In addition to building items like the entrance gate and panels, I also got together material like poles and ropes and stuff and entered completed tasks into a checklist. It was dull, but when you can see the end of it, that's a saving grace of its own. All the more so in a situation like this one, where we didn't have enough people.
The real problem is handling work you see no end to.
At the final stage of the checklist, an additional handwritten note said, Regarding the safety management of the Chibattle. I could feel my forehead wrinkling as I looked at that phrase.
And I wasn't the only one—all the executives in the meeting room at that moment felt the same.
"Right, so then what do we do about this…?" Meguri said with a hmm.
Yuigahama seemed to be in the same headspace; she folded her arms, tilted her head, and hmm'd as well, then gave up on thinking and sighed. "But I felt like Yukinon covered all the bases, there…"
"Yep. Frankly, if that doesn't persuade them, I'll wanna throw in the towel." I agreed with Yuigahama.
I was actually impressed with Yukinoshita, like Wow, for coming up with such a logical plan on the spot like that. But if we still couldn't get agreement from the crew after all that, then this was no longer just an issue of right and wrong.
This had begun with emotions—in antipathy toward Sagami and the executives.
Putting it like this, it really seems like a childish rationale, but that's the fundamental nature of people. Emotions are difficult to control, and they're incorrigible. Occasionally, they clash, and that brings about tragedy.
Sagami's hands suddenly stopped in her task, and she muttered, "Maybe I should just quit…"
That remark was a bit surprising. It was much more sincere than before. I think that was because the words sounded like they were directed at herself, rather than at anyone else. It didn't seem like she was trying to get anyone to acknowledge her.
None of us could reply.
In the silent meeting room, there was the rustling of cloth as Yuigahama quietly folded her arms the other way. "…Maybe. But still, I think this will work out."
I think Yukinoshita had said something similar before, herself, but more as a test. Yuigahama's tone was soft and gave me the impression she was trying to show concern for Sagami.
Sagami also seemed to pick up on that, and a wry, resigned smile came to her face. She was already aware of her own incompetence. "…Yeah."
"It's all messed up now," Yuigahama continued, "but it's not like you won't get a second chance. They might understand one day…" "Yeah…" Sagami nodded weakly in response, then hung her head again. I'm sure she didn't believe a single word of Yuigahama's conciliatory remark.
Sagami had already given up. She'd given up continuing on as the chair, and on ever reaching an understanding with Haruka and Yukko.
If that was what she herself wanted, then there was nothing to be done.
Sagami didn't have what it took to be a leader in the first place. We'd learned that lesson well during the cultural festival incident.
The request we'd accepted this time was to make the sports festival succeed and to normalize the atmosphere of Class 2-F by doing something about Sagami.
If Sagami was so stricken, then most likely, she'd settle down for a while. Of course, once some time had passed, she might go bag on someone to justify her past actions. Frankly, considering her personality, it seemed likely.
But still, we could keep her quiet for the moment.
Then once Sagami had quit, if we could cover everything and guide the sports festival to success, then we would complete the request, in form. I wouldn't call that the best outcome, but it would be reasonable. I figure that compromise would be the most we could do here.
As I was making these calculations, a chair scraped against the floor.
Looking over, I saw Yukinoshita had corrected the position of her seat. She'd had her eyes closed and arms folded earlier, but now she was sitting up straight and fixing her eyes ahead—on Sagami. "…But are you okay with that?"
"…Huh?" Sagami raised her head, confused. She didn't understand what Yukinoshita wanted to accomplish by saying that.
But Yukinoshita continued, unperturbed. "You may not get a next time or a someday." Yukinoshita's words were cold, like sharp thorns, but her voice itself was kind, which was why Sagami could say nothing.
"…"
If Yukinoshita's tone had been more of a challenge, Sagami may still have been able to come up with a reply.
But when you're having a tough time or otherwise in pain, kindness works. It shoves your own pathetic self in your face so plainly; it proves you're the sort of tiny creature that will be pitied; it makes you realize you're so powerless that someone else is helping you out with their kindness.
It feels better, if only a little, when someone treats you badly, because then you can say they didn't understand you.
Sagami bit her lip. She didn't instantly reply that she was quitting, which meant she was still holding on. But if she also couldn't say she was staying, that was because she had made an accurate assessment of her situation.
The reality was that now that it had come to this, whether Sagami was the chair didn't really matter. We would lose the manpower of only one person, Sagami as an individual. This was too messed up to expect her leadership to guide us. Frankly speaking, Sagami was unnecessary in her current position.
However, as for whether her quitting would solve it, the answer was no. We had already gone past that stage.
Sagami quitting now wouldn't resolve the problem.
Maybe she'd see slight improvement emotionally. If Haruka and Yukko's complaint were more simply that they didn't like Sagami, that would have worked out. But since the other party had introduced this strange logic, it had become more difficult to bring the situation under control.
Safety management and club activities.
The question was, Why were they making a fuss now? This bizarre logic was probably born from their attempts to coherently explain their emotional reasoning—their personal, subjective hate.
There's nothing more hopeless than logic that has originated from emotion. Like with this incident, they'd first reached the conclusion that they didn't like Sagami and the executives, and then they'd constructed logic to guide them to this point. Even if we destroyed their argument and told them their logic was wrong, we'd have to detangle their emotions from it all, or we'd never get them to listen.
And what's more, now that they were armed with this weird logic, they could no longer back down. Once we're at this stage, all that awaits is a never-ending mudslinging contest.
"I…" Sagami's head dropped, and her throat was tight as she spoke. But her voice faded, and the rest didn't come out.
Everyone went silent, waiting for the conclusion she would offer.
Yukinoshita closed her eyes again and quietly listened, while Yuigahama watched Sagami gravely. I rested my chin on one palm and listened as I mulled over trivial issues like My nails are too long… It was just one person. Only one person did something unexpected.
Meguri cleared her throat in a somewhat deliberate-sounding way, then slowly began to speak. "I think you're doing a good job, Sagami."
"Huh?" Sagami raised her head in surprise.
Yukinoshita and Yuigahama reacted with similar shock. They maybe should have been more discreet, but I don't blame them. After seeing everything Sagami had done so far, it was unusual to judge that she'd done well.
At their candid reactions, Meguri frantically waved her hands as she hurried to add, "Ah, um, well, you know… U-uh, it's true that you don't quite have the skills… But I'm not supercompetent myself, either, so I get it. You're doing your best."
That wasn't so surprising. I did get the feeling that Meguri's practical business skills were mediocre at best, and I didn't really get the impression that she was a strong leader outside of the student council.
She seemed a little self-conscious about that herself, quietly looking away to scratch her cheek in embarrassment. "Oh…there were a lot of really competent people in the years before me. You know"—her voice faded to a murmur—"…like Haru."
Yukinoshita's eyes narrowed at the name.
It's true—Haruno Yukinoshita is on a whole different level as a character. Not only does she excel in practical skills, there's something sort of scary about her power of command, how she can see straight through someone to seize control of their heart. Nobody can compare.
"People like to tell me I'm a scatterbrain and stuff, and they're right… Ah-ha-ha, without everyone on the student council, I'd be a total disaster," Meguri said, and all the student council got a little tearyeyed. Some of them were even acting all touched and going like, Aw, come on. Just how much did these guys adore her?
