The next morning started exactly how most school mornings started.
Well not exactly.
And at the same time I’m not lying.
It began with Kiyomi trying to annoy me.
But this time she decided to throw in a new twist she hasn’t done in some time.
Just to keep me on my toes I guess.
So how did this particular morning begin for me?
With Kiyomi trying to kick my bedroom door off its hinges.
“ONII-CHAN.”
I pulled the blanket over my head.
Sleep is precious and I wanted every second I could get.
“Go away.”
“ONII-CHAN.”
“No.”
“ONII-CHAN.”
“No.”
“ONII-CHAN.”
“No.”
The door flew open.
I could have sworn I locked it…
“WAKE UP.”
I checked the clock.
I was still in a daze.
I’m not what you would call a morning person.
“It’s six thirty…”
“We’re going to be late.”
“We leave at seven forty. School doesn’t start until eight thirty.” Even though school was only about a fifteen minute walk away, I typically liked to leave early in case I needed to get things done in the morning.
“We could still be late.”
I stared at her.
She stared at me.
I pointed toward the door.
“Get out.”
“Rude.” She gave me the standard Kiyomi pout.
She left.
Then immediately came back.
“Good morning.”
“Get out!”
This time she actually left.
For almost thirty whole seconds.
A new personal record.
By the time I got downstairs Mom had already left for work.
Dad was on one of his usual business trips and wouldn’t be home for at least another week.
Kiyomi was eating breakfast.
Correction.
Kiyomi was inhaling breakfast.
She looked like Kirby as she was engulfing her food.
“Morning!” She said with a mouthful of food.
“Morning.”
She narrowed her eyes.
I narrowed mine.
Things felt tense.
Then again, I did want to slap her for how she so egregiously woke me up this morning.
But sadly I stayed my hand.
I sat down and started to chow down.
“You seem happy,” she said.
“Well, I nearly got eight hours of sleep.”
“Suspicious.”
“I’m eating breakfast. I don’t want to hear any nonsense right now.” I devoured a slice of toast.
American style breakfasts were fun to indulge in every once in a while.
Plus they didn’t take as long to prepare.
“Very suspicious. How’d you do on your math test?”
“I passed my math test.”
“Extremely suspicious.”
I sighed.
Kiyomi nodded.
“Yep.”
“What?”
“Definitely hiding something.”
“I’m literally just eating toast.”
“Exactly.” She pointed at me.
“People who eat toast that calmly are dangerous.”
I decided not to engage.
Some battles weren’t worth fighting.
Besides, she was being extra annoying this morning.
Like she made a bet with the universe to see if she could piss me off and she was winning.
That sadly meant that I was definitely losing.
Kiyomi took a sip of juice.
“By the way.”
“What?”
“How’s Miya?”
I sighed.
“We texted once.”
She immediately smiled.
“Once?”
“Once. Right after the Summer holidays ended.”
“Oh? Interesting.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Very interesting.”
“It really wasn’t.”
She pulled out her phone.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Because.”
“Because what?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s a lie.”
“It’s not a lie.”
“You’re physically incapable of saying ‘nothing’ and meaning it.”
She pointed at me whilst sporting a goofy smile on her face.
“Correct.”
At least she was self-aware.
By the time we arrived at school things had returned to normal.
Mostly.
The school was buzzing with the upcoming school festival.
While I was looking forward to it, I was mainly excited for the basketball tournament that would coincide closely with it.
Our team had been putting in plenty of work, getting a lot of practice in to get ready.
We were pretty confident we would do well.
We did great last year and our team was honestly looking a lot better thanks to all the extra scrimmages we’d been doing both at school and on our own time.
The team as a whole had been getting together at least once a week outside of school hours to go at each other.
We even got together over the Summer holidays.
It was a lot of fun.
And that’s not even mentioning all the individual practice sessions people had been doing.
It was nearly lunch time when one of the members of the Student Council walked into our classroom.
The classroom fell silent as he walked towards me.
“Kaito Sakamori?”
I slowly looked up.
Then nodded.
“Yeah?”
The student standing in front of my desk swallowed nervously.
“The Student Council President wants to see you.”
“Okay…”
The messenger looked at me with the expression of a man delivering a death sentence.
Then he quietly walked away.
