning on the tap, the water coming out warms up quickly. After running my hand through it to make sure it isn't too hot, I pull one of the face towels off the racks and soak it. Wringing out excess water, I then clean my face with it, the warmth of the water making my face heat up, but the water also helps wake me up as well.

Setting the towel back on the rack, I pick up my toothbrush and wet it before applying toothpaste and brushing. The slow mechanical brushing helps me wake up as the little movements slowly shake my drowsiness away. As I finish, I pack my toothbrush and other toiletries back into my bag and make my way back to my bed.

As I start packing my other stuff, I make my way to the night stand to pack my phone charger and see the notification light on my phone blinking. Taking a peak at it, it's another text message from Komachi.

From Komachi:

Yay! You're the best onii-chan ever! Komachi has missed you so much! I can't wait for you to come home it's been so lonely and boring here without you onee-chan okaa-san or otou-san. I bet that got me a ton of points

To Komachi:

Yes it got you a whole bunch. I'll see you when I arrive home.

Setting my phone down, I find clothing that would be comfortable to travel in, since we'll be on a train for a number of hours heading back home, and change into them. I finish packing the rest of my belongings, just barely squeezing everything into my duffle thanks to the Pan-sans being in there as well. I hope it doesn't get crushed or anything on the way back.

I do one final look about for anything that I might have missed. Seeing none, I slip on my shoes and head out the door. As I head out, I see some other students as well in the hallway, all carrying their bags, making their way towards the elevator. Grabbing my bags I follow in their steps and make my way towards the elevator.

All of us were able to squeeze into the elevator, with me entering last. I press the button for the ground floor and the elevator descends. The other students in the elevator start talking about their breakfast plans, but I pay them no heed. As the door opens, I walk out make my way towards the front desk. Since it was still early enough, there weren't many students in line so I was able to reach the front fairly quickly. I turn in my room key and then head over and dropped off my luggage with the rest of class F's then head over to find a chair. As I sit down in one of the recliners I pull out my phone and see that it is only a little past 8. There was still about an hour before I had to report to the lobby with the rest of the classes to head home.

With that much time, I might as well get some breakfast before boarding, I'm not sure if we'll have any time to get some after meeting back up at the hotel. I pull out my phone again open up the Google Doc, Yukinoshita created with all the restaurants. Scrolling through them, a couple catches my eye, however they were either too far away or not open yet. Soon enough I find a coffee shop that was only a block or two away that was already open and I decide to head there.

After a light breakfast of Western origin, french toast, I make my way back to the hotel. When I was a block away a certain blond happened to be standing on the side of the road browsing on his phone. He probably is waiting for his clique. I pay him no mind and continued to walk back towards the hotel. However, as I walk past him I hear my name get called.

"Hikitani-kun."

I hope he is just being polite and greeting me. I could just pretend I didn't hear him and keep walking. Yeah I think I'll do that.

However before I can make my escape, Hayama steps in front of me while waving hello.

I guess there is no escaping this. Damn, should have been quicker, or I should have worn my headphones.

I stop and nod at him, acknowledging his presence.

He has canned drinks in his hands, one open and one sealed. He extends his arm out, offering me it.

Looking at the brand, it's UCC Coffee. It's not Max Coffee, but I take it anyways, can't say no to free food.

"Do you have a moment to speak Hikitani-kun?"

Opening the can, "Yeah I guess so."

He motions over to a table off to the side, outside of a convenience store and I sit down across from him.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did for my request," he says while smiling at me.

I take a sip of the drink, while not my favorite or as good as Max Coffee, it was still a decent coffee drink.

"Oh yes… your request," I say while taking a sip, hiding my frown.

"Yeah, you and the club did a great job. Ebina-san just wasn't ready for a relationship and thanks to your hard work, Tobe and Ebina were spared from an embarrassing rejection."

I sigh, I really don't want to be reminded of what we did, least of all from you.

"Well, you got your 'help', Ebina and Tobe can still be 'friends' and your clique can stay together for that much longer. However don't think you're going to get any more help from us for requests like this." I say finishing my can before getting up from my seat, I don't want to stick around him any longer than I have to.

"That's good then, I don't particularly like relying on you."

I get up from my seat ."Good luck in the real world then. If you think the working world is all sunshine and rainbows, you're in for a nice shock. Don't believe me? Read the international news." I don't look back at him while saying this so I can't see his expression, but it's probably still that pretty boy smile.

