A/N: Here I am, back at it again with the Ishimaki content. I just love this unlikely pairing. I just feel like if Maki moved on from Tsubasa and found happiness, she'd be really silly with whoever she was dating, thus this short little fic was born. Also, quarantine boredom lol. Probably not the last you'll see of me and this pairing! Cross-posted to AO3.

It astounded Ishigami, how a year could see so much, yet so little change. For instance, he'd moved up a grade. He also stayed in the student council, however, he'd been promoted from treasurer to Miko Iino's vice president. And like the previous year, he found himself dating a third year. Only this relationship didn't have an expiration date in sight.

On an October afternoon like any other, Ishigami was sifting through a stack of cultural festival-related papers when a pair of hands sunk him into a sea of darkness. A smile came to his face as he reached to pull them away from his eyes.

He looked up to the sight of Maki grinning down at him. She peeked from side to side before delivering a swift peck to his lips.

"Mount Iino might erupt if she saw such scandalous activity in here," Ishigami said, craning his neck to look up at her.

She guffawed as she walked around the couch, Ishigami's eyes following her up to the point that she plopped down beside him.

"As if Kaguya and Miyuki didn't do worse."

Ishigami pondered this before nodding in agreement. "Touché."

"It blows my mind sometimes that she actually asked you to be her right-hand man."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't say she regards me that highly. It's more like I'm the only person she could ask."

"You're right," she conceded with a sigh, kicking her legs up onto the coffee table. Ishigami glanced down at them before rerouting his attention to the papers, eliciting a simper from Maki. She observed the room while Ishigami continued his work, her eyes finally settling on the President Iino nameplate sitting on the desk.

"It still feels weird that Miyuki and Kaguya aren't around," she noted.

Ishigami looked up at Maki and then to the desk, nodding. "Right? I'm still not really used to it. Even Fujiwara-san left the student council."

"Well, us third years are pretty busy after all," Maki waved a hand in the air, relaxing further into the couch. After a moment's worth of internal debate, she rested her head on Ishigami's shoulder. He froze for half a second before carrying on as normal.

"Mm," he hummed in agreement, flipping to the next page in front of him. "Speaking of which, aren't you supposed to be meeting with the Volunteer Club right about now?"

She shrugged, leaning deeper into his shoulder and ultimately falling into his lap as if it were a pillow. She looked up and tittered at the way he jolted, dropping the sheet of paper. He watched it float to the ground before gaping at Maki's mischievous smile.

"I can be a little late."

Emboldened by her kittenish behavior, his wide open jaw morphed into a smirk. This was another change that shocked him, the confidence that came along with having a steady girlfriend. At the start, a heavy dose of awkwardness accompanied every little move the two made with each other, but the more time they spent together, the more natural it all felt.

Just as the two began to meet halfway for a kiss, the door flew open and Maki shot straight up onto her feet.

Iino's eyes darted between the two of them, her mouth hanging open.

"What's going on in here?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing," Maki supplied in haste, whipping around to face Iino. Ishigami remained seated in the opposite direction, making a show of inspecting a random document. "I was just stopping by for a second. I really should get going though."

The clear suspicion painted on Iino's face caused laughter to bubble in the back of Maki's throat. Ishigami, sensing the upcoming explosion of giggles, discreetly stomped on her foot. She looked down, pressing her lips together tightly, too amused to chastise him.

Once the urge to laugh dissipated, Maki took a deep breath and headed toward the door, shooting Iino a friendly smile on the way out.

Imagining the scolding that Iino was surely dishing out to Yu, Maki felt glad not to be a part of the student council right about now.

I'll have to make it up to him later, she thought as she strolled down the hall.

She's so going to pay for this, Ishigami thought as Iino went off on a tirade about the importance of upholding public morals.