AN: Ages ago, AD 2013 to be precise, I challenged you to recognize an obscure biblical reference in 30 Shekels. This was accomplished by Arietti/Romanica who won herself a drabble request. Her original prompt went like this:
I would love to see a story with Natsuki as the school president and Shizuru the "delinquent". Please don't put in a fake crying, overly teasing Shizuru, a crazy, stupid and word-abusing Hakura, homosexual Mai, Nao calling Natsuki mutt all the time, playgirl/slutty Natsuki, and unsatisfied ending.
I must admit, it took longer than it should and I'm not sure how much this short story fulfils the prompt but here it is.
Fujino Shizuru, class 2-1, please report to the student council room.
Shizuru straightened her jacket and rounded the corner. Hearing the announcement over the school PA system, students stepped to the sides to clear her way. Smirking, the girl thought she was moving through them faster than Moses through the Red Sea.
Fujino Shizuru, class 2-1, please report to the student council room.
Double call. This looked positively serious. Shizuru popped her chewing gum and went through the last two days, trying to find the possible reason for this commotion.
Fujino Shizuru, class 2-1, please report~~
"Heard you the first time."
Cursing under her breath, the second-grader slowed down. Whatever they wanted, it could wait. She didn't like being ordered to do things at someone else's pace.
Shizuru applied brakes on her roller skates and stopped in the middle of the hallway. She gathered her honey-coloured hair in a ponytail and popped another balloon, waiting for the PA system to go off again.
Final notice. Fujino Shizuru, class 2-1, please report to the student council room immediately.
This smelt like a detention. At least one week, though a fortnight sounded more like it. Shizuru wondered how long she would need to talk her way out of it this time. Her track record was six minutes and twenty-seven seconds against that Toothpaste Boy, Vice President. She could probably break it today, if she upped her chances a little bit.
With this thought in mind, Shizuru shrugged her leather jacket off and threw it to a random girl in the crowd knowing that it'll be back to her before the day was over. She undid one more button of her shirt and lightly bit on her lips to bring a bit more colour to them.
Ready to face the music or rather change its tune to her own liking, Shizuru leisurely rode into the student council room.
The moment she passed the doorstep, almost all of the room occupants excused themselves and filed out.
Shizuru was left face to face with none other than the student council president, Kuga Natsuki. The chance of escaping whatever was in store for her shrunk to zero.
Fuuka Academy might not have been a school with the longest tradition but certain commonly appreciated traits were highly valued there as well and Kuga was nothing if not the embodiment of them all. Ever since she transferred there in the last grade of junior high, she excelled in academics and sports. She was an active volunteer for one of the local charities and even started a volunteer group in the Academy. According to her peers, she was everything one would strive to be: beautiful, smart, athletic, kind and above all: determined.
This was the simple truth: what Kuga Natsuki wanted, Kuga Natsuki got.
So if she wanted to impose any kind of punishment on an insubordinate student like Shizuru, no amount of sweet words and excuses would stop her from doing just that.
"Please, take a seat." Natsuki pointed to the chair standing in front of her desk and propped herself on the said desk. When Shizuru complied, the president frowned. "Your skates."
"What about them?"
"I believe they are not an appropriate part of this school's uniform. Would you mind removing them?"
"Make me." Kuga might get what she wanted but Shizuru would not give her that without a fight.
Natsuki had one quirk, often criticised by the more conservative teachers, that she would never give up on. Instead the regular girl uniform, she insisted on wearing a gakuran and eventually managed to convince the principal to sanction it as part of her student council president's privileges.
And now, with Shizuru refusing to cooperate, Natsuki undid buttons on her gakuran jacket, shrugged it off and put aside. Rolling up the sleeves of her pristine white shirt, she stood directly in front of Shizuru.
"What are you doing?"
Without a word, Natsuki knelt down and started undoing the laces in Shizuru's skates.
The blonde girl found this whole situation unnerving, yet she decided the wisest choice for now would be to follow the kaichou's lead. She watched as Natsuki took off her boots, tied the laces together and set them by the door.
"You can collect them on your way out." The black-haired president resumed her previous position by the desk. "Now, Fujino-san, do you know why you were summoned?"
"Haa… Because Natsuki-chan needed some entertaining company?" asked innocently Shizuru.
If not for the slight twitch of her lips corners one might have thought that Natsuki didn't hear that.