But, as that fact indicated, Meguri was saying she was only managing this seat of leadership with the personal charm she just happened to have. Turn that around, and she was saying Sagami lacked that charm, but let's leave that aside for now.
"I think you're doing well, Sagami. You've worked hard to get this far, so why not keep at it just a little longer?" Meguri was smiling shyly. It was very attractive on someone with such a cute personality.
Though nobody had actively tried to stop Sagami, only Meguri sincerely thought well of her development, and that was why Meguri was trying to entrust the future to her. This was why the student council adored Meguri and why she was still the president.
The lines of Sagami's face softened. This was probably the first time during the course of the cultural and sports festivals that someone had shown her appreciation.
"How about it?" Meguri said with a smile, punctuating her question, and Sagami gave her a little nod.
Yuigahama and the student council breathed out little sighs as they watched. Yukinoshita's expression remained in place, but there was a hint of a smile in her eyes.
But this scene didn't look so beautiful to me.
This decision would drive Sagami into an even more painful and difficult position than she already was. She would be marked with wounds she'd avoided receiving before.
Kindness is poison. Meguri's comfort would force Sagami into an even worse predicament. Running away would have been the right decision to avoid further damage. This was walking out into the line of fire. Even if this went well, the grudges of the past were not going to disappear.
We already knew. A fistfight is not going to bloom into friendship. You can paint over animosity with positive feelings, but it'll never disappear. When you least expect it, the guilt will peel off to reveal the hate and malice underneath.
So there wasn't much point in Sagami's determination or efforts.
However, if Sagami was prepared for that and still said she wanted to take the lead…
…then that meant something. She was rebelling against the people who failed to understand her; she was lashing out against the majority.
I will not reject those who walk the honorable path of solitude, so I wasn't going to invalidate her decision, even if there was a horror to the kindness that had led to it.
"All right, then what are we gonna do?" This was why I decided to set aside my own analysis and move the conversation onward. I had no right to obstruct Sagami's decision. I wasn't even obligated to warn her. I doubt she wanted to hear anything I had to say anyway. She had already made up her mind. The chair would not be replaced, which meant we had to decide where we were going from there and crystallize that into concrete measures.
Once that question had been raised, Yukinoshita immediately responded, "I see no reason for us to capitulate, so we have no choice but to make them back down."
Calm and collected as ever. This was a policy that would respect the conclusion Sagami had reached. If confronting them and trying to compromise was not going to work out, then there was nothing for it now but to beat them down. I also agreed with that plan.
"But…" Sagami frowned hesitantly. It seemed what had just happened was apparently causing her some concern.
Meguri continued for her. "How will we get them to back down?"
This was the problem. Neither I nor Yukinoshita had a solid plan for that yet.
After some moments of silent consideration, Yuigahama timidly raised her hand, so I nodded for her to go ahead. "Like…t-try to convince them?" she asked nervously.
I mean, yeah. But given the current situation, I doubted it would be an effective method.
"We've done plenty of that already…," I said.
All this time, we'd been nagging them to come work, we'd imposed a shift schedule, and we'd even rearranged the shifts for the crew, too.
After those concessions and compromises, here we were. Meguri, who had seen this firsthand, strongly agreed. "You're right. We have to think about their motivation… If we start nagging and that drains their enthusiasm, it'll make everything worse," she said.
That seemed to convince Yuigahama, too, and she hmm'd with a particularly difficult expression, folding her arms. But I wasn't really convinced.
The word motivation stuck with me awfully. Who here had ever been motivated?
I had no intention of supporting Sagami or of becoming an ally to Haruka and Yukko—since neither side was right. We had to restart from the ground up. "…So do we make the crew all quit instead? And then gather new people," I suggested, half joking. Meaning I was also half-serious.
Once things get messed up, you're screwed. If we weren't going to bail, then they would bail. It was extremely simple logic. Besides, rather than just half dealing with the problem and leaving a breeding ground for future trouble, it wouldn't be out of the question to go back to square one instead.
"Hmm… We might not make it in time, then." Meguri scrunched up her forehead, creating a valley between her eyes. In terms of the days remaining, we did have some leeway, but we couldn't operate on weekends. Plus, as Meguri said, we didn't really have the time to start gathering up a whole new crowd. I also understood that my idea was unrealistic. But with our current personnel, we wouldn't make it in time anyway.
Then suddenly, Yukinoshita said, "…I'm sure we will need to invest in some new help, but I don't think we can replace absolutely everyone. Realistically, we should narrow it down to a few and limit them purely to assisting roles."
"Getting assistance for us instead, huh?" I said.
Yukinoshita nodded and put her hand to her chin, gathering her thoughts. "That's right. We fell behind in our own work because we were dealing with crew matters, so we should be trying to get ourselves back on track."
So even if we were going to get new help from somewhere, we still had the same problem of how to manage our existing forces.
Listening to us, Yuigahama stuck up a finger. "Whatever we do, this means we have to come up with a plan to work with the people we have now, right?"
"But I don't think they'll cooperate with us anymore…," Sagami said apologetically.
"They essentially have a hold on our greatest weakness—we're short on manpower." Yukinoshita breathed a short sigh. She pressed her temple with her fingertips, looking rather weak herself.
…Weakness, huh?
She was right. Because we couldn't get ourselves fresh recruits, the current crew's cooperation was vital for us. And we had no way to get it.
The success of the sports festival rested in their hands, so to speak, which was exactly why they could be so aggressive with us.
They knew this wouldn't happen without their help, so they were threatening us. We just won't do it—are you okay with that? And it wasn't just one or two of them, either. Those two girls had brought the group together and fostered the rebellion among the whole crew.
The position of ultimate strength, the superiority of numbers—the people who leverage that power are my enemies.
Those girls were arrogantly challenging us to give in or risk losing their help. Just who the hell do you think you are? I, for one, am being used constantly, so are you two under the impression you can speak to me that way and get away with it, hmm? Are you mocking me? Don't you underestimate middle management.
I hate it when being right doesn't solve the problem, and I hate it when logic fails to apply. I also hate myself for assigning rationale to others' behavior so I can be okay with it.
If they weren't going to be logical, then we'd fight fire with more fire. When irrationality has breached the front line, reason has to retreat.
The girls were taking the sports festival hostage. They were telling us with their behavior rather than their words that the festival planning was going to stall if we didn't do as they say. Whether or not they were doing this consciously, that's the result.
We had only one move open to us.
"We could use the same trick…"
"What do you mean?" Yuigahama tilted her head, turning to face me.
"At heart, this is a leadership conflict between us and the crew. They're running a strike, or at least a slowdown, to push through their demands—by taking the sports festival as their hostage."
"…Potage," Yuigahama said for some reason. She wore a serious, pensive expression.
I don't think she gets it… Corn and potatoes had nothing to do with it. Neither do cottages. It sounds similar but means something completely different.
While Yuigahama was stalled out, Yukinoshita frowned and shot me a cold look. What, you don't like it when I'm trying to be indirect?
"What, specifically?" she asked.
So I told them the concept I was thinking of. "I'm talking about mutually assured destruction—a hostage situation."
That was enough for Yukinoshita to catch my drift. Her large eyes widened as she looked at me, and then she breathed a long sigh. "I'm shocked…and amazed you would come up with that. That is legitimately absurd. Or refreshingly malicious, perhaps…" "Is that a compliment?" I asked back automatically.