Walking back towards the hotel, I toss my empty can into a nearby recycling bin and make it to the lobby. Scanning the area, I quickly locate Hiratsuka-sensei, ever so standing out with her lab coat. I make my way towards her and check in.

I see Totsuka nearby and I walk towards him. I want to know how his trip went. Maybe stories of what he did will help dislodge the memories of what happened.

As Totsuka told me of what he did yesterday, a blob of blond hair makes its way through the lobby doors and towards our group. It's Hayama and he still has his ever present 'calm, disarming smile' present. He checks in with sensei before joining his clique.

Looking at him, he joins in on the conversation like nothing has happened, and everyone in the clique is also acting like nothing has happened. Only Tobe seemed a little hesitant to speak after Ebina says something.

"Hachiman. Hachiman."

I turn my head to the source of the voice and am met with a pouting Totsuka.

"Hachiman, are you even paying attention to what I am saying?" He asks with his arms crossed and cheeks puffed up.

Too cute

Ahem.

"Yea-" I'm met with Totsuka pouting even more, if that was possible. "I mean, sorry I missed that last part. I got distracted by something." I say, hoping my confession will appease him into forgiving me.

He uncrosses his arms and deflates his cheeks. "That's ok Hachiman, as long as you see the error of your ways." He smiles at me again.

Kami-sama, what have I done to be in the presence of this divine angel?

Getting up as the train pulled into the station, I stretch my arms and legs. I can't feel my lower body at all. Even though it was a long ride, I didn't take advantage of being on a train and didn't stretch my legs every so often and I'm paying the price now. As I stretch my lower back, I see the others slowly getting up and stretching as well. Some students already leaving with their luggage in hand.

I put my book back into my backpack, I was about 20ish pages from finishing it, but I had fallen asleep during the train ride, I get up and grab my language and souvenirs and make my way towards the exit.

As I'm walking out I wave back to Yuigahama who had joined her clique. Looks like they were making plans on where to go out or something.

Pulling out my phone, I check to see if Komachi has texted me her location. She said she would come meet me here. No doubt to secure her presents rather than actually welcoming me home. Not that it really matters, as long as she's there to help me carry my stuff.

From Komachi:

Hey Onii-chan! I'm over by the taxi stand by the front of the station I can't wait to see you!

To Komachi:

Ok, I just got off the train. I'm making my way over there now.

Putting my phone back in my pocket, I shift my bags to a better position on my shoulders before making my way towards the front entrance.

Even though it is a Sunday, there are still a lot of people making their way throughout the station. Business men and women making their way through the station, hurrying to try to catch trains. I pass by several shops and stores selling food, and at that moment my stomach rumbles. The smell of the food stops me in my tracks and my eyes turn towards the source of the smell. Before my eyes is a ramen shop, the chef cooking a batch for a businessman standing at his stand.

Instinctively, I take a step towards the shop. The smells goading me to buy a bowl. As I take another step, a vibrating coming from my pocket snaps me out of my trance. Fishing my phone out of my pocket, it reads Komachi.

"Hello."

[Onii-chan, where are you? Komachi is getting bored waiting for you.]

Sigh, "I'm almost at the entrance Komachi, I just have a lot to carry so it's taking a while."

[Ok, just hurry up Onii-chan, I still have to make dinner for us.]

"Yeah, abou-"

Before I can say anymore, I hear the dial tone.

Sigh, so much for bringing up the idea of eating out with Komachi. Sometimes I wish she would be as respectful as she is in public to me as she is in private. Ohh well, I guess she needs to be able to act her age sometimes as well.

Turning back, I start my way towards the entrance again, and within a couple of minutes I see Komachi, fiddling with her phone, standing by the entrance close by the taxi stands.

Wow, couldn't even wait excitedly for your onii-chan's return. If our positions were reversed, I would have been excitedly waiting for her return. Whatever, it's not like I was excited to see you again anyways b-baka. I walk up to Komachi, who was still playing with her phone, and while not saying anything I tapped her on the shoulder.

"Wah, wha-! Oh, it's you onii-chan. I thought it was a creep or something."

"Thanks Komachi, it's nice to see you too," I say with a deadpan expression.

"One sec onii-chan… just let me finish this message," she says while still focused on her phone typing something out. "There, done." She puts her phone away and looks at me for the first time.