"You're treading over thin ice here, Fujino-san. Especially given the reason for your trouble." Before the blonde could ask anything, the president raised her hand. "I can assure you this is much more serious than your usual truancy and forgotten homework."
"Oh really?" Feigning disinterest, Shizuru popped the bubble gum. "What could that be?" And then added, just to irk the ever proper kaichou: "I don't remember doing drugs or public sex lately."
To her delight, Natsuki did blush a little, embarrassment colouring her cheeks on a par with indignation.
"As a matter of fact," started Natsuki after taking a deep breath, "You were seen leaving a hotel with an older man, most probably a foreigner."
Shizuru's face went blank.
"And you did that while wearing your uniform." Natsuki caught and held Shizuru's gaze. "I think you understand that this action can bring serious harm to the Academy repute."
Reflexively fastening the buttons on her shirt, the second-grader got to her feet.
"I may not be as prim and proper as you, kaichou, but sure as hell I don't do enkou!" Shizuru crossed her arms on her chest. "Cause that's what I'm being accused here of, right? Compensated dating."
"No one's accusing you of anything, Fujino-san." Natsuki shook her head and reached out to touch Shizuru's arm but quickly retracted her hand. "Not until we can better investigate this matter. For now though, the school board decided it would be in everyone's best interest to keep you in after-school detention."
"Punished for nothing. That's grand!" With a huff, Shizuru plopped back down on the chair and crossed her legs. She looked away and kept mumbling under her nose, words that were not exactly publishable.
"Will you let me finish?!" Natsuki barely raised her voice yet the timbre of it sent shivers down Shizuru's spine. After a last few more complaints, the blonde eventually quieted. "Thank you. What I mean to say is that I have checked your records. Other than your utter negligence of duties and disrespect of authorities there's not much to complain about. The papers you do decide to turn in are all of good quality so I gather you are a smart person."
"Maybe." Against herself, Shizuru felt a bit flattered. "So what?"
"Let's say I don't believe anyone would profit from your spending time in a regular detention. I want to offer you a deal." Natsuki reached behind and produced a clipboard with something that looked like a written agreement. "In short, you'd help student council with preparations of the Christmas Fair. No set hours or duties, I'd just call for you whenever you're needed." She passed the clipboard to Shizuru. "Sign at the end and you will start tomorrow."
Shizuru started to read the three-pages worth of the deal conditions when someone knocked. Moments later, the door opened and in burst two girls in more or less complete uniforms, with skates on their feet.
"What's taking you so long, Shizuru?" Quiet coughing warned the newcomers to another presence in the room. "Hello, kaichou! I guess that means Shizuru won't be free anytime soon?" Haruka started retreating, trying to look as if she and Yukino were walking, not skating in the school halls.
"Actually," started Natsuki with a crooked smile, "she's free to go as soon as she signs this."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Haruka grabbed a pen from Yukino's pocket and pushed into the blonde's hand. "Already forgot about that new café opening today?"
Shizuru knew that signing anything without reading it was wrong. Especially small print and this agreement looked nothing but small print details. On the other hand, it couldn't be worse than a regular detention, could it?
With Haruka much too loudly planning on what she would have in the café, Shizuru gave up on even trying to read and went straight to the last page where she wrote her full name.
"See you, Natsuki-chan!" Pushing the clipboard back into the president's hands, the second-grader turned to go.
She was already on the way out with the skates in her hand when a low voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Fujino-san." Natsuki turned the agreement to the last page. "I'm not sure if you read that far but the clause 23 says that for the duration of your punishment you shall treat me as your older sister and address accordingly."
Swallowing yet another unparliamentary word, Shizuru forced a smile and bowed to the kaichou.
"Good day to you, Natsuki-nee-san."
=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=
November chill discouraged most of the students from spending their lunch break in the school yard. They all crowded in the cafeteria, making the place too noisy and stuffy for Shizuru and her sidekicks.
As it was, the delinquent trio was currently occupying the picnic table by the great oak. They pooled all their snacks together and munched on them lazily.
"So how's it going with your detention?" asked Haruka, snatching the last piece of dark chocolate from the wrapping.
"Cool. Could be worse, I mean."
"How come?"
"She won't keep me there whole afternoons." Shizuru popped a can of green tea open. "Mostly just asks me to make gazillion copies of some long-ass documents and then make sure every club's representative comes by to collect their copy."