Yukinoshita blinked two, three times. "My, it didn't sound that way?" "It didn't…," I replied.
Yukinoshita's whole face suddenly lit up with glee. "I'm sure. As I wasn't complimenting you."
I thought so. I was just thinking, As usual, she has no taste in compliments. It's scary how you can get used to things. But, well, if she's grown in any way, it's her knack for backhanded compliments. I'd prefer it if she could divert some of that growth elsewhere… Of course, I would never say this out loud.
As I was silently cursing her, Yukinoshita let out a giggle so tiny I almost missed it. "But…it's not a bad idea." She grinned defiantly. Attack suits her so much better than defense.
"That being the case, some preparatory groundwork will be necessary…," she muttered to herself, putting her hand to her mouth again as she focused on thought. That giggle almost distracted me, but man, she really is scary…
She's scary when she's gleefully plotting her schemes, but she's also scary when she deduces what I'm trying to do from just one term. The others looked a little confused by our exchange, unable to piece it together themselves.
"Hikigaya, could you explain for us?" Meguri asked.
So I turned to her. "I mean we're going to take their sports festival hostage, too."
"Whaaat?" Sagami gave me a doubtful, almost derisive look. She really does piss me off… The way she talks is so dang obnoxious.
But I wasn't gonna whisper that into Meguri's ear like a little kid, then be like I'm not telling youuuu to Sagami. 'Cause when people do that to you, it will piss you off. It's genuinely hurtful… If you don't want me to hear about it, then don't go out of your way to make
sure I know you're sharing a secret, geez. Little kids do such unbearably brutal things.
I'm not in elementary school anymore. Now I'm a full-fledged high school student. So as a high school student ought, I chose to explain in a snarky, roundabout way. Plus, I just didn't like the idea of genuinely spelling everything out for Sagami.
"We'll take their precious sports festival from them. We'll ruin it. We'll show them, If you're fine without it, then bring it."
But maybe that was a little too roundabout. I still wasn't understood, and both Sagami's and Meguri's mouths were hanging open. Yuigahama seemed lost, too.
Meguri and Sagami exchanged looks as if they were checking with one another, Did you get what he just said? Meguri looked a bit embarrassed, while Sagami's pride probably got in the way of her asking anything.
One person took a bold step forward. "…S-so what do you mean?" Yuigahama tug-tugged on my sleeve.
Uh, those little tugs are making me kinda shy, so could you quit it…? I
gently but smoothly pulled away from her hand and the awkwardness as I explained, "If they're going to implicitly demand that Sagami be removed from her post, then we'll demand they be removed. If they're gonna rely on numbers, then we just have to expand the scope."
If they wanted to rely on their position of absolute strength, then we would wield the same sword. If they wanted to strike with the superiority of numbers, then we would cut them with the same blade.
Simply put:
"Fight fire with fire. It's simple," I added at the end.
Yuigahama clapped her hands. "O-ohhh… I get it! I think…" Her conviction quickly evaporated as she approached the end of her sentence.
Well, you had to actually do it, or it wasn't really going to get across. I turned to Yukinoshita, who was gathering her thoughts, to discuss with her how the operation would go in practice.
We dispassionately confirmed what to do, explained the basic plan to everyone there, and discussed solutions to any potential problems. This wasn't a huge undertaking, but we would need some props ready.
Once I had finished explaining everything, Meguri gave an impressed-sounding ohhhh. Then she stared at me for a second.
"…Huh, what is it?" I asked, since she was looking at me longer than it seemed she should.
But she slowly shook her head. "No, it's nothing… You really are…a horrible guy, Hikigaya."
She smiled mischievously and giggled.
While preparing for the next meeting, we also had to make decisions about other adjustments. We had to deal with the breakdown of the committee, but we also had to simultaneously keep the practical work the executives were handling on schedule, or the sports festival definitely wouldn't happen.
The next day, we'd be dealing with the two big festival events, the unresolved item on the agenda.
We had two major issues to deal with.
The first was the costumes for the Chibattle. We had to come up with a cost-cutting plan and ideas to reduce the amount of labor involved. After my text-based conversation with Zaimokuza the other day, I'd basically come up with a good idea.
After school but before going to the meeting, I immediately began my mission. I had to, or else my target would go home.
When I headed over to talk to her, she was about to do just that, hefting her bag over her shoulder. With each languid step forward, her long, blue-tinged black hair swayed. Keeping it bound was, surprisingly, a handmade scrunchie.
As usual, Saki Kawasaki had this air of fatigue about her. Her eyes, narrowed in displeasure, were already directed toward the exit.
Though I'd sneaked up to her without a sound, I couldn't quite figure out how to begin the conversation.
"…"
Maybe, Hey! or something like that? Ugh, too cheery; it's creepy… I'm not close enough with her to be like, Whassup. I guess Um, or Sorry, or Hi there would be safe. But wouldn't she suspect I don't remember her name? Still, it'd be rather risky to call her Kawasaki, since I'm not really sure if that's actually her name. And besides, sometimes the kanji for "cape," is saki and sometimes it's zaki. That's confusing. Make it consistent.
As my minor concerns mounted, I groaned in contemplation, alerting Kawasaki to my presence.
"…Eeep!" She seemed startled when she saw me, letting out a short shriek and hastily backing up a few steps. Her eyes had gone round as if she'd met a ninja. It was like she was saying, Ninja! Why ninja?!
Uh, no need to be that shocked…
Kawasaki must have been embarrassed by her own reaction, because she suddenly blushed as she glared at me. "…What?"
"Oh, nothing…" With her scowling at me like that, I couldn't bring myself to say anything, either. I mean, she's scary… But she's got a heart of gold, as you might have noticed from her earlier reaction. Yeah. Definitely.
Reassuring myself, I searched for a way to start the conversation. "You going home now?" I asked.
She gave me a blank look. Then she jerked her head away and replied quietly, "…Y-yeah."
"I see."
"…Uh…huh." After that reply, Kawasaki started quietly fiddling with her cuff, and she didn't look at me at all. But she didn't end the conversation and leave, either. She just stood there in silence.
Whoa now, how do I move this conversation forward? I'm getting the sense this isn't going anywhere. Normally, other people will start conversations…, he says, and he means it. Neither of us were talking, and it was kind of making me fidgety. What the heck is with this vibe?
I really couldn't maintain an indefinite silence here, so I tried to say something. It sounded more like I was muttering to myself, which was creepy even for me: "I see, so you're going home, I see…"
Then, most likely in an attempt to be considerate, Kawasaki glanced over at me and said, "Y-you need something?"
"Ahhh, yeah, yeah. Do you have a minute?" I asked. Her question made it quite a bit easier for me to talk, and finally, I had reached the prologue to the matter at hand.
Kawasaki paused for a moment in thought, then turned away again, and in a just barely audible voice, she replied, "...I do."
I see; that's good. She seems like she'd be busy with this and that, like a job or cram school or family stuff and whatnot, so I'd been a little worried about how she would answer.
But this had made it easier to ask her a favor. Still, this wasn't a small favor, so I couldn't say it too casually. To ensure my request sounded completely sincere, I cleared my throat before asking, "…Could you make some clothes for me?"
And then, as if time had stopped, a long, long silence fell upon us.
