1. Last Memorandum
The new Student Council relaxed from their pose as Yamada took the last photo. They all moved around and stretched out, having grown somewhat bored of standing still and awaiting the flash of the camera.
"I don't think it's really sunk in yet; we're the Rikkyoin Student Council now." Chihiro said quietly to the others. He was still struggling with the heft of the Presidents helmet he now needed to wear while on duty.
"I'm sure we can do it, if we do it together!" Tokino said with her usual cheer and enthusiasm.
"My new uniform makes me feel more grown up than my one from elementary school. I like it." Koyuki said in as gleeful a voice as she could muster.
"Speak for yourself!" Renko blushed as she attempted to pull her miniskirt down further in hopes of covering more skin. It was a futile effort.
"I guess we should head back to the Student Council office now." Chihiro said, pointing across the lake towards the school. Everyone began to make their way back, before Tokino grasped Chihiro's arm.
"Chihiro, I'd like to talk to you for a little while." Tokino looked away as Chihiro tried to meet her gaze.
"Alright, the rest of you can go on ahead." He told the others. Once they were out of sight, Chihiro turned back to Tokino. "What did you need to talk about, Tokino?"
"Um, well...you see…" Tokino fidgeted uncomfortably. She sighed and walked over to the railing by the lakeside, leaning back against it. "It's about Ri-chan…"
Tokino set down her cup and stood from the table, wiping the remains of her tears from her eyes.
"Thank you, Ri-chan. Please talk to Chihiro as soon as possible, I think he'll listen to you, more than he does to me." Tokino said, her tone as melancholic as her mood. However, as she walked towards the door she was stopped.
"Akiyama, wait." Ritsuko commanded. Tokino turned to look at her friend. Ritsuko averted her gaze as their eyes met, her intensity faltering momentarily. She steeled herself and walked over to Tokino, her heels clacking loudly against the hardwood floor. "I had not intended to tell anyone until after I had left…" Ritsuko said slowly, staring unblinking into Tokino's eyes. "But I...will be going abroad before the end of my term." Tokino gasped.
"Ri-chan, you're leaving? But why!" Ritsuko did not answer. Instead, she turned towards the table and removed her helmet, placing it down carefully. She turned back to Tokino, who still looked shocked.
"Tokino, I would like you to deliver a message to Chihiro once you've taken your place as Student Council." Without the Presidential helmet, Ritsuko took on more laid back tone of voice and a softer gaze. "Can you do that for me?"
"Alright Ri-chan, what's the message?" Tokino asked happily. She loved seeing her childhood friend relax and take off her helmet, and in turn, shed the mask of The President.
"This." Ritsuko said simply before she closed the distance between the two of them, placing her hands on Tokino's cheeks and drawing her closer.
"Ri-" Tokino was cut off as Ritsuko brought her in for kiss. A gentle kiss upon the lips that lasted only a few moments.
"There. Please deliver that to Chihiro." Ritsuko said, a slight twinge of sadness in her voice. Tokino stared at her friend for a few seconds until she shook herself out of it.
"Ri-chan…"
"It will mean more coming from you, Tokino, I know this." Despite the darkness, Tokino could see Ritsuko's eyes beginning to water.
"Ri-chan," Tokino said once again. "If that was meant for Chihiro…" Tokino gave a sly smile. "How about one for me?" Ritsuko was taken aback, her eyes widened as her mouth fell open. However, it did not take long for her to regain her composure, and she gave the first genuine smile of the evening.
"I'd like that, Tokino." Ritsuko answer, joy evident in her icy blue eyes. With that, the two of them leant in for another, much more intense kiss.
Tokino took a step back as she broke the kiss. Chihiro's lips felt cold in her absence.
"O-oh, she asked you...to give that to me?" He asked, dumbfounded.
"Uh-huh!" Tokino responded cheerily. Stepping past Chihiro, she skipped merrily towards the school, leaving Chihiro alone. He looked across the still waters of the lake, the image of Rikkyoin reflected upon the surface.
"Thanks, Ri-chan. For everything." He turned around and began to follow after Tokino, the helmet upon his head feeling much lighter than before.
On the other side of the lake, within the small woods, Yamada looked down at her friend.
"Mistress Renko, are you feeling alright?" Yamada said, her concern evident. Renko stayed silent. She looked back across the lake to where Chihiro Enomoto now stood alone. She felt a pang in her chest, an unfamiliar pain, causing to clutch at her heart.
"What...is this feeling that I'm feeling?"
2. Black Gold
Renko let out an exhausted breath as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Placing the screwdriver she had been holding back in her toolbox, she stepped back from the operating table.
"Alright Yamada, you can get up now." She commanded.