"So boring!"
"You tell me." Shizuru turned sideways on the bench and pulled her legs up, wrapping one arm around them. "And I'm stuck with her till they clear me on the whole enkou business. Tsk."
"Truth time. Did you or didn't you...?"
The honey-haired second-grader cringed at the thought.
"It's not my thing. I mean, if I needed some money then maybe, probably. But now?" Shizuru shrugged and sloshed her drink inside the can. "Got all I need. Wouldn't waste my time with some creepy guys for a couple yens. I wonder where they got that idea from." Struck by a sudden thought, the girl put her can away. "Unless…"
"You thinking who I'm thinking?"
Before Shizuru could either confirm or deny, Yukino, whose presence until now was almost forgotten, warned in a quiet whisper:
"She's heading our way."
Shizuru combed her fringe with her fingers and waited for the kaichou to come within earshot.
"Speak of the devil." She smirked, pretending to change the subject. In a mockingly polite tone, she asked: "Are you in need of my services, onee-chan?"
Natsuki let out a restricted chuckle.
"As a matter of fact, I do." She eyed the bags and packets strewn on the table. "If you are finished with your… lunch, Fujino-san?"
"Not really but let's just get this over with."
"As you wish." Mirroring second-grader's curt tone, Natsuki laid out her case in a few sentences. "The student council found a new sponsor for the Christmas Fair but they need as close estimates on how much is needed and what it'll be spent on as possible. Several of the clubs are outside the school grounds at the moment and we need their answer ASAP."
"Call them?" Completely disinterested, Shizuru turned her attention back to her tea can.
"Well, I must admit that it is one of the few occasions when the 'no phones at school and during school activities' rule seems… pointless." Unmistakable sound of a cell phone being closed shut came from Yukino's direction. Natsuki acknowledged it with a twitch of her eyebrows yet decided to say nothing. "And before you say that, traffic at this hour would make taking any kind of transportation a waste of time."
"Then what do you suggest?" Shizuru took a long sip of her tea and followed Natsuki's pointed gaze. "Skates? Ha! So suddenly they're not only allowed but actually needed."
Apparently ignoring the statement, the kaichou unfolded a piece of paper she took out of her pocket and checked its contents.
"Hmmm… You may not be able to come back before the lunch break's over…" Natsuki seemed to know which of Shizuru's buttons push. "Feel free to miss some of the afternoon classes, if necessary. I will excuse you later."
"Show me that." Shizuru plucked the paper from Natsuki's hand. "Wanna make a bet?" She snickered. "Or rather not, there might be something about gambling in the school's regulations after all." Finishing off her tea, the girl retied her skates. "Watch me."
When she rode out of sight, Natsuki sighed with relief and turned her attention to the remaining two students.
"I know she can make it, just wanted to give her some incentive." She noticed an unopened bag of mayo chips among the snacks on the table and grabbed it after some consideration. "I need to confiscate this under some obscure rule you never heard about. Are you okay with that?" As the two second-graders nodded hesitantly, she reached into her pocket and produced three meal stamps for the school cafeteria. "Go get yourself some real food."
=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=
The student council room was filled with only a quiet scratching of pens.
Sticking just the very tip of her tongue out, Shizuru was slowly filling the forms given to her by the kaichou. As unexciting and boring as this chore was, it was a welcome change from copying and distributing the memos among the various school clubs. And - unexpectedly - the brunette's handwriting garnered her a lot of praise for being elegant and neat, as well as better than the kaichou's.
Which was actually no real achievement because Natsuki, for all her skills and virtues, had a terribly messy penmanship.
So focused was Shizuru on her task that she didn't immediately notice when Natsuki came to the student council room. Eventually though she felt someone's presence over her desk and looked up. And regretted doing that faster than she could spell her name.
The kaichou might have looked her usual cool and collected self but there was something in her face and posture that just screamed rage. Scrunching some paper in her hand, Natsuki opened her mouth but didn't say anything. After a few more wordless attempts, she just shook her head.
"Come to my desk when you are done, please." Natsuki's quiet and polite tone almost froze blood in Shizuru's veins. "But take your time, no rush."
"Oh-okay, nee… onee-san." Bowing down over her work, Shizuru watched Natsuki with the corner of her eye. The older girl shrugged off her jacket and sat down to work, barely noticeable frown never leaving her face.