Kawasaki's mouth hung open, and she blinked a bunch of times. After a few seconds passed, finally, she seemed able to understand what I'd said. "…Huh? M-me? M-make clothes for you? Wh-why would I…?" She was dithering, waving her hands around in confusion.
I guess I needed to use more words there. I'd thought I'd get agreement from her first and then explain the details. But first, I added, "Oh, not for me personally. I want to use them for an event in the sports festival. Though I don't mean for you to do everything. It's just, if you could teach us how to make some stuff."
"Oh, for the sports festival. I wondered…" Kawasaki's chest moved up and down as she sighed deeply. I could tell she was relieved. "Oh yeah, so you're on the committee or something, huh?" she said as if she didn't really care. She was back to her usual languid manner, nothing like before.
Well, the Sports Festival Committee had hardly been made public, so most people shouldn't be aware of it if they weren't already a part of it.
"You knew about that?"
She replied carelessly, "I heard from Taishi."
It seemed what I'd said to Komachi the other day had spread around. My little sister has a terrifying ability to disseminate information. Also, the Kawasaki siblings are terrifying for talking about that sort of thing with each other. Why do you guys bother talking about this stuff?
"Your massive brother complex is showing…," I said with a shiver, and Kawasaki suddenly turned to look me right in the eye.
"I'll hit you," she threatened.
"I-I'm sorry."
Her eyes were so sharp that I automatically offered a sincere apology. When it comes to her brother, she gets serious. It's terrifying. Especially her brother complex.
Shrugging in exasperation, Kawasaki swept the hair off her shoulders. "The committee, huh…? You were involved in that stuff last time, too. How do you keep finding these problems for yourself?"
"That's just what my club does."
"Hmm…"
I replied with a sigh as Kawasaki made that halfhearted listening noise, and the conversation petered out. Unsure what to do with all the silence, she fiddled with the ends of her hair, which didn't seem particularly damaged.
And then, her eyes still focused on her hands, she suddenly asked in her usual languid way, "…Is that the only reason?"
"Huh? There's nothing else," I answered immediately, without really thinking it through.
Kawasaki quietly lowered her gaze. "I see…" She seemed rather disinterested in the answer to the question she'd asked.
But now I wanted to know why she did. "What about it?"
"No, nothing. It's just that I don't get it."
Well, of course. People never understand others. I could respect Kawasaki's stance as one who was cognizant of that.
More importantly, I wouldn't want to be understood.
When someone thinks they understand a question no one knows the answer to, it's unbearable. I'm not seeking understanding or answers.
When I realized Kawasaki's odd question had pulled the conversation offtrack, I dragged it back. "Oh, so about the clothes."
"Sure, that's no big deal. I've got the free time, now that I'm not working." This time, she replied instantly.
"Oh? Thanks… So come to the meeting room in an hour," I instructed.
Kawasaki seemed startled, eyes widening. "Wait, today?"
"Oh, yeah. You said you have time, right?"
"Yeah, but…" She gave up arguing any further, heaved a sigh, and said quite grudgingly, "Agh, fine, I get it."
Well, I guess it was pretty harsh to suddenly tell her to come that day. But we didn't really have much time. I felt bad, but I was going to make her help us out with this now. "Sorry. I'll make it up to you soon," I said, unusually serious for me.
"…You don't have to," she said, turning away.
Kawasaki said she'd kill some time hanging around for a while and then come over, so I parted ways with her and headed for the meeting.
Most of the principal members had already assembled.
There was Sagami, the committee chair, then Meguri, Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, and the members of the student council. The main topic on the agenda for this meeting was the selection of the captains for the pole pull-down.
For this matter, we'd already settled on Hayama as the strongest candidate for the white team. This did depend on how negotiations went, but Hayato Hayama could never abandon people in trouble. He wouldn't refuse someone coming to ask him for help. This had already been demonstrated in the past, when we'd held that disaster of a judo tournament. So now we just had to decide on a captain for the red team.
And for this event, we couldn't go without asking for assistance from one particular individual.
This was where our exclusive advisor, Hina Ebina, came in.
"Ello-ellooo!" With that nonsensical greeting, Ebina waltzed into the meeting room.
"Yahallo, Hina!" Yuigahama responded with a light wave, and Ebina went straight over to a nearby chair to sit down.
"Thanks for all your trouble," said Meguri.
"Oh, it's all good," Ebina replied with a grin before sliding her gaze over to Yukinoshita and swiftly getting down to business. "Today, we're deciding on the captains for the pole pull-down, right?"
"Yes. As for the white team candidate, we're all right with Hayama, I take it? If so, the committee will submit a formal offer," Yukinoshita said.
Ebina responded with a couple of nods. "Yeah, that seems fine? Although I'm not sure if Hayato'll do it."
"You think he won't?" Sagami said, sounding surprised.
Ebina smiled vaguely. "Hmm… No, I think he will, but we have to actually ask him."
"Hayama'll do it," I said.
Ebina's glasses flashed, and she leaned forward eagerly. The drool dripping from her mouth was sparkling, too. "Oh my, it feels like you have some trust in him…"
"That's not what it is…," I replied. I was half-weirded-out and halfexasperated and 100 percent sure she was wrong. Yes, this feeling was nothing like what she thought it was. In fact, I'd call it the complete opposite.
Hayato Hayama strikes me as someone who wants to solve every problem without conflict. That's why he's mastered that mysterious ability called the Zone. His principles amount to "don't rock the boat," so to speak. That's why he'll say yes to any request.
But there was no need to bother explaining that stuff to Ebina. I was too freaked out by the inferno burning in her eyes.
I decided to end that line of conversation by making a reference to what Hayama had said previously. "He asked before if there was anything he could help with, that's all."
Yukinoshita nodded then. "You've already locked him in to this commitment, hmm?"
Uh, the way you said that. It's not good… It kind of sounds like I'm deceiving him, okay?
But Yukinoshita didn't give me the time to correct her, briskly moving on. "That will speed things up. Yuigahama, could you contact him within the day?"
"Okay." Before Yuigahama even finished saying it, she immediately pulled out her phone and started typing a message. Anyway, as long as we had this hotline, we could assume it was basically settled that Hayama would be the white team captain.
So far, things were going according to plan. The problem was the other team.
Yukinoshita refolded her arms and dropped her gaze to the desk. There was the list of students, split into red and white teams, that the student council had made for us.
"And now for a red candidate, hmm…," Yukinoshita muttered while meticulously checking over the test.
Beside her, I casually flipped through it as I said, "Well, whoever's going up against Hayama should be someone equal to him." This was a major event that all the boys in the school would be participating in, so the captain for this should be someone popular and wellknown. On that point, you couldn't complain about Hayama as a selection. But as for who would compete against him—that was pretty hard.
"Hmm…"
As I was considering, a certain someone shot her hand up. "Ohhh!" It was Ebina.
Panting heavily, glasses fogging up, she started talking before anyone gave her permission. "Hikitani would have a great balance with him! Top-bottom balance, I mean!" Ha-ha-ha. Hell no.
I laughed mirthlessly in my head. For now, I would ignore her.
"Is there anyone else like Hayama?" I'm not really informed on affairs in the school—more specifically, I'm not interested, so I turned to someone who I thought was more knowledgeable on the subject.
Yuigahama considered. "Hmm… If it's someone who stands out like Hayato, then…Tobecchi?"