As she looks up at me, a smile appears and starts to grow. Then she jumps towards me and wraps her arms around me, while I was still holding my bags.

"Koma-"

"Onii-chan, welcome back," she says while digging her face into my chest.

I feel my cheeks start to redden up at her actions. "Komachi, not here. There are people watching." I feel the stares of those walking around us. I try to ignore them, even though I don't know any of them, their stares make me feel like they're judging me.

"Like that matters onii-chan. That's not going to stop me from welcoming my big bro back from his trip. Ohh, I bet that got me a lot of points." She exclaims while finally letting go of me while taking a step back and looking up at me.

"Yes, yes sure." I feel my face cool down again and I relax at Komachi's 'catch-phrase.' "Anyways, let's go home. While the food in Kyoto was great, I can't wait to eat your cooking again Komachi."

"Umm hmm, umm hmm, sure onii-chan, let's go. And while eating, you can tell me all about your trip." She exclaims while smiling at me again.

"Sure thing Komachi," I smile back at her. "Why don't we take a taxi back? I don't think we can carry all this back."

"Sure thing onii-chan. I'll wave one down for us." She turns away and waves down a taxi at the terminal.

Picking up my bags again, I make my way over and follow Komachi. A elderly gentleman motions for my bags and I hand them over to him. He places them into the trunk of his taxi and he opens the door for me to enter, with Komachi already inside smiling at me.

The door closing draws my attention and the gentleman turns around, "What is your destination today?"

Komachi tells him our address and I start to tune out the sounds.

"Onii-chan.

"Onii-chan.

"Onii-chan."

I wake up to someone shaking my shoulders.

"Uggg, yes Komachi, what is it?" I say blinking a couple of times to focus my eyes.

"We're home onii-chan. I've been trying to wake you up for a while."

My eyes finally focusing, I'm met with a pouting Komachi.

"Ha ha ha, you two are really close, aren't you?"

Turning to the source of the voice it's the elderly taxi driver. He has a smile on his face while facing us.

"Ohh, yes, sorry," I fish out my wallet. He's probably waiting for us to pay. Looking at the price, I take out the appropriate bills and pass it over to him. He takes it and puts it away. He then hits the door controls and my door opens as well as the trunk. Getting out of the taxi, the driver pulls my bags out of the trunk and hands them to me.

"Thank you for the ride."

"It was my pleasure. I hope you and your imouto have a good day," he says while smiling.

I grab my bags and walk towards the house, Komachi already opening the door.

Damn brat, not even offering to help her onii-chan with his bags. I mean, I probably would have declined, wanting to not strain her since she has been studying, but at least she could have walked with me instead of rushing on ahead. Well, at least she's cooking tonight, no need to worry about that I guess.

I walk in after her and take off my shoes.

"I'll get started on dinner onii-chan, go ahead and get changed," shouts Komachi from the kitchen.

Putting on my slippers, I bring up my souvenirs and backpack first. As I walk up the stairs I faintly hear music coming from the kitchen, and the sounds of pots and pans. The sound fades as I traverse the steps and I enter my room. Looking around, I need to find a good place to hide the gifts from Komachi. I can use them as leverage on Komachi if she decides to act like a brat.

Looking around, I decided under my bed. There already are some boxes under my bed, but there is still some space behind it. With Komachi busy with cooking, I could hide it there without her knowing. I dig out the boxes already there and then quickly hide the souvenirs first, before carefully putting back the original boxes, making sure they look the same as before.

I quickly race back downstairs and grab my duffle and then head back up, careful to not make too much noise, less I stir up Komachi's curiosity. Though I can still hear her songs and Komachi singing to them, so I shouldn't have too much to worry about.

Entering my room again, I pull out my 'home' clothes and quickly change into those and throw some clothes from the bag out, so it looks like I was doing some unpacking to cover up how much time I spent hiding stuff. Then I turn around, head out into the hall and close the door to my room. I head back downstairs, not caring if I was making noise or not, so I wouldn't seem suspicious to Komachi.

Entering the kitchen, the sounds of a GARNiDELia song fills my ears, and I see Komachi cutting up some vegetables and throwing them into a pan to stir-fry. She also had some chicken in a large wok cooking. Looking on the side of the burners I see a large bowl of rice.

Ahh, she's probably making fried rice for us. A nice choice considering it's easy to make and you can throw in basically any ingredients in the fridge. From the looks of it, she's using the chicken, and shrimp for the meat and then broccoli, carrots and peas for the vegetables.

