Opening manoeuvre

This is about as romantic as it gets: Bobbing around in a pristinely green painted wooden rowing boat on a large pond with maple trees growing by the edge of the water and water lilies floating on the surface.
Birds who are building their nests and picking their mates are singing all around us and pairs of ducks slip into the water by the foot of a tree.

But you can trust Touko to spoil the conventionality of it all by making some weird request.

"Alright. Sit completely still," She says as she slowly rises up from her seat in a thin blue sweater and a flowery skirt that reaches just underneath her knees.

I watch her precariously balance herself with spread legs while she eventually manages to stand up straight on the flat bottom of our boat without unbalancing us and falling into the water. That in itself I consider a small miracle. But…

"Come, Yuu," She grins. "Now you do it."

"I still don't see why," I say while I carefully lift my body from my seat in the middle of the boat.

As I slowly position my feet next to hers with my back to the front of her body I feel Touko gently take my right hand in hers.

"You shouldn't startle me like that," I blush. "If I make one insecure movement we might both fall in the water."

"But we won't," I hear behind me. "That's what I wanted to do this for, to teach you what you taught me: No matter how much you shake, no matter how insecure, if a captain can trust in her surroundings she will keep her boat afloat."

And this speech about trust she gives me after she plotted to manipulate me three weeks earlier.

It was the day of the entrance ceremony. The cherry blossom front had come to town early that year and Koyomi and Sayaka had already held a flower-viewing party with their friends before school started. Even so, after their first day as a third-year and a second year at Tohmi Higashi High had ended the two girls walked hand in hand over a carpet of fallen petals that covered the footpath from the school building all the way to the river.

"Hey, Kanou-san! Stop pulling!" Sayaka complained as her kouhai towed her forth with mild insistence.

"Ah! I'm sorry," The girl with the black bob apologized as she released her girlfriend's arm.

Sayaka heard the signal of a passing train at the crossroads a few meters back and turned her head to watch the guard-arms go down. A passing gust of wind slightly rustled her hair and she turned her attention to Koyomi again.

As the brunette had expected, her girlfriend was staring at her with a slight blush on her cheeks. This was exactly the kind of situation where Koyomi would daze off with a look that would make an animator depict her with hearts for eyes.

When her girlfriend had asked her to try going out together Sayaka had still been smarting from the rejection of her deep affection for her best friend. A rejection that had been considerably softened by the fact that it had visibly hurt Touko to break Sayaka's heart, but a rejection that had affected the latter deeply nonetheless.

While outwardly dealing with her broken heart and her friend's lovey-dovey relationship better than might be expected, when Sayaka was at home she would appear listless and unmotivated to her parents.

The betrayal of her love by her senpai in middle school had left her overly cautious and superstitious about the possibility of anyone ever returning her feelings if she fell in love again. Having faced such disappointment in love for the second time, no matter how much Touko tried to be kind and considerate, a sadness had come over her closest friend that found no expression in tears.

That is why she had so easily agreed to the offer Koyomi made her around Christmas. An offer she would surely have refused if she had been able to accept her lot better.

Now that she was increasingly confronted with the intensity of her girlfriend's love for her, a restlessness had taken possession of Sayaka.
Spending time with the younger girl seemed to have chased away the sadness that pressed upon her before and it wasn't so hard to see Touko and Yuu together anymore. But finding herself unable to return Koyomi's feelings for her, lately, Sayaka was beginning to doubt the choice she had made.

"Why are you so eager to come here together anyway?" The brunette quietly asked while surveying the bridge to her left, the stone steps that formed a sort of pedestrian crossing to the other side of the river and the tufts of grass along the riverbank

"Don't you think this looks like a romantic place?" Her girlfriend asked.

Sayaka watched Koyomi descend the stone stairs leading down to the river ahead of her.
She had to admit that the image of the nimble and elegant girl with the black bob leading the way for her in her black skirt and salmon-pink bolero jacket against the backdrop of the riverbank on the other side had a picturesque beauty to it.
She could see her current vision turned into a painting few would walk past without taking a pause to let their eyes wander over the scene.

"Yuu told me about this place and it always seemed to possess a very romantic quality to me," Koyomi continued as they reached the last steps. "So I wanted to take you here once. And today, with the cherry blossoms strewn all about, seemed like the perfect occasion."

The blackette slowly walked over the stone steps until she was standing in the middle of the river. Then she turned around with a nervous smile.