"With that one, it's less that he stands out and more that he's an eyesore, wouldn't you say?" Yukinoshita retorted without missing a beat.
Wow, mean…
Tobe is a hopeless, trash-level character, but I don't think he's a bad guy. You know, seeing as he did act as my scapegoat, after all (involuntarily).
But Tobe was a step down compared with Hayama. And, checking the list, he was on the white team, too. Man, Tobe's so useless.
Any others on the red team, red team… As I was scanning the list, I found a familiar name. Yoshiteru Zaimokuza… If we wanted an attention-getter, there really isn't anyone who sticks out like a sore thumb as badly as him. Maybe Superstarman, but that's it.
But Zaimokuza was too lacking in various ways to compare with Hayama—mainly in common sense. So I eliminated him. If possible, I'd love to eliminate him from my memory.
I couldn't quite come up with any people who struck me as the right pick. As I was silently looking over the list, Sagami, who'd also been scanning the names, opened her mouth.
"Meguri, what about the third-years?" she asked.
Meguri tilted her head. "Hmm, our grade is a pretty quiet one… I don't think I can really think of any types like Hayama."
A reasonable conclusion, given what Hayama had going for him. How many people could there be who were good-looking, smart, nice, athletic, and also popular? Beaujolais may have found a way to annually churn out quality you usually only find once every ten years, but Hayama is a talent truly worthy of the word outstanding.
No matter what Hayama's like, I'm forced to acknowledge his ability.
If the third-years had no one, then you'd consider the first-years, but first-years are too new to be known by the whole school. We shouldn't take them into account.
"A deadlock, huh?" I moaned, just when Yuigahama clapped her hands as if she'd thought of something.
"Oh, Hayato is a club captain, so then wouldn't it be fun to choose another club captain for the red team? Like a battle of the captains?"
"A battle of the captains, huh…?" Hmm, if that was the concept we went with, then it might seem natural even if our pick was a little dicey. With their titles, I guess they'd seem like they matched.
As expected of Yuigahama. Her faux-bimbo thing is the real deal. She's very capable when it comes to planning out things for having a good time and getting people excited.
Yukinoshita nodded appreciatively, then picked up the name sheet. "That sounds like a good idea. And the sports team captains on the red team are…"
"The track club, Ping-Pong club, tennis club…" Meguri nodded thoughtfully as she picked out the relevant information on the reference page.
"And the one who could go head-to-head with Hayama…," Sagami muttered, running her eyes down the sheet as well. She was also checking everyone's names.
That was when Yuigahama said, "Oh, Sai-chan is on the red team." "T-Totsuka?!" I wasn't ready for that name.
Ignoring my reaction, Ebina agreed. "Oh-ho-ho. Totsuka did go up against Hayato during the cultural festival, so that might not be a bad ship."
Don't say ship. It just makes me want to oppose this idea with everything I have.
"Uh, it can't be Totsuka…," I said, somehow barely managing to feign calm.
But Yuigahama tilted her head at me. "Why not?"
It's not logic. Just imagining Totsuka being targeted by a crowd of boys makes every hair on my body stand on end. Ngh, who decided the team assignments? Was it the Sorting Hat? What if something dangerous were to happen to Totsuka? It just should've yelled, Gryffindooooooor!
But honestly, I couldn't say that; it would be the creepiest thing ever. In fact, even imagining it was already out of line.
And so I made up an appropriate-sounding reason. "Oh, you know. Like, what are we gonna do if Totsuka gets hurt or something? The tennis club is already superweak to begin with." If Totsuka had to take time off from the club because he got injured from the pole pull-down, then I'd be forced to join the tennis club to fill the vacancy I created… Wait. That wouldn't be so bad. If Totsuka and I played tennis together, then we might not only get fifteen-love, but fall in love! Or maybe not. But maybe?
While I was groaning to myself and pondering this, Meguri was examining my face with an uncomfortable, strained smile. "Hikigaya, that's what the girls from the crew are saying, though?"
"Ngh… Y-you're right."
I see—so this is what it means to get swept away by your feelings. I am a bastion of calm, and yet even I stoop to Haruka and Yukko's level when it comes to Totsuka. Totsuka is a fearsome one indeed.
But an argument that comes from emotion is never going to be logical; they won't get even a third of it. I mean, the ending for Kenshin said so. So then doesn't that mean that conversely, if you expend triple the love, then it will get across? Oh man, that's superlogical! I'm a genius!
…I'm a dumbass.
As I was reflecting, Yuigahama said in exasperation, "And you're worrying too much about it. I mean, Sai-chan is a boy, too."
"Besides, we will be making the rules stricter and taking safety precautions with this event as well, to prevent that from happening."
What Yukinoshita was saying was very reasonable, but it also meant that such measures had to be in place to prevent rule-breakers. I really am worried… With such anxieties rising within me, what popped out of my mouth was "But you can't make any guarantees."
"H-Hikigaya? Geez!" Meguri chided me, puffing up her cheeks. It kinda made me feel all fluffy-soft inside. Right as Meguri's Megurin Effect (main use: healing and relaxation, and bestowal of big-sister elemental) calmed me down, Ebina settled the argument.
"And besides, the whole team will be trying to protect the captains, so you don't have to worry so much."
…Protect? Me, protecting Totsuka? Me as Totsuka's knight? I see. I like that. That's good. Let's go with that and hit the Like button!
"Well, you have a point," I said begrudgingly.
Yukinoshita stood up her stack of papers and tapped it against the table to tidy up the loose pages before giving us her conclusion. "Well then, let's ask Totsuka."
"Agreed!" Yuigahama cheered.
It seemed no one else was against it, and a smattering of warm applause rang out.
While we were congratulating ourselves, a knock-knock sounded on the door.
Kawasaki had come, as promised.
Now if we could just commit to these Chibattle costumes with Kawasaki's advising, then we'd have figured out the basics of our pending issue, the two big events.
Now everything was ready.
All right, it's time to fight back.
7. And now the final meeting breaks into action.
A few days passed, and then the Sports Festival Committee came together in another meeting.
This would probably be the last big meeting before the sports festival. If we were going to correct our course, this was our last chance.
We had to reach ultimate consensus now regarding the point of contention, the two big events, or we would run out of time to actualize the plan. And if the executive side capitulated now, then none of the crew would listen to our directions ever again. This was a critical moment, our Battle of Yamazaki.
As we executives were preparing for the meeting, Miss Hiratsuka showed up. "How are things going?" "I couldn't say…," I answered.
The teacher tilted her head. "Hmm? I'm not sure what that means."
But this was one thing I couldn't offer an instant answer for. "Yeah, well, I'm not exactly doing anything myself, so I really can't say." Just as I said, there was hardly anything for me to do in the meeting that day. In fact, you could say doing nothing was my job here. Whoa, it's my dream job.
It seemed Miss Hiratsuka was trying to divine something from my vague answer. She spun around to scan the others in the meeting room. "I see. Well then, maybe I should ask Yukinoshita or Yuigahama?"
"Naw, I think they'll say the same thing. I don't think they know how things are going, either."
"Hmm. What do you mean?"
Yes, Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, and I would hardly be interfering at all. We were already done with our interfering. It would be someone else standing in the firing line now. Technically, she should have been standing there from the start. She was a little ways away, checking printouts, and I looked over to her. "This time, we're leaving it to the venerable chair."