"Hey Komachi, do you need any help?" I ask, looking at her.

"Ummm? Uhhh, I guess you can tend to the veggies and chicken on the stove while I keep cutting the veggies here." She states with her back turned towards me, still dicing up some carrots.

"Alright then," I say while putting on my apron and grabbing the spatula laying across one of the bowls.

"So how was your trip onii-chan? Did you have fun? Did you take lots of pictures? Did you get together with Yukino-san or Yui-san? Did you get everything on the list?"

She starts shooting off questions rapid fire, like mom when she's worried about something and wants to know all the details. I doubt that she's actually worried though. You already know the answer to the last one. And that second to last question, what are you doing, trying to slip that in? You realize I'll just ignore it or not pay attention. You can't try to overload me with questions and think that I'll just tell you everything.

I sigh, "The trip was fine Komachi, I had fun visiting a lot of monuments and landmarks in Kyoto. As I promised, I took a lot of pictures when I was there. I'll upload them to the computer later so you can look through them." I better go through which ones I upload to make sure nothing she can tease me with gets uploaded. "Also, you already know about the list. I texted you saying I got everything, and don't say 'you didn't get it' cause you responded to it. You better be grateful too, your onii-chan search all over for two Kyoto Pan-sans." That's technically true since I gave one to Yukinoshita, and then had to go looking again for another, but Komachi doesn't need to know that.

"Mhmmm, sure onii-chan." She just brushes what I said off as she empties her pan of veggies and then adds several eggs into the pan. "Anyways, is the chicken done?"

"Yeah, you want me to start on the shrimp then?" I ask as I scoop out the chicken into a bowl.

"Sure onii-chan."

After a short while Komachi and I each had a bowl of fried rice in front of us as we sat down to chow down. Even though we had a large dining table able to seat 10, I took my usual seat of two over on the right side of the head of the table and Komachi as usual, sat next to me.

The only time she'd sit somewhere else is if some of otou-san or okaa-san's business associates came over, though that was few and far in between as they usually just went out to eat if they wanted to have dinner together. Other times it would be if Komachi was mad at me she'd want to sit further away, but doing so would earn me the wrath of our parents as it would be obvious since she'd sit on the other side of the table next to okaa-san. Funnily enough when she was mad at otou-san, she would still trade seats with me, still on the right side of the table, but with me as a buffer between her and otou-san. He almost started crying when she refused to speak to him and ignored his attempts of trying to mend their relationship at the dinner table.

Anyways while normally we would be more inclined to focus on the food or the news on the television, tonight Komachi broke with that by bombarding me with questions about the trip. She asked so many that I could barely eat. I would take one small bite and then she'd launch another salvo of questions at me. It was a wonder how she was able to finish her bowl before me with how much talking she did.

In the end we each had two bowls of rice, before we were both full. Bringing our bowls into the kitchen, I started to wash our bowls when I was suddenly pushed from the side. Turning my head I see a smug look from Komachi.

"Oi, what was that for Komachi, I'm trying to wash up here," annoyance in my voice while scrubbing the bowls with the sponge.

"Yeah I know," she says while smirking, which caused her fang to poke out.

"Well, cut it out will you? You're going to make me spill water everywhere," hitching my voice to show my seriousness.

"Uhhh, you're really not as smart as you think you are, huh onii-chan?" She starts to frown, putting one hand on her hip.

"Ehhh, what are you talking about Komachi?"

"Uggg, do I have to spell it out for you?" She asks as she looks increasingly annoyed at me. "I'm doing so you'll stop and I can do the dishes."

I still look at her confused, "But…"

"Yes, you just came back from a long train ride and are probably tired, so go rest up and let Komachi take care of it." She replies crossing her arms.

"Ohh, ok then," wiping my hands on a towel, "thanks Komachi, you're the best," I say as I leave the kitchen."

"Yeah, yeah, just make sure to give me a lot of points for it," I hear over the sound of running water and scrubbing.

Entering my room, I pick up the clothes I threw around earlier and start putting them back into the dresser and closet. Grabbing my dirty clothes and the empty duffle I drop the clothes into the laundry hamper in the bathroom. On the way back to my room, I put the duffle bag into the hallway storage closet.

After unpacking my things, I look at the time. It was still too early for me to go to bed, and I also fell asleep on the train ride back too, so I didn't feel tired. I pick up A Brave New World and lie down on my bed.