I watched him leave.
Then looked around the classroom.
Everybody was staring at me.
Why was everybody staring at me?
“What?”
Nobody answered.
I felt like I was just yelling into the void.
The atmosphere somehow became even heavier.
This went on for what felt like several lifetimes.
Finally, Tadashi stood up.
“Kaito.”
“Yeah?”
He placed a hand on my shoulder.
The look in his eyes was the same expression soldiers probably gave each other before charging into battle.
“It was an honor being your friend.”
“What kind of reaction is that?!”
“I’m serious.”
“Tadashi!”
“You were a good man.”
“I’m not dying!”
Tadashi sighed.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it to me!”
He glanced toward the ceiling.
“The Student Council President…” His voice dropped.
“…is terrifying.”
I blinked.
“You mean Yurika Amakawa?”
Tadashi visibly shuddered.
“Don’t say her full name so casually.”
“Why not?”
“Because she knows.”
“Knows what?”
“Everything.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Tadashi leaned closer.
“Last year a second year forgot to submit a club budget report.”
“Okay.”
“She found him.”
“Found him?”
“He was hiding.”
“From paperwork?”
“He thought he could wait until week after the deadline.”
“And?”
“She appeared behind him before lunch ended.”
“That’s impossible.”
“That’s what he said.”
“How did she even know where he was?”
Tadashi pointed dramatically.
“Authority.”
I shook my head.
Tadashi was talking like she had special powers or something.
“Authority doesn’t work like that.”
“It does when you’re Student Council President.”
“That’s definitely not how authority works.” I burst out laughing.
This was too stupid even for him.
Tadashi shook his head.
“You’ll understand soon.”
“No, I won’t.”
“Because you’ll be dead.”
“I’M NOT GOING TO DIE!”
A chair scraped against the floor.
Akane stood up.
“That’s not why she’s scary~”
Tadashi gasped.
“Blasphemy.”
Akane ignored him.
Her expression became unusually serious.
“President Amakawa is scary because she’s perfect~”
I frowned.
“Perfect?”
“Perfect~”
Akane looked me directly in the eyes.
“Top grades~”
“Okay.”
“Perfect attendance~”
“Sure.”
“Student council president~”
“Yes, I know.”
“National level piano competitions~”
“What?”
“Volunteer work~”
“Seriously?”
“Fluent in English~”
“Come on.”
“Beautiful~”
I looked at her.
Akane looked at me.
“I… I mean objectively beautiful,” she quickly added.
The girls in the room immediately began teasing her.
Akane’s face turned red.
“T-That’s not what I meant~!”
“Sure, Akane.” I said in the most sarcastic tone I could muster.
“Don’t be mean~”
She pouted at me.
“My point is that she does everything perfectly~”
“That doesn’t sound scary.”
Akane groaned.
“You know those people who make you feel bad just by existing~?”
“No?”
“Exactly~”
“How does that prove your point?”
Akane dropped back into her chair looking defeated.
A voice suddenly joined the conversation.
“Wrong!
Hikari looked up from her desk.
Everyone immediately turned toward her.
Hikari slowly closed her notebook.
“The reason she’s scary isn’t authority.”
Tadashi frowned.
“It absolutely is.”
“It’s not perfection either.”
Akane frowned.
“It totally is~”
Hikari ignored both of them.
“It’s her attention to detail.”
I tilted my head.
“What does that mean?”
Hikari’s eye twitched.
“Two months ago she stopped me in the hallway.”
“Okay.”
“She noticed one button on my uniform was wrong.”
I blinked.
“One button?”
“One button.”
“Maybe she was just observant.”
“Three weeks before that she noticed my handwriting was different.”
“What?”
“I was using a different pen.”
“That’s insane.”
“Exactly.”
“I think you’re all just talking nonsense.”
“…Tch. idiot.”
Hikari crossed her arms and gave me her characteristic pout.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Hikari pointed accusingly toward the student council office visible through the classroom window.
“Nothing escapes her.”
A chill somehow spread through the room.
“She notices everything,” Hikari added.
Tadashi nodded.
“Everything.”
Akane nodded.
“Everything~”
Even the surrounding students nodded.
“Everything.”
I looked around.
Was everyone in this school crazy?
Then another voice spoke.