"Oh…?" Miss Hiratsuka narrowed her eyes in deep interest, examining the star of the show today. Minami Sagami.
As far as I could tell, Sagami would have to show them she had what it took to be chair during this meeting, or no matter how it played out, it wouldn't go well. If we just wanted to make the crew yield, then even we could do that—well, Yukinoshita could anyway.
But if we took care of it, that wouldn't eliminate the hostility toward Sagami. Since we were acting based on Sagami's major decision not to quit, then we had to make her do this, no matter how uneasy we were.
Sagami needed results to turn around how everyone saw her—and how she saw herself.
Frankly, this was a bad bet. The chances of success were extremely low. For someone who was so arrogant and tactless and selfish, she was awfully weak-willed and nervous when she was in front of an audience—she was the type of person least suited to being the chair.
But this was still necessary to fulfill both requests that the Service Club had taken on. We'd laid the groundwork, at least, to raise those odds of success a little bit.
…I'm nervous.
"What's your game this time…? Well, I suppose we'll see what you've got." Miss Hiratsuka smiled gleefully, then sat down in her usual seat, the folding chair away from the table. The meeting would start soon. I sat down in my own seat, too.
All the executives were here at the open square of tables at the front of the room. To the side was Yuigahama, and near the middle was Yukinoshita. Right in the middle was Sagami, and beside her was Meguri. On Meguri's other side sat the members of the student council.
Right before the meeting started, I turned to Yukinoshita. "Guess it's about time."
"Right." Yukinoshita, who had been perusing the paperwork, abruptly lifted her face to check the clock.
I glanced over, too, as I said, "Well, I assume you'll be the one taking on all the important points, so don't lose your cool." "I'll be careful." Yukinoshita gave that short reply.
But she didn't even have to answer my request. Yukinoshita was rarely shaken in the first place. She'd shown that during the cultural festival, and also during the recent sports festival meetings. I knew she'd have a handle on everything this time, too. But I decided to continue anyway.
"We're going to maintain a position of superiority. Even if they ask questions, there's no need to answer honestly. I think the more important thing is show no signs of weakness."
When I went off in-depth, Yukinoshita shot me a disgruntled look. "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"Fair enough."
I had to smile a little at her incredibly in-character response.
Well, of course I wasn't saying it for Yukinoshita's benefit. I wanted our venerable chair, who was sitting frozen nearby, to hear it. To prevent this anti-Sagami trend from progressing any further, it was necessary to emphasize her unyielding stance in this meeting. That was why I was uncharacteristically offering a rather roundabout warning. If I said it straight to her, she would have tuned me out… But I doubt she was absorbing this.
She's never listened to me. She's stubbornly ignored me through all the meetings and discussions thus far. In fact, it would feel wrong if she did suddenly start listening to me.
Our only concern at the moment was Sagami; the other preparations were steadily being sorted out.
On top of the student council's desk was a pile of over a thousand sheets. We'd prepared those for this meeting, too. The student council had printed them and carried them in without complaint. They'd been constantly helping us not only with the cultural festival, but with this, too.
And then there were the design sketches for the costumes Kawasaki had finished up for us at express speed. During the meeting the other day, Kawasaki had immediately taken the original plans Zaimokuza had submitted (and all sorts of unnecessary advice from Ebina) and quickly turned them into form.
I'm not sure if I should call this talent surprising, but Kawasaki has a good sense for these sorts of things. Aside from Taishi, her brother who's two years younger, she also has another much younger brother and sister. Maybe, surprisingly, she's learned such skills through taking care of them. It's kinda cute to imagine a reluctant Kawasaki being pestered by her little sister into drawing some pictures.
Checking that we had everything, I quietly waited for the meeting to start. People from the crew were filtering in. The turnout that day wasn't so bad. Last time had ended inconclusively, and that must have been a pull.
There were still a few who had not yet shown up, but when Meguri checked the time, she nodded at Sagami.
"…Well then, it's time. Let's all begin the meeting." Sagami's voice was a little raspy. The curtain had risen on the final meeting.
The meeting first began with a progress check, but only a few days had passed since the last time. There wasn't much to report, and it proceeded without much enthusiasm.
There wasn't much to ask about, but still, the response from the crew was pretty awful.
Some were louder than others, but a good chunk of them were chatting. Others had their heads down on their desks as they messed around on their phones or napped—it was a picturesque collage of all the ways not to give a damn.
But this was what the executives were worth to them. They weren't even trying to pretend to care—in fact, they might have been doing it on purpose.
This behavior was the embodiment of their spirit of defiance, and these actions were also raising their sense of solidarity.
It was a truly juvenile and spiteful protest, but it was also highly effective. By openly flying the flag of revolt, this faction had strengthened the current anti-executive sentiments under the leadership of Haruka and Yukko. When something has momentum and numbers, people hop on board.
This was just like what happened with the Cultural Festival Committee.
What was different now was the positions of Sagami, Haruka, and Yukko.
And the other difference was the clear factional dispute between the executives and crew, which meant they couldn't create a common, fictional enemy.
The enemy already existed right here, and now fighting had become their goal.
That was why this time, we had to adopt different measures.
The general mood was just the same as the last meeting. We were still stuck in the same disadvantageous position.
It was also doubtful just how much Sagami was getting across as she headed the proceedings. She was moving us along so smoothly, she might have been reassured by the idea that nobody was listening.
And then, right when she was about to shift to the next topic on the agenda, she paused for a brief moment. She gulped, quietly swallowing her anxiety. "Now then, as for the two big events discussed last time…"
When the topic came up, the crew fell quiet and turned attentive. You could tell this was the main item at the meeting for the day.
To them, this was their greatest point of attack.
Of course, that was also true for us.
Meguri looked at Sagami with apprehension. Also on edge, Yuigahama restlessly moved her hands on top of the table.
With all eyes on her, Sagami said, "Now on to our pending issue, the safety measures for the Chibattle. As outlined in the last meeting, we will address this through the tightening of the rules, coordination with the local fire department, and the establishment of a first aid team."
While Sagami spoke, Yukinoshita closed her eyes, her back perfectly straight as she listened silently. Miss Hiratsuka folded her arms and gave Sagami a skeptical look.
In this cold and tense atmosphere, Sagami continued onward. "And to cut costs, we've also looked into costuming plans. Please check the details on the documents you've been handed. I believe with the designs and materials explained there, we can hold the competition safely and also simplify production," she said, and she pointed to the costume plan for the Chibattle.
The design sketches Kawasaki had finished for us used safe materials and could be divided into different parts and put together in assembly-line fashion. This way, even those with only middling skills could make them, and if you had each person focus on their specific parts, we'd be able to make them efficiently. She'd ensured it was all practical, from production to utility—a pretty good approach, in my book.
When it comes to clothing design, I'm an amateur, but still, I figured this could make some pretty great stuff. But I didn't know if everyone else would think the same.
Of course, we had not forgotten to add a note with a line that said, *Design pending. As long as you've got this, you can get away with drastic changes in specifications. Maybe from now on, I should start adding *Personal opinion to everything I say, too. Though that isn't a free pass for absolutely anything.
Once Sagami had finished, Haruka and Yukko shared a look. They gave each other little confirmation nods, then raised their hands.
"I don't think that's much different from how it was before, though…"
"And it doesn't seem like you can make any promises…"
I knew they would say that. In fact, everything until now had been leading them to say that.