The ending of the book wasn't much of a surprise. I had suspected that John would kill himself. He was not from the society and couldn't conform to the system, and those from the system wouldn't leave him alone. So in the end he had enough of it and hung himself. He wasn't even allowed to go into exile, nor was he allowed to return to his homeland.

The next morning was pretty uneventful. Getting up, brushing teeth and heading downstairs. I had woken up a little later than normal, due to having my sleep schedule being a little messed up, probably because of the nap I took on the train. However it wasn't enough of a change to cause me to be late, but it was enough that by the time I had made it to the dining room, Komachi already had breakfast laid out for me.

After a quick breakfast, Komachi shooed me away so she could do the dishes. I grabbed one of the leftover containers from last night and grabbed my school bag.

"Bye Komachi, I'm leaving for school," I yelled as I open the front door.

"Bye onii-chan, I'll see you later," a muffled reply comes back.

As I was locking up my bike I could hear students walking by me and other locking up their bikes as well. Some were talking about the trip, and others were just asking how their weekend was. Everything seemed like it was back to normal, or at least what counts as normal here. Walking through the halls, I didn't hear any whispers about Tobe and his rejection which was good to hear.

When I enter the classroom, I already see Hayama's clique already assembled. I observe them as I make my way to my seat. They were all talking to each other, but it seemed that Tobe wasn't joining in on them as much as he normally would, which was why it seemed the classroom was quieter than usual. Though for the rest, it seems that it was business as usual, makes sense since Ebina wasn't supposed to know that Tobe was going to confess.

The bell rings and everyone takes their seats as sensei walks in to start the lesson.

Classes and lunch go by without anything of interest happening. I kept on observing Hayama's clique. As the day rolled on, Tobe became more and more active in his group again, and by the last break in between classes, he was back to his full loud and annoying self.

It's good to see him back to normal, even if that means that the classroom isn't peaceful anymore. Well, I guess it really wasn't really ever peaceful to begin with.

The final bell rings and everyone starts packing up their stuff.

"Hey, you guys want to go out after practice?" Tobe yells out.

"Ahh yeah sure."

"Sounds good."

"Yeah, great idea."

As Hayama's group loudly pack their things, well mostly the boys, they start playing around with each other and talking about where they should go. I pack my things up quickly and head out, their loud obnoxiousness was starting to give me a headache.

Quickly dodging my way around all the students that were leaving or heading to a club, I make my way to the special building, and to the club room. Knocking on the door, after hearing a reply, I enter.

"Hey."

"Good afternoon Hikigaya-kun," greets Yukinoshita.

I shut the door behind me and sit down in my usual seat. As I pull out a new book, Yukinoshita walks over and pour tea for me.

"Ahh, thanks."

"You're welcome," she replies as she heads back to her seat.

Not too long afterwards Yuigahama-san enters and takes her seat as well. She goes and starts talking to Yukinoshita about her day, with her responding every so often. I tune them out and concentrate on my new book.

Knocking on the door snaps me out of my reading. I mark the page in the book look up at the door.

"Please come in," Yukinoshita replies.

The door opens and in comes someone with shoulder-length brown hair tied into two braids, followed by a girl with shoulder-length brown hair in what I believe is called a 'bobbed cut.'

"Hey hey hooo!" greets the first person, while giving us a big shining smile.

So bright, I can barely focus, but I was starting to feel less tired for some reason.

"Good afternoon Shiromeguri-senpai."

"Yahallo senpai."

"Hello Shiromeguri-senpai."

"Do you have a request Shiromeguri-senpai?"

"Well, kinda of," she says scrunching up her facial expression.

Ahh, please don't do that, I'm starting to feel tired again.

"Anyways, this here," she points to the girl that came in with her, "is Isshiki Iroha."

"Yahallo everyone," she ways to us while smiling.

While she smiled at us, it didn't give the same feeling that Shiromeguri-senpai's gave. It just felt... blank, like she was just putting on an act.

"Yahallo Iroha-chan!" greets Yuigahama. Yuigahama and Isshiki did a wave to each other.

"Good afternoon, I'm Yukinoshita Yukino."

"Hello, I'm Hikigaya Hachiman." Isn't she from the soccer club? I think I've seen her before, but I'm not quite sure.