"Yes, Mistress Renko!" Yamada dutifully responded as she bolted upright into a sitting position, her school uniform crinkling from the inertia of her sudden movement. "Mistress Renko, you've been up all night rebuilding me! Don't you think you should-"
"Don't say it!" Renko growled as she clamped a hand over Yamada's mouth. "I'm the Rikkyoin Student Council Secretary now. If Chihiro Enomoto needs a helicopter, that's what you'll be! If the President needs a boat, that's what I'll make! If Chihiro-chan…" Renko paused as she let out a drawn out yawn, stretching her arms out above her head. "If he needs someone to snuggle up next to him while he sleeps, I'll…" Renko trailed off, before reaching a hand up to remove her pince-nez. "I'll go put on some coffee." With that, Renko walked unsteadily over to the coffee machine on the counter in her little laboratory.
"Mistress Renko, I really think you should sleep! If they need you at the Student Council, I can fill in for you!" Yamada offered cheerily as she leapt from the operating table. Renko ignored her, instead focusing on brewing her coffee, and adjusting the little red miniskirt that she had been made to wear as part of her uniform; she still felt it was a bit too short.
"I am the Secretary now, Yamada! I have a duty to perform, and I, Renko Kamishakujii, will not abandon my responsibilities!" Renko said proudly, even as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Turning back to the coffee machine, Renko picked it up and promptly poured hot coffee onto the counter. She then reached out to grab her non-existent mug. In it's stead, Renko planted the palm of her hand into the puddle of black, frothy liquid. It took several seconds for this to register in her mind, but when it did, Renko calmly retracted her hand, dried it on a towel, and walked over to the futon she kept in the corner of her lab. Without a word she fell face first onto the pillow and fell asleep almost immediately.
Yamada placed a blanket over her sleeping friend, cleaned up the spilt coffee and opened the door to head over to the Council office.
"Goodnight, Mistress Renko." With that, she quietly closed the door.
3. Words, Numbers and Friendly Gestures
Koyuki flipped to the next page of the register as she typed out all the calculations of the previous page. She eyed the abacus sat across the table, before switching her gaze to the calculator beside her. The numbers were beginning to add up as she calculated them. All things considered, this was going much better than she had anticipated. Soon enough, she had work out all of the Student Council's earning over the course of the past month. She filed the evenings paperwork beside her weekly calculations in the cabinet in the office.
Sitting back down at the table, Koyuki let out a small yawn. It was getting dark now, with the majority of Rikkyoin's students having gone home, and Koyuki was alone in the office.
"Things here aren't so bad. But I don't know if I can keep up this pace every week." She thought to herself. "If the Treasurers before me could do it, then I'm sure I can too!" Laying her arms on the table, Koyuki laid her head upon them. "I can do it…" She mumbled to herself as her eyes closed.
Suddenly, the double doors to the office burst open. Renko leapt into the room, dressed in her usual lab coat.
"Aha! Slacking on the job, Asagiri? Just as I thought!" She declared, thrusting a hand into the air dramatically. Renko's pose slackened as she looked over the younger girl slumped on the table, which itself was devoid of any documentation. "She must've fallen asleep after she completed her work." Renko quietly closed the doors and walked over to Koyuki. Renko wore a soft smile as she looked down at her young friend's peaceful face. Slipping off her labcoat, Renko gently draped it over Koyuki.
"I suppose I'll let her sleep. I can wait a while." Taking a book from the bookshelf, Renko took a seat opposite Koyuki and began to read.
Chihiro arrived at the Council office, a few minutes after he was due.
"I don't know how Ri-chan was so punctual when she was the President. I'm going to have to work at it to be as good as her!" Opening the doors, her stepped into the office. "Uh...Koyuki? Kamishakujii? What're you both doing here?" While Chihiro did not doubt that either of them arrived before him or Tokino, he had not been so late as for them to fall asleep, as they clearly had.
"Gah! What the hell? I fell asleep too?" Renko bolted upright, a red mark evident on her prominent forehead from having laid on her book all night. "This is all your fault, pipsqueak!" She pointed an accusatory finger at Koyuki, who was just stirring from her slumber, rubbing her eyes as she lifted her head.
"Oh, I'm sorry Chihi-uh, Mister President, Miss Secretary." Koyuki said sleepily. "I only meant to rest for a bit after I'd checked our register."
"Don't worry about it, Koyuki, so long as your sister wasn't too worried about you." Chihiro patted Koyuki on her head. "But...why do you have Kamishakujii's labcoat?" Renko ran around the table as Chihiro spoke.
"She must've taken it while I was asleep!" Renko snatched the coat from Koyuki and threw it on. "I've got other stuff to do, try not to mess anything up while I'm gone!" Renko ran out of the office, leaving Chihiro and Koyuki alone.
"So, Miss Treasurer…" Chihiro placed a hand on Koyuki's shoulder. "Let's make today a good day!" Koyuki nodded enthusiastically.
"Right, Mister President!"