I had also anticipated that the rest of the crew would follow Haruka and Yukko's lead and start complaining, too.
"Our tournament's coming up, though…"
"Wait, these guys are saying the same stuff as before. Yikes."
"Yeah, it's like, do your jobs."
However, these complaints and gripes, just loud enough for us to hear, wouldn't quite stop.
Sagami became understandably anxious, glancing over at Meguri and
Yukinoshita. We'd explained things to her beforehand, yes, but when you have a bunch of people complaining to your face, you're gonna flinch.
But Meguri and Yukinoshita both nodded at Sagami to put her at ease.
Taking solace in that, Sagami patiently waited.
She didn't open her mouth, move her eyes, or let her posture break. Her hands trembled, clasped over the paper on top of the table, but that was it.
Eventually, the crew seemed to run out of grievances to air, and they slowly quieted. Then they looked doubtfully at our silent chair.
Once they realized the others around them were quieting down, even the loudest of the group shut their mouths without being told. We could all read the room here.
After some waiting, the meeting room went dead quiet.
And when it did, Sagami opened her mouth. "This is the best plan we can suggest. If you're still not satisfied, if you're worried about accidents…" As we had discussed beforehand, Sagami paused there.
And then she dropped the bomb.
"Then we can make participation in the sports festival at-your-ownrisk."
The entire crew seemed to be having trouble understanding; they stared at her with confusion and scorn. The hell? they silently asked.
Meanwhile, Miss Hiratsuka, sitting at the edge of the room, was dumbstruck. "…You mean to say that anyone who has complaints about the plan as it is doesn't have to join in?" she asked.
Sagami must not have anticipated that the teacher would say something, as she couldn't answer that question immediately.
Without missing a beat, Yukinoshita backed her up. "The Chibattle is not the only event that will pose some risk of accident—we can say the same of any of these events. Further, fewer participants will lessen the risk, so I believe it's a fair judgment."
"Hmm, that's true…" Miss Hiratsuka sunk into thought with a hmm.
Ignoring her, Sagami moved the discussion forward. She still had yet to announce the biggest part of this proposal. "Furthermore, we will not be permitting nonstudents to participate in the festival in any capacity, including the audience."
This time, the effect was instantaneous. This was a simple statement, and maybe that was why they got what she meant right away. The crew broke into murmurs.
"What…? Why does it have to be like that?"
"What does that accomplish…?"
Everyone started complaining until the meeting room was in an uproar.
There was basically no justifiable reason for this, so our only option was to make something up.
Sagami couldn't be trusted with that; this was my domain. "The sports festival is a purely in-school event, so…parents, guardians, and friends from other schools can't join in. As a general rule, we won't be allowing outsiders to participate."
I think this was some beautiful BS, if I do say so myself. If the people we were dealing with had been calm, I'm sure they'd have immediately jumped on us: Hey, that logic is whack.
But amid all the confusion, no such voices rose from the crew.
Aside from the executives, I think the only calm one there was Miss Hiratsuka. She must still have been thinking about the participate-atyour-own-risk thing from earlier, as she lightly put her hand to her forehead and raised her other hand to signal for us to hold on. "Wait, wait. So how will you deal with those who choose not to participate? You can't just have them do nothing."
"Maybe the same thing as for field trips. People who don't go to those just go to school and self-study or something, don't they?" Yet again, I was just making shit up. That was extremely far-fetched. Field trips have nothing to do with sports festivals. But the school regulation does technically exist, so the chances it would be handled that way were not zero. So there would be room to consider it, at least.
"That may be okay? …Hmm, maybe not? Who makes the decision in such cases? The grade-year head, the gym teacher…no, the viceprincipal? Maybe the principal…but since this is a part of the sports festival…" Ignoring Miss Hiratsuka as she mulled over the workplace hierarchy, we moved on with the meeting.
Sagami surveyed the whole room and declared the executives' conclusion: "As we can't one hundred percent guarantee your safety, we've been forced to make this decision."
This was where "risk management" had brought them.
These "concerns" had crushed a number of proposals during the planning meeting as well. Considering that precedent, I knew we'd be able to use such "concerns" as pretense to guide their opinions somewhat. It had already been proven that few people would voice opposition against such reasoning.
The school ranked above both the executives and the crew, and its will could not be opposed. So we would use that against them, placing restrictions on this in the name of risk management. If we could use this well, then we should be able to steer this discussion in the direction we wanted.
"Huh? You mean that if we're against this, then we can't be in the sports festival?"
"You can be in the festival, if you choose to participate."
"But then that means if we oppose the chicken fight now, then we can't be in anything."
The crew were still arguing the matter.
"Don't you think that's crazy?"
"We don't even need to listen to this."
"Yeah, they're being ridiculous here. They can't just kick us out."
The crew was gradually beginning to show signs of anger. Our jab to throw them off-balance had worked better than expected.
Now it was time for the final blow.
I stood, then picked up the big stack of papers that was piled up in front of the student council. I handed it to Yukinoshita, at the front. She took one of those sheets in hand and slid it over to Sagami.
Quietly accepting the paper, Sagami softly took a deep breath.
"Our proposal has been made to guarantee your safety as much as possible. There's nothing more that we can do. If you are still in opposition, then this goes beyond this committee. We will ask the full student body." She pointed to the stack of over a thousand papers that was piled up high on the table.
Miss Hiratsuka stood up, pulled out one of those papers, and looked over it. Then she smiled wryly. "'Will you participate in the sports festival or not…' It's unprecedented to ask the students something like this about the sports festival…" Waving the page, she said to Sagami, "How will you explain this to the other students?"
"All…of it…"
"Huh?" Miss Hiratsuka blinked. That wasn't the answer she was expecting.
Yukinoshita supplemented with details. "We'll explain the full situation. The facts—all of them. That certain clubs have indicated an issue, that our proposed countermeasures were unable to satisfy their demands, and so we'd like to ask the opinions of all students in the school. That is what we intend to explain."
On the surface, it was an explanation, but in reality, it was a threat.
In other words, we would essentially be exposing them.
The ambiguity of the phrase certain clubs wouldn't stop people from being suspicious or prying into it. Some people would try to find out just who those opponents had been—not necessarily for malicious reasons, maybe just to satisfy their curiosity or sense of justice.
Compared with the cultural festival and field trips, the sports festival isn't the sort of event everyone would be looking forward to all that much. But to those who were starving for a classic youth experience, this was one of the important highlights of their time in high school. If they lost it for a stupid reason, people would do something about it. A lot of them, most likely.
For the first-years, this would be their first high school sports festival, while for the third-years, this would be their final one as students. I'm sure this big event was special to plenty of second-years, too.
This is extremely wild and hopeful speculation on my part, but I'd say over half of them would be looking forward to the sports festival happening. Depending on how this played out, the sports festival itself could go away for good. If things went badly, this faction of sports clubs could very easily come under fire for that.
If the crew could envision that possibility, they might not oppose us so glibly.
There was no need to actually question their true motives. We just had to show them that the preparations had already been made, and it was possible to put this plan into action.
Even if the odds of it happening were low, we just had to make them think it would.
They were playing like they were the majority, so we'd teach them just how empty their belief was. We'd teach them the fear of an even greater majority, one that may not exist—but it might.
Of course people started arguing back.