A voice that sent a chill up my spine.
“You’re all amateurs.”
The room immediately went quiet.
Kiyomi had appeared.
Nobody knew when she entered.
Nobody knew where she came from.
She was simply there.
Like a sleep paralysis demon.
This isn’t even her classroom.
What the hell is she doing here?
Kiyomi sat on top of my desk.
Naturally.
“I know why she’s actually scary.”
“Oh no,” I muttered.
I placed my hand on my forehead, trying to mitigate the coming migraine.
She grinned.
The grin of a woman who enjoyed causing problems.
Mainly problems for me, but I digress.
“Because she’s a manipulative gremlin.”
“Look who’s talking.” I thought but didn’t dare to say out loud.
I didn’t have the energy to deal with this little ball of chaos this morning.
The room froze.
For the first time all day, Hikari, Akane, and Tadashi looked genuinely uncomfortable.
Kiyomi pointed dramatically.
“That woman smiles too much.”
“That’s not evidence,” I countered.
“Nobody is that nice.”
“Lots of people are nice.”
“Wrong.” Kiyomi crossed her arms.
“Nice people are suspicious.”
“You’re suspicious.”
“Exactly. That’s how I know.”
I rubbed my temples.
“I hate this conversation.”
Kiyomi leaned toward me.
“Listen carefully, dear brother.”
The serious tone immediately caught my attention.
“When somebody is beautiful, talented, popular, intelligent, rich, respected, and somehow still nice…” She narrowed her eyes.
“…they’re hiding something.”
A nervous silence settled over the classroom.
Everyone seemed to be in some sort of awkward agreement with Kiyomi.
Kiyomi slowly smiled.
The smile of someone recognizing a fellow predator.
“I can smell another chaos gremlin from miles away.”
“That’s not a real ability.”
“It is for me.”
“That’s concerning.”
She patted my shoulder.
“Good luck.”
“Why are you saying it like that?”
“Because if she likes you, your life is over.”
I laughed.
“That’s ridiculous.”
The entire classroom stared at me.
Nobody laughed.
Nobody smiled.
Nobody even blinked.
A horrible realization slowly crept into my mind.
“Wait…”
The silence somehow became louder.
“…Why did she summon me?”
Nobody answered.
And for the first time since receiving the message… I started to get nervous.
I decided to get this over with once I had eaten my lunch.
I scarfed it down quickly and sped off to where I was instructed to go.
The Student Council office was exactly what I expected.
Quiet.
Organized.
Terrifyingly clean.
Every document was perfectly stacked.
Every chair was perfectly aligned.
Even the air itself somehow felt organized.
I stood in the doorway.
Then knocked on the door.
“Hello?”
“Please come in.”
The voice was calm.
Elegant.
Confident.
Honestly, it was the most pleasant voice I’d ever heard in my life.
I looked toward the center of the room.
And immediately understood why everyone in school talked about Yurika Amakawa.
She was beautiful.
Long blonde hair.
Perfect posture.
Sharp yet gorgeous eyes.
The kind of person who looked like she belonged on a magazine cover instead of a public high school.
I recognized her as the girl who had smiled and nodded to me last night as we were crossing the street.
She sat behind a large desk.
Several student council members were working nearby.
Nobody was speaking.
Everybody looked busy.
Everybody looked terrified.
A girl with long purple hair sat quietly near the back of the room.
Unlike the others, she didn’t seem intimidated.
She occasionally glanced between Yurika and me before jotting something down in a notebook.
I briefly wondered what she was writing.
Then decided I probably didn’t want to know.
The president smiled.
“Kaito Sakamori, correct?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Please, have a seat.”
I sat down.
The chair was somehow positioned perfectly.
That was unsettling to me for some reason.
Yurika folded her hands.
“Thank you for coming.”
“No problem.”
“I apologize for summoning you during lunch.”
“It’s fine.”
Her smile never moved.
“I simply wished to speak with you personally.”
“About what?”
“The Cultural Festival.”
“The Cultural Festival?”
“Correct.”
I stared at her.
That was it?
The entire school acted like I had been called to meet a Yakuza boss.
And she wanted to discuss festival planning?
Tadashi was an idiot.
Hikari was paranoid.
Akane was overthinking things.
And Kiyomi was Kiyomi.
