It was going to be difficult to make the deadline, but we somehow
had managed to set out a schedule. Our progress would affect costs,
but the budget was fine at the current stage.
However, we had not decided the most important part: what we
were doing.
"Well then, let's get this planning meeting staaarted!" Isshiki cried,
drawing out her words, and Yuigahama was the only one to offer
light applause. Though Isshiki took the lead at the start, a heartbeat
later, she was looking over at Yukinoshita as if to say, What should
we do?
With Isshiki's gaze on her, Yukinoshita put her hand to her chin
thoughtfully. "I would suppose we should begin by considering the
concept."
"Can't we just go with what Iroha-chan proposed?" asked
Yuigahama. "Like, featuring local spots and good restaurants."
"Oh, yes! I think that's a good idea! The best plan would be
something where we can use up the funds on 'research'!"
Although it seemed that Isshiki completely agreed with Yuigahama's
opinion, I got the impression she had ulterior motives…
Yukinoshita gave a little shake of her head. "If we had spare time,
that would be enough, but given the situation, it will be hard to fill
eight pages. We have to think of other articles, too."
"Is there anything else you want to do?" Yuigahama asked Isshiki.
Isshiki folded her arms, flopping her head from side to side. After a
full few minutes of moaning, she muttered, "…Not really."
Yukinoshita's shoulders slumped, while Yuigahama pulled a strained
smile. What else did you expect them to do?
Beginning with a concept, as Yukinoshita suggested, was very much
the standard mode of attack. A concept should have led us to
conclude that we needed to publish a free magazine. These were the
logical steps to make something. However, for Isshiki, the publication
was the goal, and the concept was an afterthought.
Right now, we needed to figure out what the readers would gain
from the final output, not about what we wanted to communicate as
the creators.
"If we don't know where to start, wouldn't it be faster to calculate
backward from the goal?" I suggested.
"Excuse me?" I must not have articulated this well, as Isshiki tilted
her head at an angle, looking at me with narrowed eyes.
This girl is so aggravating… I'm trying to help you out here, you
know…
Even if I wasn't getting across to Isshiki, it seemed Yukinoshita had
picked up on my intentions. "By goal, you mean the readers?"
"Yeah. I mean we should target our audience and make something
they want to read." Page | 130
"The readers… We're just handing these out at school, right?"
Yuigahama asked, and Isshiki nodded.
Well, I didn't know how it would work out down the road, but for
now, it should be reasonable to have a prerelease version or launch
version or whatever be disseminated within the school.
Our target audience was starting to vaguely come together, so I
narrowed it down further. "And it's gonna be released in March,
right? The third-years will be graduating. So our main targets will be
current first- and second-years."
"Depending on how often we put out issues, the new students might
also be included in our target audience," added Yukinoshita.
"Ohhh, I seem to remember the incoming class is usually eager for
this type of thing!" said Yuigahama.
"That's true—new students would pick it up out of curiosity," Isshiki
agreed.
All three of their opinions were converging in the same direction.
Meaning our main readership had been decided.
Having narrowed down our audience, we'd just have to plan with
that in mind while adjusting our goals to meet these expectations.
Yukinoshita paused her note-taking, looking over what she'd written.
"If our target is going to be incoming students, the issue can revolve
around introducing our school with one segment to feature local
spots… It just might work."
"It's admittedly generic, but it's a safe choice for a first issue," I said.
"Slap on the appropriate title to tie it all together, and it should look
pretty legit. Something like A Guidebook for Your New Life."
"Ohhh, sounds legit…" Yuigahama was impressed. Page | 131
Isshiki seemed satisfied, too, clapping her hands in agreement. "I like
that! So then what do we do to introduce the school?" She looked
between me and Yukinoshita with expectation.
But Yukinoshita just shot her a dull look, implying that she needed to
think for herself.
Ohhh, brutal…
Isshiki faltered under Yukinoshita's cold gaze, and she gave little
glances over at the other girl. "It could…promote the clubs or
something, I guess? …I guess?" Isshiki seemed to shrink in size,
squeezing her hands against her chest.
On the other hand, Yukinoshita listened without a word, nonverbally
asking if she really thought that was adequate.
And then there was Yuigahama, watching the exchange with an
anxious expression.
A momentary silence dominated the clubroom. The tension
rendered Isshiki speechless and a little choked up from tears.
Stop iiit! I can't watch this! Give her the right answer—stat!
I don't know if my wishes got through, but a smile finally broke on
Yukinoshita's face. "…Well, I suppose that's fine." Sweeping her hair
off her shoulders, she nodded.
Beside her, Isshiki let out a sigh of relief. "Then it's settled.
Okeydoke, then we're introducing clubs. Clubs, hmm? Clubs…"
Nodding like all was fine and dandy, Yuigahama started scribbling the
names of a bunch of clubs.
Yukinoshita popped over to take a peek at her notes. "Even just this
should be enough. I think we can fill two pages."
"I wish it could take up another page," I said. Page | 132
Eight pages didn't seem like much, except it was. The reader took no
notice of it, but trying to fill all of them took time. When we worked
on one page in the community magazine, we'd struggled. A lot.
