Some time passed since Isshiki had headed back to the student
council room to grab some papers so that she could talk to us about
the details. While we awaited her return, Yukinoshita poured us
more tea.
As the steam rose from our cups, the smell of black tea wafted
through the room. The heater still wasn't working, but the tea and
the jacket over my shoulders kept the cold from bothering me too
much.
"Sorry for the waaait!" The door was flung open with a rattle, and
Isshiki bounded into the room.
She dumped the file folders in her arms, then began spreading out
on the desk what seemed to be the relevant materials. Her eyes
sparkled with excitement and glee like a child looking at a flyer for a
toy store right before Christmas.
Seeing her enthusiasm did make me want to make this free magazine
happen somehow, but this wasn't something that would just work
out with enough enthusiasm, guts, and idealism.
First of all, we needed an accurate grasp of the situation. The more
you understand the nature of the work, the more cornered you feel
about your present situation.
If there's no wiggle room in cost or schedule, then it can't be
actualized in the first place, and if you are fully aware of that and
forced into an unrealistic plan anyway, that kills motivation.
Conversely, when there's leeway in the budget and schedule, you
think it'll be a cinch and end up with a train wreck from some
careless mistake. Awww man. In all the scenarios I'm envisioning,
everything falls to shit as soon as the work is assigned…
That is precisely why the correct route is to understand your capacity
for work. In fact, it would be better to not accept responsibilities in
the first place. Or, in the case where refusal isn't an option, you
should negotiate to reduce as much of your workload as possible.
Having been in the exploitative environment of the Service Club for
the past year, I had finally become enlightened to this.
I called out to Isshiki while waiting for her to finish laying out all the
papers. "Let me make this clear: We still haven't decided we're going
to go through with this. We'll hear what specifically you plan to do,
and based on that, we'll consider if we can do it or not."
"Right. I'm fine with that!" she answered cheerfully, beaming at me.
Ack…when you look at me with those hopeful eyes, it makes it really
hard to say no…
While I was choked up, Yukinoshita took over, beginning the
discussion so we could move things along. "All right, could you tell us
about your printing plans?" Page | 123
"Right. Ummm, wellll, I contacted the printing company that we
placed an order with for the Christmas event and asked them some
stuff." Isshiki grabbed a few papers from her collection. It seemed
she had a pamphlet, plus a written quote.
Holy crap… She's already spoken to the printing firm? For someone
who can't make plans, she's certainly proactive…
"They recommended this…" Isshiki pointed to one spot on the
pamphlet.
Beside her, Yukinoshita examined it. "Eight pages full color… That's
quite a bold move…" She pressed her temple as if she was starting to
get a headache.
Isshiki had on a shy smile. "Ohhh, well, that was what we decided on!
The conversation kinda just went in that direction!"
"What kind of conversation just 'goes in that direction'…?" I asked in
exasperation.
Isshiki puffed up her cheeks. "I meeean, when an adult tells you
something, you wind up going with it, right?"
"I get that. I understand where you're coming from…" Yuigahama
nodded along in emphatic agreement.
Kids these days… I hope no adults or older kids try to take
advantage of them.
"For the number of copies…well, we can just go off the budget… We
can secure space within the school, if need be, and they can be
recycled… It seems the risk of remaining inventory would not be a
concern." Meanwhile, Yukinoshita wasn't listening to either of them,
going over the materials at her own pace and muttering to herself.
Hmm, Discommunication Girl… I'm worried about you for other
reasons! Page | 124
After poring over the pamphlet, Yukinoshita looked up to push the
papers over to me. I took them and flipped through them as well.
They described the steps involved in a simple printing process.
"They'll handle the design and input the information for production…
So all we have to do is draft the content and rough design,"
Yukinoshita explained.
"Hmm. Seems like it won't be any different from the community
bulletin," I observed.
Basically, we'd be fine if we focused on getting the content done.
However, we still had to prearrange the photos and article text.
Prearrange is term that conveys a particularly excessive level of
pretension.
"Though it's quite a few more pages than what we did before…,"
Yukinoshita replied, grim resolve in her voice.
Yuigahama seemed peppier than usual. "But, like, we've got the
student council this time around, so if we all share the work, we can
figure it out, right?"
"Oh, you're mostly right…," I began, when I caught sight of Isshiki
quietly turning away with a sour look on her face.
"…"
"…Isshiki? Why are you so quiet?" Yukinoshita smiled brightly at her,
voice tender and gaze warm. But strangely, I sensed no warmth
there, and the sight made a shiver run down my spine.
Okay, that really skeeves me out…
It seemed Isshiki felt the same fear—no, she must have been even
more rattled, as she flailed in a panic. "Ah! Oh, n-no! Um…everyone's
a little busy right now with the end-of-year stuff, but once that's
done, I think there should be no problem…" Page | 125
"…In other words, you're saying we can't expect help this time."