One by one, everyone finished their tasks and went home, leaving Shizuru and Natsuki alone.
'Oh, for crying out loud!' Mentally berated herself Shizuru. 'Just be done with it already.' She hurriedly stacked up all the paperwork and stomped to the kaichou's desk.
With each step though she kept losing her resolve and instead slapping the papers on the desk as intended, she put them down carefully.
Natsuki didn't say a word, seemingly deep in her thoughts.
"See you Monday, nee-chan!" Hoping that the silence meant she was off the hook, Shizuru turned back. She didn't get far before kaichou's quiet voice reached her ears.
"Not Monday. I will see you tomorrow."
Shizuru turned on the spot and in two steps was back by the desk.
"Tomorrow's Saturday! If you think I'm going to waste my free time…" In the face of Natsuki's superficially calm demeanour, the second-grader faltered. "What?"
"Do you remember why you are here, Fujino-san?"
"For that fake~"
"True or false, you are still under scrutiny." Natsuki didn't even let her finish. "But seeing that you are back to that questionable behaviour, maybe you have too much time on your hands."
"I'm not back at anything!"
"Will. You. Stop. Interrupting?" Low, clipped words made Shizuru promptly close her mouth and drop on the chair. "Thank you. As I was saying, you will report tomorrow. I'll keep you busy so you won't have time for any more stupid behaviour."
=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=
"She's into you."
"Shut your pie hole."
Still irked from her earlier conversation with the kaichou, Shizuru was in no mood for her friends' teasings, even as they were having a nice evening in the café by the station.
"No, I'm serious." Haruka had nothing of it. "Word is she's been kicked out of her old school for making out with some chick after class."
"The prim and proper Virgin Kaichou?"
"That's what they're saying." Yukino nodded, confirming Haruka's revelation.
"And now she wants to get into your pants."
"Well…" Shizuru chewed on her cake fork. "I must admit, she is kinda hot but…"
"Right?!" Haruka almost jumped in her seat. "I'd do her myself. If I wasn't straight as a gummy worm, that is."
Yukino snickered quietly.
"Gummy worms aren't… exactly…. Straight, Haruka." She couldn't contain giggle any longer.
"They're not?" The blonde squinted in uncertainty, light blush colouring her cheeks. When the only answer she got was more giggle, coming from both of her friends, she growled and shook her head. "It's not about me. I'm telling you, Shi-chan, she's into you."
Shizuru shrugged, finishing her strawberry cake.
"So what? It's not like she'll just jump me in the hallway and risk another expulsion."
"I'm just saying, Shi-chan. Just saying…"
Unexpectedly, Yukino broke into giggle again.
"Straight as a… gummy worm!"
=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=
They laughed and joked about it but some uneasy thought kept pestering Shizuru as she walked through quiet school hallways on the Saturday morning. With no students milling around, the place was strangely eerie. She peeked into the student council room but it was empty. Only Natsuki's bag laid thrown haphazardly on her desk. Shizuru was about to leave and ditch the whole Saturday detention thing when she caught voices drifting down the hallway.
"How will it be, Kuga-kun?" At the far end, the door to the Vice Principal's office were cracked open and his booming voice echoed near triumphantly through empty hallways. "Are you ready to give up yet?"
Shizuru couldn't hear Natsuki's answer so slowly and quietly she crept closer to the room.
"I have told you before and I will repeat it now: it's a hopeless cause." The burly man sounded like he enjoyed this bashing more than he should. And Natsuki?
Shizuru chanced a quick glimpse through the cracked door.
Natsuki was sitting in a chair, at the first glance calm and collected. But Shizuru knew what to look for. She quickly noticed pale hands, curled in tight fists but resting steadily on her lap. Her voice was still too low for the second-grader to hear.
"And you'd still bet your future on that?" There was a tell-tale tremble in the kaichou's shoulders. "If you give up on her now, I will let you off with just a written reprimand in your papers."
"With all due respect, sir, Fujino-san is not a hopeless cause."
Shizuru's eyes widened and she pressed flat against the wall to catch every word, spoken in immutably polite but determined tone. "So I would like to stick to our original agreement."
Natsuki made some kind of deal that concerned her. Apparently there was something on the stake for the kaichou as well but what was the nature of this deal?