"Please don't follow me yet, Saeki-senpai. The reason I wanted to bring you here was not just for the sake of the scenery, but for the sake of using the scenery as a backdrop for a special oratory performance."

Sayaka stopped in her tracks just as she was about to cautiously tread the first stone in the river and looked up in confusion.

What was this? An oratory performance? Did Koyomi want to treat her to an excerpt from her story? Sayaka knew her girlfriend was almost ready with the period drama she had been writing.

"Can you please sit down a little higher on the stairs, Saeki-senpai?"

Sayaka did as she was asked without reacting to the strangeness of the request. But she now noticed for the first time how nervous her girlfriend seemed.

Koyomi stood valiantly erect below her, not unlike an actor would have in a performance of the Greek plays of old.

The brunette was aware that as an author who had already written a stage play, and thus, knowing Koyomi, had certainly done research about theatre performances, her girlfriend would be better aware of the acoustic benefits of their relative positions in this environment than she was.
So she understood that her idle observation could not have been a coincidence, but that the practical benefits of the scenery were definitely calculated into Koyomi's scheme.

"I hope you are not uncomfortable with this, Saeki-senpai," Koyomi nervously addressed her girlfriend. "I have put a lot of thought into this because I want to do this right. But I know you may not be ready for this yet, Saeki-senpai, and in that case I apologize if I am making you feel uncomfortable."

Sayaka was now indeed starting to feel uncomfortable. She watched the girl who was so bravely and so anxiously baring her soul before her and gripped the hem of her skirt with her left hand
She should have seen this coming. How was it that she had been able to ignore that to Koyomi her investment in this relationship with her senpai had become very serious.

And how was it that being confronted with this fact so unexpectedly now was disturbing her so.

"It's okay if you have no reaction to what I am going to say. This is something I want to do because the time is right for me. So please listen to what I have to say."

Sayaka saw the younger girl clear her throat, look up at her, and swallow. It was very cute in a way.

"As a fleeting presence in my life, you never failed to catch my attention whenever our paths crossed.
Such warmth and consideration for those close to you, yet to others a distant image of perfection.
My heart drew me near, hesitatingly, wanting to learn and feel. Yet at that time I was still unsure of my emotions.

Now I can no longer deny my desire and affection. Your scent, closeness, and voice color my life.
So in gratitude for the happiness you make me feel every day I continue to strive so that one day I can be the person that fills your heart with joy."

Having finished reciting her confession Koyomi looked up at her girlfriend while resting her hands on her hips initially, then folding them in front of her, and finally resting them on her lower back.

Sayaka was equally perturbed. For various reasons.
Her girlfriend had done her best to make her confession not just heartfelt, but a romantic event.

"This is a little embarrassing…" Koyomi blushed. "But I felt that I needed to properly confess my love to you.
Dating another girl and being in a relationship was all very new to me and I really felt attracted to you. But I didn't know to what extent, and I wanted to make that doubt clear to you," The blackette said more fluently as she ascended the stairs toward her girlfriend.

"But just as much, when I realized how important you have become to me I wanted to make it clear to you that I am very serious about becoming the most important person in your life."

Sayaka wondered whether her panic was as plain to see as she felt it. Every muscle in her body was tensed up.
She wanted to get up and run away more than anything.
She did not return Koyomi's love. That much was clear to her. As clear as her girlfriend was about her own feelings.

But as that girl came face to face with her and sat down beside her Sayaka looked into the smiling eyes of her kouhai and wondered why she could never refuse Koyomi Kanou.

"I know you have also enjoyed yourself during the times we have spent together. I know that's not the same as love, but I am sure I can make you feel what you have felt for others," The blackette said.

Koyomi gently touched Sayaka's right arm and even though the brunette still regarded her girlfriend with dilated pupils and still breathed agitatedly all the tension in the limb melted away instantly as the aspiring writer slowly brought the older girl's hand to her lips and kissed it.

"I know I will make you want me as much as I want you," Koyomi breathed while Sayaka anxiously watched the girl hug her hand to her cheek.

A few hours later that day, I learned recently, my own girlfriend was on the phone, reaching out to my sister with the purpose of deceiving me without the least compunction.

Sitting at her desk after finishing her studies Touko leaned on her left arm while holding her smartphone to her ear until she heard the voice she hoped would help her solve the conundrum that was the word: "No!"