"Y-you don't have to do that—we should just drop the chicken fight."
"That doesn't mean we're against the whole sports festival…"
But Haruka, Yukko, and those around them had all lowered their voices considerably. The prospect of exposure must have scared them; they were already loosening their grip.
This was check. Just one last push, and then checkmate.
"We'll tell them about the chicken fight as well… The committee had reached an agreement, but thanks to some complaints, we had to resort to this," Sagami finished her explanation.
Yukinoshita added earnestly, "If an approved item is overturned…it would be a scandal. Once word gets out, the responsibility of the committee will be called into question… Agh…" This plan would also make us look bad, so no one would expect her to jump on the idea.
Which was why the sight of Yukino Yukinoshita hesitating was so effective. One of the most capable girls in school, and our de facto chair, had apparently run out of options, highlighting the extremity of our predicament.
The commotion within the meeting room crescendoed.
We'd given them the impression that we were doing this with full knowledge of the risks, and that we were appropriately prepared. If they were going to take the sports festival captive by digging in their heels, then we'd do the same.
You bastards are dreaming of the perfect sports festival, and your fantasy will be our hostage.
Both parties had their fingers on the buttons to nuke the sports festival we wanted.
This was our mutually assured destruction.
Haruka and Yukko were trembling.
"What…? C'mon…what the hell?"
"I think that's an awful way to handle this."
"Just because you're the committee chair doesn't mean we have to listen to you."
Their hateful words focused on Sagami. Of course. She'd been standing in the firing line this whole time. She was destined to be the target, and she had no choice but to take it.
There's no such thing as a comfortable seat of leadership. Those in the most prominent position are vulnerable to the most wounds and blood splatter.
If you can't reconcile everything peacefully, then you can at least take down as many problems as you can in one fell swoop. The one who stands at the top must generally select one option here.
Nonetheless, it's a painful duty. Criticism against the post or title of the chair are bearable, at least. But in many cases, it's lumped in with you yourself. The position and the person are different things at their core, but to an outside viewer, they are indivisible.
Meaning that if this developed further, the opposition to Sagami would likely turn into personal attacks against her.
"You're hardly doing any work here, and now all of a sudden you're the big leader doing whatever she wants."
"Unbelievable… You didn't even come to the first meeting on time…"
From the title of committee chair, it slid straight into talk about Sagami's personality. At the center of this were, of course, Haruka and Yukko, who knew her. Since they'd gotten along so well before, they could strike at Sagami's flaws with sharper accuracy than the others.
"Hey, that's enough."
"Y-yeah. Calm down a little, 'kay?"
Miss Hiratsuka and Yuigahama tried to put a halt to it, but Haruka and Yukko had already lost their heads. It was like they didn't even hear the attempts to soothe them; in fact, they were getting louder and louder.
"You didn't even care about doing the cultural festival right, so where the hell is this coming from?"
"W-well…" Sagami started to waver as her past loomed before her. The cultural festival couldn't have been a good memory for her, either.
But if she showed weakness, they'd strike even harder. Haruka and Yukko were on a roll. "That guy over there said some really nasty stuff about you, but now you're friends just 'cause it's convenient for you?"
"You never cared about us, did you? I mean, you're working together with someone you literally hate."
Haruka and Yukko usually come off as comparatively docile, but when they got emotional, there was a bloodcurdling edge to the fury on their faces. The intensity of it kept the others from being able to butt in. Of course, the same went for me.
"H-hey now, hold on there. Hikki really isn't so bad as all that." Yuigahama attempted to stamp out the sparks as they started flying over to me. But this wasn't her issue to solve.
I stood up and chose my words carefully. "Uh, well, it's true Sagami hasn't always been the most…y'know, but this—," I began, but I was cut off by a low voice.
"…Shut up."
Looking over to the source of that voice, I saw Minami Sagami hunched over. Was that her? I took a step forward to check, and Sagami raised her chin, this time saying clearly, "Just stop talking. Shut up. Every single time— Who the hell do you think you are?"
Her words were filled with hostility. This was the first time since the cultural festival that she'd blown up at me like this. I started to snap back at her, but someone cut me off before I could.
Sweeping her hair off her shoulders, Yukinoshita glared at Sagami. "Sagami, what you've just said—"
"Shut up!" But Sagami wasn't going to listen; she was saying the same thing to Yukinoshita now, and she was as determined as Haruka and Yukko were moments ago. "You guys just decide everything yourselves, and nobody listens to what I say—who the hell do you think you are?! What do you know?!" She sucked in a shuddery breath, and her voice was tight as she said, "I'm doing it right, aren't I…?"
Was she really saying that to Yukinoshita and me? Her cry was not only an attack against us, but also against Haruka and Yukko.
"I've been trying my best to do it right this time! Why don't you get that? I apologized, and I've been thinking about what went wrong and how to do better…"
I couldn't see the expression on Sagami's downturned face, but I could see the drops falling to the floor. Her voice gradually descended into mumbles before breaking off for a moment. But nobody else could say anything.
Sagami muttered hoarsely, repentantly, "That's why I wanted to do it right this time… That's why…" She choked, and her words were replaced with sobs.
"Sagami," Meguri said to her kindly, rubbing her back. But Sagami showed no sign of collecting herself. She kept crying.
"Shiromeguri, could you take her someplace she can calm down?" said Miss Hiratsuka, and Meguri nodded. She took Sagami's hand and slowly pulled her up, then took her out of the meeting room.
The rest of us watched them go without a word.
Silence fell, like no one could figure out what to say. Including Haruka and Yukko, who'd been full of venom only moments ago. The room was perfectly still, with none of the murmuring from before.
In all the scenarios I'd envisioned, I'd never imagined anything close to this.
It wasn't logical. It wasn't coherent. It wasn't rational.
Sagami's cries had been an argument from emotion—the belief that attitude was what counted most.
I thought I'd constructed my logic to block all her outs, but it had produced a failure. To be blunt, I had miscalculated. It was nothing like mutually assured destruction.
She had sobbed and yelled for them to just acknowledge her already.
That was all it had been.
I'd lost.
Yeah, she actually beat me.
It was so stupid, ridiculous, lowbrow, and trivial—so simple. How could I not have noticed?
This problem had originated with an emotion-based argument in the first place. So only an emotional argument could turn it around.
Anger for anger, an attack for an attack. You counter pathos with pathos.
In a mudslinging competition like that, whoever calms down first loses. Sagami had already exited the stage, while Haruka and Yukko were fast to snap out of it because of the people around them. They were sitting in silence as if they were embarrassed by the looks everyone was giving them.
It was hard to even twitch in a silence like this, but Miss Hiratsuka lightly cleared her throat. When nobody else knew what to do, the only one who could handle a situation like this was a teacher.
Sweeping her gaze over the room, she said, "Let me ask again. Is there anyone who opposes the proposal from the chair and the others?"
If anyone did, they would be a villain. No one here could really encourage more dumping on someone who had just been sobbing miserably in front of a crowd.
So nobody raised their hands, and Miss Hiratsuka nodded with satisfaction. "Mm-hmm. Then it's settled for good now."
"All right, then I'll explain the specifics about our course moving forward." In place of the absent Sagami, Yukinoshita took the helm, and the meeting resumed. Despite her calm voice, the tension still lingered.
I leaned heavily into my chair and sighed.