"So Isshiki here is in a bit of a pickle. As you may know the student council elections are coming up soon," starts off Shiromeguri-senpai.

Looking to my side, Yuigahama shakes her head.

Not a big surprise, not many people really keep up with the elections, not that I'm judging, I don't either. Most people, if not all of them don't really get involved with the council. You'd really only would if you had friends running. To be honest most people probably don't even know what the council does. When people think of the terms president, vice-president, and treasurer, they think of people in major companies making big decisions that influence where the company is heading and the next year's budget. However those positions within the schools don't really have that much power do they? Sure they can set the club budgets and plan events for the school year, but that doesn't mean they can do anything too radical.

Looking at Yukinoshita however told a different story, no surprise there.

"Yes, I believe that it was announced some time ago and the candidates were made known as well."

"Yeah, you sure keep up Yukinoshita," clapped Shiromeguri-senpai. "We were supposed to have our elections some time ago, but the lack of candidates forced the election to be postponed. And without someone to take over, I can't retire happily." Shiromeguri-senpai's tone suddenly turned somber and it looked like she was about to cry.

The mood of the room turned somber as well.

"But let's not worry about that, we are here for Isshiki's request after all." She states happily turning the mood once again.

What the hell, what kind of fluffy mood setting power does our president have?

"Ummm, yes. You see I was nominated to run for the student council president, but I really never had the intention of running."

Interesting, that makes sense. She doesn't look like or give off the vibe of someone that would want to run for president or want the responsibilities that come with the position.

She notices my gaze on her, and turned to face me.

"Ahh, did you not think that I was fit for the role or something?"

"Ah, no. It's not that. I'm just surprised it took so long for someone to step forward for the role, but I guess it makes sense if you didn't really want the role." I quickly explain to try and cover my thoughts.

It seems that Isshiki is more than she appears. At first glance, she looks like a 'normal' high school girl, living her 'youth,' but it seems that there's more than meets the eye.

"So back on to the topic, may I ask what the problem is?" Yukinoshita, deflects Isshiki's attention from me and gets back to the matter at hand. She folded her arms and her tone indicated she was starting to get annoyed at the waiting.

Meguri quickly spoke up to move to the main part.

"Isshiki, while she was nominated, she doesn't want to become the student council president."

"Yes, it seems that as a prank, my classmates decided to put up my name for nomination to run for student council president."

"So bullying then?" Yukinoshita asks with an added hitch in her tone.

"Well, I wouldn't call it that. It's like... uhh, when your classmates tease you and poke you and stuff, but they went a little overboard."

Teasing you is one thing, I get it all the time from Makoto and Komachi, but being put up for ballot for the student council president is a bit more than just your simple pranks and teasing. She must have done something to earn the ire of her classmates.

"Umm, can someone just be put up for election like this?" asks Yuigahama.

"Heh heh, when the papers were turned in, it seems that the staff member in charge didn't actually check them thoroughly." Shiromeguri stated while groaning. "There was even enough people backing the candidacy as well."

Signatures, makes sense, you don't want a whole bunch of unqualified people running for positions. So it seems like having the required signatures opens the gates to allow a person to run as a candidate.

"Still it is a problem since you need thirty signatures to be able to run as a candidate, and they were all authentic."

"Well can't Iroha-chan just withdraw, there totes got to be a way for her to do that."

Yuigahama has got a point, why can't she just withdraw?

"Well at this point, my home room teacher is really pushing for me to run even though I told him I never wanted to in the first place. Also it would be kinda lame since my name has already been posted saying that I'm a candidate, and for me to just leave in the middle of it..."

"Also in regards to a candidate withdrawing, I don't believe there is anything written on the subject within the election rules. We also can't rule her out because she's only a first year, there is also no official rule stating you must be a second year either," Yukinoshita states.

Shiromeguri-senpai looks at Yukinoshita with surprise.

"Wow Yukinoshita, you sure know your stuff. As she stated, there is nothing written in the official rules or student hand book regarding candidates withdrawing."

"Hmm, so Shiromeguri-senpai, are there currently no others running for president as well?" I ask.

"Yes, currently only Isshiki is running."

"That means a vote of confidence then, right Shiromeguri-senpai?"

"Correct Hikigaya, since there are no other candidates, that means everyone will vote on if they have confidence in Isshiki as a president or not."