"Hello Nanami-san," Rei-chan greeted while she sat on her boyfriend's couch with the television on pause and Hiro reading a book in the seat to her left. "How are you doing today?"

"Ah… I haven't had much luck today," Touko sighed. "Your sister can be surprisingly stubborn on some occasions. No matter how much I pleaded with her she flat-out refuses to even consider running for student-council president."

"Hahaha!" My sister laughed. "I'm not surprised. Yuu was never one to pull the reins. She can hardly make decisions for her own sake.
I appreciate that you keep trying to push her beyond her limits even if you have ulterior motives for doing so. Having said that, I really can't fathom why you want her to take over from you. Unless…" Rei-chan grinned.

"Factually speaking this is your second term in office, is it not? Do you plan to use Yuu as a strawman so you can run things behind the scenes during your third year?"

"Honestly, Koito-san," Touko sweated. "Do you imagine me to be some sort of corrupt post-communist dictator?"

"Hihi. I'm sorry. Hiro agrees I'm saying ridiculous things."

"And you are grossly underestimating Yuu," My girlfriend continued her scolding. "That is one of the reasons I absolutely have to find a way to make her do this against her will.
In spite of what both of you may think, Yuu would be absolutely perfect for the position. On top of that, I see nobody among the second years who would be able to do the job adequately.
I do have some pride, so I want to leave the position of student-council president to someone fitting."

"Well… If that's what you believe then I will help you all I can, but I'm afraid if Yuu of all people puts her foot down against the idea your chances of convincing her aren't great."

"You're telling me?" Touko whined. "I've been trying to tell her how much fun she would have and make jokes about the play she could set up in the fall. But she keeps telling me she doesn't want to do it."

"I can imagine how hard it must have been," My deviously giggling sister replied.

"That's why I decided to ask you for advice on how to trick your sister. She must have a weak spot I haven't thought about.
As her older sister, you have to be able to come up with some way of bending her will," My loving girlfriend eagerly spoke.

"Ah… I do think there is something you might be able to use," Rei-chan pondered with her pointer finger to her lips.

"What is it? I can tell you just had an idea."

"You see, Nanami-san," Rei-chan grinned. "Even I can see that my sister is a cute little kitten. And like all cute little kittens, she is marvelously fascinated by fish. If you are looking for her supreme weakness that is surely it.

I don't know how you are going to be able to exploit that fact exactly, but I'm sure you will be able to figure something out if you put your mind to it."

Touko while leaning back in her desk chair and playing with a pencil in her left hand remembered something Kusakabe-sensei had told her and giggled involuntarily.

"What's wrong?" Rei-chan frowned. "You are making funny noises."

Hiro-kun looked up from his book at his girlfriend.

"Thank you, Koito-san," Touko sang. "I knew you would be able to help me. I have a great idea, but I am going to need you to help me a little more."

After many internet consultations and some phone calls and visits from Rei-chan and Touko to several specialty shops over the weekend, my girlfriend sat down at her desk to work out her devious plot.

She later assured me that it took a lot of hard work and that she treated Rei-chan and Hiro-kun to a movie afterward. Although my sister had told her she would help out for free.

And the result of it all was that the next Friday, just before homeroom started Akari told Koyomi and me:

"Hey! Have you heard that the school received extra funding and was able to salvage a large portion of it for the club budget?"

"That's the first I heard of it," Koyomi replied.

It took me a while before I realized that she and Akari, who was standing before us in her blazer-less summer uniform, were staring at me.

"Aren't you supposed to know about this?" Koyomi deadpanned.

"I should, shouldn't I?" I replied while bewilderedly scratching the back of my head. "Touko should know at least. I wonder why she hasn't told me."

Akari made a strange pitying grinning face and looked at the ceiling with a whistle.

"I suppose she doesn't want you to get excited only to disappoint you by telling you that… mumble mumble mumble…" My tall friend mumbled.

Koyomi and I shared an annoyed look.

"If you can say that much you can say it all, can't you?" Koyomi grumbled between her teeth.

"Well… I would…" Akari hesitatingly admitted. "But I don't really know if it's my place to say…"

"If my girlfriend is keeping things from me I prefer not to have to get that information from her," I deadpanned. "That always ends up awkwardly."

Again I received strange looks from my two friends.

"You wouldn't understand," I cringed under their gazes.