Yukinoshita let out a weak sigh.
Isshiki's shoulders slumped apologetically. "No…"
"C-come on, guys, there's nothing we can do about that. If you don't
have enough help, maybe you could ask some friends to give you a
hand… Let's just…do whatever we gotta do!" Yuigahama said
encouragingly as she made a fist.
But when she says whatever we gotta, I think she more means just
"let's do whatever"…
Anyway, we could see the labor cost and quantity. We'd gotten a
grasp on the minimum number of personnel available. All that was
left was to learn the schedule. Figure out that part, and we could
decide if it was possible or not.
Isshiki had just told us the plan in rough and that it was within the
month, but we had to pound out a more detailed schedule.
"So when do you have to get it done, exactly?" I asked her.
"Soon, real soon." Isshiki pulled out the schedule sheet and tapped
it. "Right now, the budget will be perfect if we get the discount for
the early plan. For that to happen, we have to hand over this…input
info? Whatever. We need to give that to the printing company by
mid-February."
Oh-ho, an early-bird discount. They have those? If she's making it
with the remaining funds, then it should be no problem. And this looks
like it'll make it just perfectly by the accounting deadline, too—that
Irohasu knows how to manage her money! I thought, doing my best to
escape reality, but even so, I couldn't ignore one phrase that had stuck
with me.
When I was tilting my head thinking, Hmm? By mid-February? Isshiki
added in a quiet mutter, "…So in, like…two more weeks." Page | 126
"What? That's impossible. Two weeks is totally impossible," I
answered instantly, flailing my hands in refusal.
Opposite me, Yukinoshita nodded slowly. "That's not correct. If we
assume there will be an editorial check to confirm all content to be
published and apply for revisions, then we should assume we have
one week."
"Even less time?!" Yuigahama turned to Yukinoshita in shock.
"We're just talking about the best-case scenario if everything goes
well… We're already behind schedule from the get-go… We should
consider unforeseen situations and try to accelerate the process."
Yukinoshita went on with her logical and dispassionate explanation
until that point, but it seemed that once she'd said it herself, even
she understood it was unrealistic.
"…Of course, this is only if we were to accept this request," she
added, then glanced over as if to check with me. It seemed she
meant to cede the final judgment. It was apparent this would be a
bone-crunching schedule, but I couldn't say it was absolutely
impossible.
A week, huh…? Wait. Assuming we pause operations on Saturday and
Sunday, and today's date… I tried to count out the exact number of
days, but I just couldn't do the calculations right. Huhhh? Has Little
Hachiman always been this bad at math?
Well, the accurate numbers were in my head, but my heart would
not accept them.
"Hey, just tell me this—," I said. "How many more days left do we
have until the deadline…?"
"Um…" Yuigahama looked up at the ceiling with a vacant expression,
sticking up one, two fingers as she began to count. Then her
expression twisted up— Erk! Page | 127
Yukinoshita looked at us with eyes filled with grief. "…I think you will
feel more hopeful if you don't count."
"If you're saying that, then hope's already long gone…," I moaned.
When I was glance-glance-glancing over at Isshiki, suggesting this
would be a no-go, even her expression was grim.
"…So…we can't after all?" she muttered brokenly, her voice fragile as
if restraining sobs. Her eyes welled up, her breath hot. Her fists
clenched around her skirt trembled slightly. Her thin shoulders
twitched, and then slowly, timidly, her eyes gazed into mine. Each
and every one of those gestures was filled with fervent emotion,
making me want to do something for her.
But none of that! I'm already used to that sort of tearful persuasion
from my sister Komachi! If you grew up with her, you'd gain
immunity to it whether you liked it or not! And I'm used to accepting
her pleas without hesitation.
"So we just have to make it work over the next few days, huh…?" I
automatically replied in the same way as I normally did with
Komachi. This big brother nature of mine was the worst!
"Thanks sooo much!" Isshiki beamed at me.
Meanwhile, though, the girl beside her gave me an ice-cold look,
then blew out a deep sigh. "…You're always so soft."
"C-come on, now… That's one of Hikki's strong suits…and his
shortcomings," Yuigahama said. Just when I was thinking she'd
intervened for my sake, the uncomfortable smile on her face turned
into a frigid look.
Uh, I'm really sorry…for causing you trouble… I almost apologized to
both of them reflexively. But Isshiki had brought this on us in the first
place. It's not my fault. It's hers! I looked over to Isshiki to see her heaving a sigh of relief. Not that there was much on her chest to
heave.
"Ohhh, you guys are such a big help! I've been counting on it, you
know."
The admirable attitude evaporated, and she did a total 180, beaming
like she was smugly pleased with herself. Well, I kind of saw this
coming anyway. Whatever.
But if she's going to put on an act, I wish she'd keep up her coy
antics right to the end! Good grief, there are no hopes or dreams.