I really should have known better than to listen to any of them.
I didn’t know why I’d been so nervous.
Shouldn’t have let those idiots rile me up like this.
Yurika opened a folder.
“We are currently gathering student representatives from various clubs and organizations.”
“Okay.”
“You are a member of the basketball club. Is that correct?”
“Yes, I am.”
“You maintain one of the highest academic rankings in your year.”
I blinked.
“Oh.”
“You have perfect attendance.”
“How do you know that?”
“I am Student Council President.”
That somehow wasn’t an answer.
But I accepted it.
Yurika continued.
“You also assisted the library committee during the spring cleanup.”
“I… I did.”
“And helped return a lost first year’s wallet just before the Summer holidays.”
“How do you know that?”
“I am Student Council President.”
Again.
Not an answer.
I was beginning to understand Tadashi’s concerns.
A little.
“You purchased a sports drink from the vending machine at 8:13 this morning.”
There was a look of concern on my face.
“How… how do you know that?”
“…”
“…”
“Are you a government agent?”
“I am Student Council President.”
I had given up even trying to understand how that was an adequate response.
“Anyway,” she continued, “you are precisely the type of student we require.”
I scratched my cheek.
“Thanks?”
A faint pink color appeared on her face.
Only for a second.
Then it vanished.
Like I had imagined it.
“You are welcome.”
The Student Council Treasurer suddenly coughed.
Violently.
Yurika’s smile twitched.
The Treasurer immediately looked away.
“We would like you to assist with festival coordination.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You are dependable.”
“That’s it?”
“Among other reasons.”
Something about her answer felt strange.
Before I could ask, Yurika smoothly stood from her chair.
“Would you like some tea?”
“You have tea?”
“We have several varieties.”
“Why?”
“This is the student council.”
Again.
Not an answer.
But at this point I decided to just roll with it.
Five minutes later I found myself drinking tea.
Good tea.
Yurika sat across from me.
Watching.
Not staring.
Definitely not staring.
Just… watching.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“No.”
“Then why do you keep looking at me like that?”
“I am listening.”
“You can listen without looking at me in that manner.”
“Can I?”
“Um… yes.” I had absolutely no clue what was going on anymore.
All I knew is that I wanted to leave.
“I see.”
She continued looking at me.
The Treasurer coughed again.
Even harder this time.
Yurika slowly turned her head.
The room temperature somehow dropped five degrees.
The Treasurer immediately buried himself in paperwork.
Yurika smiled.
The temperature returned to normal.
“Did something happen?” I asked.
“No.”
“Okay.”
Maybe student council people were just weird.
Yurika returned her attention to me.
Her smile softened.
Almost imperceptibly.
“I am pleased you came.”
“Didn’t I have to?”
“That is not what I meant.”
I tilted my head.
She looked away.
For the first time all meeting, a tiny blush appeared on her cheeks.
Then it immediately disappeared.
“Anyway,” she said.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Sure. Same here.”
The smile she gave me was surprisingly genuine.
Warm.
Happy.
Almost relieved.
She gave me a curious look.
“Your favorite basketball player is Kobe Bryant, correct?”
My eyes widened.
“How do you know that?”
“You wear his jersey every Friday during practice.”
My eyes widened even more.
“…I do?” Obviously I knew that.
But how did she know that?
She nodded.
“Yes. For the past two years, four months, and seventeen days.”
Silence.
Yurika blinks.
The girl with purple hair coughs.
Yurika immediately straightens.
“I mean approximately.”
The Treasurer buried his face in his hands.
“Not again…”
That… was weird.
I guess the only thing people were right about is that she is very observant.
That and she has an excellent memory.
I stood up.
I just had this feeling that it was best to get out of here as soon as possible.
“Well, thanks for the tea.”
“It was my pleasure.”
I headed for the door.
Honestly?
This wasn’t scary at all.
Everybody had completely overreacted.
Definitely got a weird vibe from the place but everyone seemed nice enough, especially the Student Council President.
I reached for the handle.
Then paused.
Something caught my attention.
On a bulletin board near the president’s desk.
A chart.
A very detailed chart.
Covered in names.
Schedules.
Class assignments.
Club activities.
Photos.
I squinted.
Was that… was that my class schedule?