"Well if you are giving me permission to tell you..." Akari finally sighed while rubbing the back of her neck.
"So, they have a lot of extra budget for the clubs this year. But the budget raise is going to be a yearly thing.
They obviously want to raise the budget of each existing club, but there are plans to add a new club to the options Tohmi Higashi High has for students.
Here comes the part that's gonna disappoint you," My tall redheaded friend grinned sheepishly.

"Spill it," I sharply encouraged her while leaning my chin on my joined hands.

"You see… Among the plans is the idea for an aquarium club. But the teachers don't think there will be enough girls interested in maintaining the tanks and feeding the fish."

"Of course there will! Because an aquarium club would be amazing!" I yelled while standing up and slamming my hands on my desk.

Everyone in class was staring at me and the three of us froze up in embarrassment.
Luckily, at that moment, our homeroom teacher came in and I was saved from my moment of shame.

As soon as the last class before lunch ended I set out for the teacher's lounge to talk to Riko-sensei.

Eager to know more about this aquarium club idea I walked briskly through the hallway. But as I turned the corner Mai and Kotoko bumped into me and I fell backward onto the floor.

"Yuu-senpai! We're sorry for bumping into you like that!" Kotoko anxiously apologized and reached out her right hand to me.

"Yes. We're sorry," Mai added and reached out her left hand. "Let us help you up."

"Don't worry about it, you two. I was running through the hallway. So it's my own fault," I smiled while my inseparable juniors from middle school hauled me onto my feet.

"Why are you in such a hurry, senpai?" Mai asked.

"Yeah. That's not like you," Her friend with the short blonde hair claimed.

I realized how impatiently I was eyeing the hallway behind them and forced myself to calm down.

"I am going to the teacher's lounge to ask Riko-sensei about a rumor I heard," I smiled. "That's all."

"You sure are busy for the student-council. Aren't you, senpai?"

"Yeah. You were like that in middle school too. Taking care of everyone in the softball club and making sure our competition forms were filled out correctly."

"Was I like that?" I frowned.

"You sure were," Kotoko grinned. "Our dependable Yuu-senpai."

"Sure was," Mai's black ponytail went up and down as she nodded. "We said so before. Everyone in the basketball club tells us they can always count on you to get things done."

I finally caught up with Sensei in her homeroom class. She was eating at her desk while looking over some notes.
She seemed to be correcting some tests and was startled when she heard me knock on the window of the door.

"Oh, Yuu!" Riko-sensei exhaled. "Are you here to collect the applications for the student council election? Punctual as always I see," She smiled and leaned her arms on her desk. "But I haven't had a chance to ask who is interested yet."

"Oh?" I muttered with a blank face. Then I shook my head.
"No. That's not why I'm here. Saeki-senpai said she'd do the rounds to collect the application forms."

"Ah… what are you here for, then?"

"I...I heard something about t… the school having plans to start a new club."

Was I stuttering? Riko-sensei later told me I was blushing. I have a hard time believing her.

Sensei smiled and rhythmically hit her red marker against the desk.

"You heard right. It's so unlike you to get excited about something like that.
The annual funds high schools receive from the ministry of education's budget has been raised and the school board decided to divide part of that extra money among the clubs. But there are also plans for one extra club."

"A… an aquarium club I heard," I stammered while pulling on my skirt with my left hand. "Ahem. I heard an aquarium club was considered."

"Hmmm?" Sensei frowned. "We did receive a very interesting offer from a former student who now runs an aquarium shop and somehow found out about the plans for a new club.
The school will allow the new student-council to organize an election about the kind of club most students are interested in, but we think an aquarium club would be bothersome because it takes up a lot of space which would be a waste if member numbers drop. Besides… I don't really see how the new student-council would get a lot of students interested in it in the first place. Most teachers consider it a hard sell compared to a kendo club, a chess club, or a… "

"But it would be so cool! We could keep salamanders, and frogs, amberjacks and turtles, and a shark…!"

"A shark?!" Sensei exclaimed in horror.

"A houndshark! They are only a hundred cm long and are very gentle.
We could put on shows and have educational evenings and an aquarium club would be a great place for students to unwind while learning how to care for different animals!"

"You sure feel strongly about this," Riko-sensei suddenly remarked.

"Huh? Why do people keep saying that? I just have a normal interest in marine life," I replied while I noticed that my throat was feeling rather dry.

"Well, the aquarium club proposal could have used someone like you. But it's out of your hands I'm afraid. The new student-council will be the ones responsible for campaigning the club proposals."