"Of course," the Vice Principal scoffed. "A dyke defending one of their own."
"Fujino-san is not~"
He didn't let her finish.
"I do not care if you've already turned her to your vile ways or if you plan to still do that but I will not tolerate such an abomination in the Academy!"
Shizuru swallowed a gasp and forced herself to stay quiet so she wouldn't give away her presence. Haruka was right…
"So unless you prove you can fix her attitude - and hopefully your own in the process - I will not hesitate to kick you out and with a negative reference."
She didn't wait for Natsuki's answer. Didn't have to. For some reason she felt more disappointed than angry, learning that to Natsuki she was just a broken thing, needing to be fixed. Disappointed and betrayed.
Shizuru darted away from the office and out of the school building.
=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=
Some half hour later, Shizuru found herself back by the student council room. If they thought her broken, she would prove them wrong. She would prove that not meeting their expectations was her own choice and not a result of lacking some ability. She would serve her dues even more diligently than the kaichou herself ever would.
"Gokigenyou, onee-sama," greeted Shizuru, vigorously pushing the door open. Yes, she was overdoing it by heaps but that exactly was the point.
Point that apparently flew right over Natsuki's head, rested on her arms crossed atop the desk. The girl didn't move nor acknowledge the greeting in any way.
"Hello, Nat-chan! Missed me?"
This elicited no more of a response than the earlier attempt.
Leaving her bag on a desk, Shizuru stepped closer and tentatively touched the kaichou's shoulder.
"Natsuki?"
The black-haired girl looked up with a startle. Her eyes were rimmed with red as if she had been crying.
"Fujino-san! You're late." She obviously tried to sound stern but her eyes were bright with a restrained smile. "We've got loads of work to do."
Natsuki reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a stack of paperwork, at the same time trying to inconspicuously drop a photo inside. This didn't slip Shizuru's attention.
"Is that your girlfriend?" She nodded at the drawer.
Natsuki followed her gaze and then looked away, her body tensing defensively.
"And if it is?" Her voice was quiet but hurt. "Doesn't whole school already know that I like girls?"
Shizuru paused, searching for words. She didn't mean to attack the other girl.
"Oh…"
"Well, that's a nice way to put it." Natsuki rounded the desk and stood right in front of Shizuru, arms crossed on her chest. "Makes me doubt whether you actually heard me. I am a big bad demoralising lesbian." Her voice carried a frustrated tremble.
"Does that mean you'd want to kiss me?"
Shizuru instinctively fell back to her usual defiant, teasing self.
Taken aback, Natsuki shook her head.
"Hell, no! I'm a lesbian but that doesn't mean I want to fuck everything that moves and got a pair of boobies."
"Pfew, that's good." Shizuru smirked, theatrically fanning herself with one hand. "Cause that would have to include Kojiro-kun from 2-3."
"What~?" Natsuki took half a step back and blinked hard. In her mind, she tried to picture the mentioned student. Soon enough she realized that Shizuru referred to the heavily overweight boy who could be described as possessing man-boobs. Involuntarily, the kaichou shuddered.
"No. God, no! Make me unimagine that. Please, no, that's gross."
Shizuru could only giggle at her reaction and the giggle soon turned into an open laughter. Still huffing and grumbling under her breath, Natsuki found herself joining in the merriment. This was the best retort to her coming out she ever heard.
As their laughter slowly wound down, the kaichou found tension draining away from her and she reached into the drawer.
"We're friends now." She smiled at the photo and passed it to Shizuru. "And the rumours are way overdone: no one was expelled. Our parents decided it was best for both of us to keep us separated. That's all."
The second-grader only smiled and nodded, some earlier doubts creeping back upon her. She chewed on them while Natsuki stacked and sorted the paperwork needing to be done.
"Was I just a charity project?" The quiet, uncertain words left Shizuru's lips almost without her knowing.
Natsuki looked up at her, confused.
"I overheard your talking with the principal." The girl shook herself out and went on with more confidence. "Not that I care or anything, of course, but he said you intended to fix me. What am I to you? A broken appliance? A sad puppy that needs saving?"
Through her angry tears, Shizuru saw Natsuki shaking her head.
"Neither." The kaichou smiled softly and encouragingly. "You are smart, just needed a little push. True, Ogawa-sensei decided to call it by a different name and add a little incentive to it as well but…"
Natsuki shrugged and left the thought hanging.