"Yes…," Yukinoshita agreed. "It may be a good idea to select a club
for a feature article to keep with the general theme."
"The tennis club!" I called out.
"The soccer club!" Isshiki responded at just about the same instant.
We glared at each other.
"It's got to be the tennis club! Everyone wants to join." Look,
everyone reads Prince of Tennis, and I get this feeling the sport is
more popular lately.
But Isshiki wasn't backing down from her side, either. "It's clearly got
to be the soccer club. That's what everyone wants to see: Hayama,"
she preached with sincerity.
O-okay… Name dropping Hayama weakened my argument… It was
true that his photo would earn the free magazine a good reception. I
knew Minami Sagami would gleefully steal multiple copies. And then
Miura would wait for when nobody was around and sneakily take
just one. Oh, but if Totsuka's photo were in it, I'm sure everyone
would— Wait no, I take that back. I want to keep that just for me!
As I was moaning and battling this dilemma in my heart, Yuigahama
looked a bit uncomfortable with the idea. "Hmm. If just one club got
preferential treatment, people might complain…"
"Ahhh, yeah, some people might not be happy about that," I agreed.
Just the sort of thoughtfulness I'd expect from you, Yuigahama. Nice
thinkingahama.
Even if we didn't intent to, we didn't know how others would take it.
If we wanted to avoid unnecessary quarrels, it would be easier to
take the safe route to use the same template for everyone. Page | 133
It seemed Isshiki had a different opinion. She knit her eyebrows and
bent her mouth in an upside-down V, making her displeasure clear.
"Whaaat? Can't you just ignore the haters?"
Ohhh, she's hard-hearted… But Isshiki was right. Someone was
bound to complain, no matter what we did.
With a short sigh, Yukinoshita turned back to Isshiki. "We can't do
that. This is an official publication by the student council. It would be
best to have a measure of consideration… Since the one who will
field these complaints is you." Though her words were cold, the way
she said them expressed gentle concern for Isshiki.
"…I mean, that's true."
It seemed Isshiki picked up that Yukinoshita was saying this out of
consideration for her. Isshiki reluctantly nodded. Though it wasn't so
easy to tell, Yukinoshita was doing her best to be supportive of her
juniors.
The other good upperclassman, Yuigahama, chirped, "Oh, so, like,
Hayato is the chairman of the captains' association. What if the
feature was on the club captains?"
Isshiki whipped up her face, and she flashed a big smile. "That's a
great idea! I'll interview him!"
"All right, then let's fill a page with that interview article," suggested
Yukinoshita.
Now that we had a plan, we just had to take that down to the
specifics.
On the list of clubs, Yukinoshita wrote down items like name, then
photo and comments and other things we wanted to request of
them, and put it all together.
Attentively watching her take notes, Isshiki suddenly commented,
"What about the Service Club?" Page | 134
Yukinoshita and Yuigahama raised their heads and exchanged a look.
Whether they were checking with each other or just confused, there
was a moment of silence.
I ended it. "We don't have to put in this club."
"Why not?" Isshiki asked with a tilt of her head.
"Why not? I mean…" Her gaze was so direct, I found myself not
knowing how to respond. To overcompensate for going quiet, I
forced myself to say something I didn't really mean.
"It's kind of embarrassing to write about ourselves…"
Yuigahama nodded. "Urk, that's true…"
"I mean, nobody knows about this club anyway, so no one's exactly
looking to read about it," I continued.
Yukinoshita put her hand to her chin. "Hmm, it's not as if we're
actively recruiting, either…"
"Right? And besides, if we can reduce our workload by even one
thing, we can focus on editing."
Even as I said that, I knew my real reason was different.
It was simply that I didn't know what to write. How could I explain
this club or define it? I still didn't know the answer.
I was ready to make some more excuses, but Isshiki's sigh cut me off.
"…Well, if that's your rationale, then I guess that's that."
It seemed I'd won her over. Isshiki cracked open her notebook and
flipped through it, before turning back to Yukinoshita and
Yuigahama. "Is this basically okay, content-wise?"
"Yes. And then about the locations to be featured…," Yukinoshita
started. Isshiki pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Ohhh, I've already looked
into that! These are my photos of the places!"
"Ohhh, I wanna see!" Yuigahama peered over. Naturally, Yukinoshita,
sandwiched between them, also looked at Isshiki's phone, though
she seemed cramped.
Isshiki's finger swiped across the screen. With each swipe, I heard
girlish remarks like "Cute!" or "Nice" or "Could you show me that
photo just one more time? Yes, the one with the cat merch."
Sitting in my chair away from them, I listened to the excited chatter
as I zoned out on my own phone.
And then suddenly, their conversation stopped.
Curious, I glanced over at them, and Isshiki had this Uh-oh look on
her face. Yuigahama and Yukinoshita were shooting daggers in my
direction.
"Uh, what…?" I asked.
"Ah, um, well, like, I—I was just thinking I'd like to go, too…"
Yuigahama laughed, while Yukinoshita beamed at me.
"…You look like you're enjoying yourself in that photo."
Are you guys cold in here? Brr! It's freezing! I hope they fix the
heater soon…