Well that's pretty simple, people just vote 'yes' or 'no'. Most people would just vote 'yes', since they wouldn't really care on the outcome. Of course you would have people vote 'no' just to see what happens, but there shouldn't be enough to make too much of a commotion.

"Wait a second," pouts Isshiki, "losing a vote of confidence would be like, super duper lame."

Well shit, there goes that plan out the window. It was probably that attitude that got you into this mess in the first place. But then again I could sympathize with that; being thrown into an election you wanted to have no part in, only to be the only candidate, and then still lose a vote of confidence. That would be pretty 'lame.'

Hmm, that puts us in a bind. If there was another candidate, this would be easy street. Just have Isshiki do a half assed campaign, and by comparison, the opposition would look better and win.

"Could you please give us some time to think it over before coming to a decision on the matter?" Yukinoshita asks while leveling her chin onto her hand.

"Yes of course, thanks Yukinoshita-senpai." Isshiki responds, smiling at her.

"Actually there's something I wanted to ask you about Yukinoshita. Go on ahead Isshiki, I'll catch up." Shiromeguri waves to Isshiki.

"Alright, bye Yukinoshita-senpai, Yui-senpai, and Hik-Hikigaya-senpai." She waves at us in a cutesy fashion before exiting.

"So what did you want to ask me about Shiromeguri-senpai?"

Shiromeguri-senpai glances at both me and Yuigahama for a quick second before speaking, "well Yukinoshita, I was kinda hoping you would run for student council president," Shiromeguri smiles brightly at Yukinoshita, "I think you'd do a great job in that position."

"Ohh, is that so," Yukinoshita squirms in her chair a bit.

Even Yukinoshita can't stand up to the magical power of Shiromeguri-senpai.

"Umm, can I ask why you think that?"

"Well, your sister did a good job as chairwoman during the festivals, and from what Haru-san told me, I think you'll do great. Also, you did a great job during the cultural and athletic festivals. You showed a lot of leadership qualities."

"Ohh, I see," Yukinoshita's expression drops a bit at the mention of her sister.

"I think I'm going to have to decline your offer Shiromeguri-senpai. Thank you though, I appreciate your offer," Yukinoshita says while smiling, but it was one that just seemed rehearsed and generic.

"That's alright," Shiromeguri-senpai puts her hands up and waves them in front of her, "if you ever change your mind though, you're always welcome to run." She smiles at all of us, "Thanks for your help so far guys, I'll see you later."

"Goodbye senpai"

"Take care Shiromeguri-senpai."

"Goodbye Shiromeguri-senpai."

Shiromeguri waves to us and exits the club room.

"Well guys any ideas?" Yuigahama asks.

"From what I can see, the best option so far would be to find someone else to run." To be honest it's the only solution I can think of right now.

"Indeed, though it is quite strange that no one has come forward wanting the position. In any case, I believe that we should take on the request," Yukinoshita looks at me and Yuigahama for our opinions.

"Sure, I don't see a reason why we shouldn't."

"Yeah, let's help Iroha-chan!"

"As questionable as one of our motives might be, let's start thinking of some candidates for student council president, we can talk about them tomorrow during club." Yukinoshita sighs and then looks at the clock.

I look at the clock as well, it was time to go home.

A buzz catches my attention.

"Ahh," Yuigahama fishes her phone out and starts reading something. "Yumiko and everyone else wants to hang out, so I'm going to go ahead first. See you guys tomorrow."

She quickly packs up her things and runs out of the room.

I start packing up my things as well, but I do it a bit slower than normal, I wanted to ask Yukinoshita something.

"Hey Yukinoshita," I stop packing and face her.

"Yes?"

"May I ask, why didn't you take Shiromeguri-senpai's offer to run for student council president, you seemed like you wanted to at first, when Shiromeguri-senpai asked."

"Yes, at first I was delighted that she thought of me as a candidate, but after hearing her reason, I wasn't so sure."

"Ahh, your sister." She doesn't want to be compared to her.

"I don't just want to be known as 'Haruno-san's little sister.' I dislike being compared to her and being in her shadow."

"Well, I don't think Shiromeguri-senpai did it on purpose. I mean she did also say you did a great job during the festivals."

She puts her hand under her chin, "true, but still. I'm just not sure about it."

"I see." I finish packing up by stuff, "Well, goodbye then."

"Hmmm, yes, see you tomorrow," my farewell snaps her out of her thinking, causing her to lose her composure for a quick second.

I wonder what she was so deep in thought about.