"But why would he expel you for my misdemeanour? Or for failing to… correct me?"
"I guess you don't know the whole story, huh?" Natsuki picked up a pile of papers and motioned for Shizuru to follow her out to the hallway. "Ogawa-sensei was furious when he learned about your actions. He demanded for you to be expelled immediately. No detention, no suspension - just an outright kick out." She paused, looked into the classroom they were passing and scribbled some note. "His dislike for me is no secret either, I don't fit his image of a proper kaichou. So when I stood up for you, he saw it as an opportunity to get rid of two troublemakers at once, I guess."
Shizuru scoffed openly.
"Why would you even do that? Sure you don't want to fuck me?"
"Contrary to what you may think, Fujino-san, you are not everyone's wet dream." Snickering at Shizuru's dumbfounded expression, Natsuki moved to the next classroom. "But no one deserves a punishment before a trial and all we had was a witness statement. Somehow we landed at the agreement you know." The kaichou focused on her paperwork, obviously to not look at the second-grader. "Now it looks like we will both be gone after the Christmas fair. It's almost year's end but I don't think he'll let us finish it here…"
Shizuru stomped her feet, crossing arms over her chest and huffing.
"Kuga Natsuki, you are officially the dumbest older sister I've ever had!"
"If you're trying to get expelled early~"
"No one's getting expelled!" Shizuru didn't even let her finish, clearly exasperated. "This guy I'm supposedly seeing for money - you said he's a foreigner right?" She let out a long sigh and continued in a calmer manner. "He's my cousin."
"Your co-cousin?"
"Yeah, he's half-American." Shizuru looked at her feet. "He's a writer working on his new book and wanted some" here she made air quotes "authentic experience. I was just touring him around."
Natsuki pinched the bridge of her nose, vein starting to pulse in her temple.
"And why, pray tell, you have never mentioned this before?"
"You never asked," stated resolutely Shizuru, grinning wide.
"I've never asked." Natsuki scoffed and shook her head, resuming her classrooms inspection. "Of course. It's that simple." Barely able to contain unexpected amusement at the explanation, she looked at Shizuru over her shoulder. "I suspect you wouldn't happen to have such a simple solution to this whole conundrum as well, would you?"
After a long moment of intense silence, just as Natsuki was about to turn away, the second-grader smiled impishly and moved to hook her hand by the kaichou's elbow.
"As a matter of fact, I may have one, o-nee-chan~!" The little sing-songish way in which she claimed that caused a chill to run down Natsuki's spine as she was being pulled forward. Do me a favour and I may just have one."
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Welcome to Fuuka Academy Christmas Fair! Please sign in at~
The school grounds were teeming with students, their friends and families, neighbours drawn by the sounds of festivities, and a handful of invited guests whose generosity helped fund the whole endeavour. Despite that, the foot traffic under strings of Christmas lights and evergreen garlands went smoothly and without much holdup even in the most crowded areas.
~ticket and your personal ID. Thank you for your cooperation for the safety of our students!
There was only one exception to that though not, as one might suspect, by the entrance to the campus. Rather, it kept slowly moving toward the main building and the Vice Principal's office, in the accompaniment of gasps and squeals, mixed with murmurs of astonishment.
"Is that…?"
"No… Impossible."
"... who else?"
"But have you ever seen…?"
~along the courtyard and the alleyways. Now for the presentations schedule…
The middle-aged man who found himself in the middle of this commotion couldn't follow the PA announcements, and not due to his only rudimentary command of Japanese. Rather, he was distracted by the level of attention his presence attracted. True, he was a somewhat accomplished writer, at least within the tight boundaries of his niche genre. But to think he'd be recognized abroad and by such a number of high schoolers… it was certainly beyond his wildest dreams.
As it was, it would crush him were he to realize that not one person recognised him or even really noticed his presence. No, what got that small crowd so excited was the sight so unimaginable that only a few of them would conjure it up in their most daring fantasies.
"May I be dead! Kuga-kaichou in a skirt!"
After that, the drama club will present their take on the well-loved classic Cinderella, guest starring Ogasawara-san from the Lillian Academy.
"Don't worry, onee-chan." Squeezing through the throng of students along with her writer cousin and Natsuki, Shizuru gave the kaichou's back a reassuring pat. "You are looking great."