Planning in my head I rushed to the student cafeteria.
I found Touko eating with Saeki-senpai and Koyomi and sat down my plate of two sandwiches and a banana opposite my girlfriend.

"Yuu! Where have you been?" My girlfriend whined. "Lunch break is almost over."

"I've been talking with Riko-sensei about something I heard from Akari," I answered while Koyomi who had sneakily been feeding her awkwardly blushing girlfriend turned to look at me.

Touko looked at me with a perfect poker face. She had been getting better at that since we started dating.

"Why didn't you tell me the school was considering starting an aquarium club?!" I asked her.

"Ah…" My girlfriend sweated. "You found out?"

"I sure did!"

"Knowing how much you are interested in these things I didn't want you to get disappointed," Touko squirmed. "The truth is that the teachers think a chess club will be more interesting to the students and for the appeal of the school.

I only heard about it myself two days ago when Riko-sensei told me it would be up to the next student-council members to organize an election campaign so the students can vote on the different club proposals."

This was a flagrant lie, which Touko later revealed to me after I employed extreme interrogation techniques on her. She also inadvertently revealed to me that she hates it when I try to sing. A fact which resulted in me needing extensive comforting.

"I wish you would tell me these things," I sulked.

"Aw… I'm sorry," Touko pouted cutely. "I only tried to do good. Please forgive me?"

I can't resist her when she looks at me like that. I furtively looked up at her puppy face and caved.

"Yes, I'll forgive you," I said and held her hand under the table.

"I understand that this must be disappointing to you, Yuu," Saeki-senpai quietly said. "But since the outcome of the election is out of your hands you would do best to prepare for disappointment. Especially if the teachers favor a chess club."

"Unless you want to succeed Nanami-senpai as student-council president after all," Her black bobbed girlfriend smirked.

I showed Koyomi an unpleasant smile as a retort and continued my lunch.

"You have to be my campaign-manager!"

Koyomi looked up at me with a shocked expression as I planted my hands palm down on her desk before our last homeroom class of the week started.

"What?! Why?"

"Because you're a writer! You know how to give people the feels. I don't know anybody more suited to the job!"

"But you adamantly refused to run for student-council president!" The young author reminded me while Akari joined us.

"Hmmm," I grumbled. "For this worthy goal, I would try it."

"Hahaha," Akari laughed. "Sounds to me like you've been corrupted before you even get into office."

"And you will be my vice-president!" I pointed my finger at her.

"Me?! I can't. I have basketball practice!"

"Oh, come on! How many times do you need to go to practice anyway?!"

"We have a shot at the title this year! I haven't got time to be your vice-president!"

"Why don't you ask Maki-kun?" Koyomi interrupted our shouting contest to the relief of our embarrassed classmates. "He told me he's disappointed that the current student-council is disbanding."

"Maki-kun?" I frowned. "I don't know…"

"My novel is ready, so I can be your campaign manager if you really want to do this," Koyomi kindly told me while leaning the tip of her pencil against her lower lip. "But I can only help you out occasionally after that. You'll have to find other people to form a permanent student-council with you."

"What makes you think I was going to ask you?"

I had to shy away from the piercing look she showed me in response to that question.

"I'll help out occasionally too if at times you need extra help," Akari added. "But I can't join your team, Yuu. You'll have to ask someone else."

"Please sit down everyone!" Our homeroom teacher interrupted us as he closed the door behind him.

Akari and I quickly sat down at our desks.

Surveying his pupils, Kimura-sensei stood stoically behind his desk.

"Let us get the applications for the student-council elections out of the way," He said with the application form in front of him. "As you all know this is the last chance to advance your candidacy. Is there anyone here who has decided they want to apply at the last moment?"

A feverish impulse made me get up and raise my hand.

"I would like to run for the position of student-council president after all, Kimura-sensei."

"Yuu? Alright. I'll put your name down. It's quite a surprise that it took you so long to decide Or... well… Maybe not."

I heard several approving whispers around me while sensei wrote down my name.

"And who will join you?"

I looked pleadingly at Koyomi who was sitting to my left.

"I will be Yuu's campaign manager, Kimura-sensei," She stated as she got up from her seat.

"Oh?" Sensei frowned but smiled as he wrote down her name. "Interesting…"

"Maki Seji and Doujima Suguru will join us," I boldly added.

"What?!" Akari and Koyomi reacted in surprise.

I just kept staring ahead.