Yurika appeared beside me instantly.
The board vanished behind her.
I wasn’t entirely sure how.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
Her smile was perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
I shook my head.
“No…”
“Excellent.”
The smile somehow became brighter.
“Have a wonderful afternoon, Kaito.”
“Uh… thanks. You too.”
I left the room.
The door closed behind me.
Then clicked shut.
Silence filled the Student Council room.
As I walked back toward the classroom, I couldn’t help laughing.
“Tadashi’s an idiot. The girls were trying to freak me out over nothing.”
The student council president was perfectly normal.
Polite.
Intelligent.
Responsible.
Maybe a little strange.
Maybe a little too observant.
Maybe a little too interested in my schedule.
Or at least that’s what I thought I saw.
I’m probably wrong.
I mean, why would she have my schedule up on a poster board?
And maybe having tea in a student council office was weird.
At least it felt weird.
But scary?
Not even close.
Honestly, I was starting to think everyone in this school was crazy.
Actually, I had already thought that before, but this interaction was further evidence for that theory.
Yurika continued staring at the door.
Five seconds passed.
Ten seconds passed.
Twenty seconds passed.
The perfect Student Council President vanished.
Yurika buried her face in her hands.
“HE DRANK THE TEA.”
Across the room, Rin Kanzaki, the Vice President, calmly looked up from her paperwork.
She adjusted her glasses and put an errant strand of her purple hair behind her ear.
“Congratulations, President.”
“HE SAID IT WAS GOOD.”
“Indeed.”
“He smiled.”
“He did.”
Yurika grabbed a nearby cushion and screamed into it.
Rin made a note in her notebook.
“Progress appears favorable.”
Yurika suddenly looked up.
“How favorable?”
Rin opened a thick binder.
A terrifyingly thick binder.
“Based on today’s interaction, I estimate a 3.7% increase in affection probability.”
Yurika gasped.
“Three point seven?!”
“Three point seven.”
“That’s huge!”
“Statistically significant.”
Yurika immediately started celebrating.
Jumping up and down in joy.
The other council members looked concerned.
Rin ignored them.
“However…”
Yurika froze.
“However?”
Rin adjusted her glasses.
“There are obstacles.”
The atmosphere immediately darkened.
Yurika smiled.
Not her school smile.
Not her public smile.
The other smile.
The dangerous one.
“Who?”
Rin opened another binder.
This one was color-coded.
The cover read: Threat Assessment.
Inside were photographs.
Hikari.
Akane.
Miya.
Kiyomi.
As well as detailed profiles on each of the girls.
The KGB during the heydays of the Soviet Union wished they had intelligence files like these.
Yurika stared at the pages.
Still smiling.
“Ah.”
Rin nodded.
“I have updated their rankings.”
“Excellent work.”
“Would you like the full report, President?”
“Please.”
The other student council members slowly began moving away.
Neither girl noticed.
Or cared.
The Treasurer slowly raised his hand.
“President?”
“Yes?”
“Should we be concerned about the shrine?”
“No.”
“The photographs?”
“No.”
“The commemorative scrapbook?”
“No.”
“The color-coded relationship probability spreadsheet?”
“No.”
“The twelve-year projection of your future married life?”
“No.”
The Treasurer looked down at the notes on a nearby table.
“What about the seventy-three page report titled ‘Operation: Make Kaito Fall In Love With Me’?”
Yurika’s smile never wavered.
“Especially no.”
Rin nodded.
“I have already prepared Volume Two.”
The Treasurer froze.
“…Volume Two?”
“It is currently eighty-one pages.”
“Why?”
Rin adjusted her glasses.
“Expanded research.”
The Treasurer looked exhausted.
“Of course it is.”
Rin opened the black binder.
Photographs lined the pages.
Hikari.
Akane.
Miya.
Kiyomi.
Yurika quietly studied each one.
The smile on her face remained beautiful.
Elegant.
Perfect.
The kind of smile students trusted.
The kind of smile teachers admired.
The kind of smile that won elections.
Then she turned to the first page.
Hikari.
A pink sticky note was attached to the photograph.
Potential Threat to Operation.
Yurika gently tapped the page.
“Let’s begin.”
Announcement on Older Chapters Will also split older chapters in future.
TY to all my readers!