"Oh, I do know that but thank you all the same."
Apparently, that wasn't what was bothering Natsuki even though the tension in her lithe body was plainly visible. Unless it was only obvious to Shizuru because during the few weeks of her detention she have learned to read beyond the kaichou's usual cool and collected demeanour.
"I would really appreciate it though if people stopped ogling me and let us pass." She was growing increasingly irritated as there was absolutely no reason for anyone to make such a fuss over her wearing a regulatory uniform. Had she known it would result in this, she would never have agreed to Shizuru's 'favour'. Why would someone consider her dressing up as one, kept eluding her as well.
Shizuru's gaze quickly slipped down the kaichou's figure and then slowly travelled back up. The second-grader's lips curled in a satisfied smile.
"But it is definitely a sight worth ogling, onee-san." She could barely contain the giggle at Natsuki's indignant glare.
"Then I suggest you take a photo because it's not happening again. Ever." She didn't even finish the sentence and already a couple phone cameras snapped all around her. Natsuki turned to find its owners. "I didn't mean~"
"What's this whole commotion about?" Vice Principal Ogawa's office door opened suddenly and the man himself emerged, glowering at the rowdy students until his eyes fell on the only person in the group not wearing the Academy uniform. "S-smith-sensei?!"
All chatter died in a split second at the surprisingly excited and high-pitched tone of the Vice Principal's voice. If they didn't know any better, the assembled students could have thought he recognized the kaichou's tagalong as someone famous and was unashamedly fangirling over him. In an instance, the man noticed his blunder and cleared his throat, regaining composure. Offering his hand to Shizuru's cousin, he greeted him again.
"Welcome to the Fuuka Academy, Smith-sensei." He motioned for the students to disperse and ushered Smith to his office. "What brings such an accomplished writer to my humble school?"
Tickled pink and living his fantasy even more than before, Shizuru's cousin cordially shook Ogawa's hand and eagerly accepted his invitation. As he went on explaining the reason for his visit, Natsuki sidled up to Shizuru.
"Could you remind me again, what sort of books does your cousin write?" She was speaking in a hushed tone and her eyes never left the two men in the Vice Principal's office.
"Young adult Scandinavian noir inspired cozy mysteries," replied Shizuru, her eyes glued to the office door till it closed completely, "with a culinary romance, from time to time." She finally turned to look at the kaichou, both of them wearing equally incredulous looks.
"What does that… even…" Hard as she may tried, Natsuki couldn't help snorting with laughter and in no time both girls were doubling in a fit of giggles, trying to make their way to the student council room. Only there did they collapse breathlessly, bursting into merriness a few more times before they finally calmed down.
"I guess this marks the end of your detention, Fujino-san." Natsuki swiped at a stray tear and propped herself against a desk. Once again, she was the prim and proper kaichou though she could not hide a trace of sadness from her voice.
Shizuru looked at her in thought, weighing her next words carefully.
"I guess it does," she agreed rather nonchalantly, pulling herself up to sit on the desk. Then she added, still in that same flippant tone, "I mean, I could still stop by sometime. To help out and all, since you obviously need my help... nee-san?"
"Yes. I'd like that very much, yes." Natsuki didn't let the unfinished question hang in the air for too long. Maybe she replied a bit too eagerly but at the moment she didn't care. "No more skirts though."
"Mou…" Shizuru pouted and kicked her legs, allowing herself another ogling moment. "What if I taught you how to ride skates?"
Natsuki shook her head with a chuckle but before she could reply, the school PA system boomed with a new announcement.
Student council president Kuga Natsuki and Fujino Shizuru, class 2-1, please report to the Vice Principal's office immediately.
AN2 or trivia time:
- my first idea was to make Shiz a ganguro with some tragic backstory, of course it'd have to include a scene with Natsuki cleaning all that makeup for her (which'd be cool!) but at the time I didn't feel like writing any more heavy themes
- title comes from one of the two songs that kept playing in my head while I was trying to figure out what to do with the prompt: Fix You by Coldplay and Believe by TransSiberian Orchestra. (that's your cue to go listen to both)
- yes, I'm aware of plenty plotholes and stuff in this but let's say I'm just happy to finally have it up (in under 5 years since prompting!)
Thanks for having me back and apologies it took so long to write this.
Have a good year!
dag