Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Cute High Earth Defense Club Love
Title: Roadblock
Friends: Arima, Akoya, & Kinshiro
Word Count: 2,135||Status: one-shot
Genre: Friendship||Rated: G
Notes: This takes place loosely between episodes 10 and 11.
Summary: Arima Ibushi is the Vice-President of the Student Council, Chevalier Argent, and in general not a person one should annoy. Apparently the local snails haven't caught on to that fact yet.
People did not bother Arima Ibushi. It wasn't just the fact he wasn't bothered by people in the first place; he had no reason to be bothered by them. So long as he made Kinshiro happy – and he worked very hard to do so – then he was happy, and no one else's opinion mattered, with the possible exception of Akoya and Zundar-sama. Other than that, the rest of the world could go off a cliff for all that he cared.
But also people did not bother him. His absolute devotion to Kinshiro was the stuff of legend around Binan High, and rumors ran strong that if Kinshiro wanted anything, he had merely to mention it to Arima, and it would be his within the hour.
Arima knew that wasn't true. Sometimes it would take him more than an hour. It depended on what Kinshiro actually wanted.
What Kinshiro wanted now, however, turned out be just a trifle more complicated to acquire than usual. He'd wanted tea. There was nothing at all odd or out of place with that request, and it was one Arima had fulfilled many times in the past. Today, however, he'd discovered that they were all out of the makings for tea in the first place.
That sent Arima off to the nearest store that provided those makings, because if Kinshiro wanted tea, then by everything holy and sacred, Kinshiro would have tea.
But now, with his bag of supplies in the crook of one arm, he stood outside one of the doors that led into the main building, frozen in his tracks. He didn't think he could've moved if his very life depended on it.
There, crawling along the doorknob, there glopped and glurped the most vile of all things, worse than the annoying Battle Lovers. In fact, if Arima had seen a Battle Lover, he would've demanded that the so-called hero do his job and get rid of the monstrosity before it decided to eat him or worse.
He wasn't certain what else a snail could do that was worse, and he didn't think they were meat-eaters to start with, but he didn't want to take any chances.
What is it doing here? His stomach churned at the sight. If he thought about it – and thinking about snails wasn't at all a favored way to pass the time – then the school greenhouse wasn't that far away and he'd seen snails there in the past. Thankfully he seldom had to go there, despite how much he enjoyed gardening in the first place.
But now a snail made its slimy way around the doorknob and there wasn't any way that he was going to touch that thing with the snail there. He'd been in too much of a hurry on the way out to notice it, or perhaps it had only shown up after he left. Regardless, it was there, and he was there, and he wished one of them wasn't, preferably the snail.
Maybe if he could find a stick to knock it off with? He started to cast around for one, but the grounds were too well taken care of. Not a single stray stick lay under any of the trees anywhere.
"Arima?" A very familiar voice called and he turned to see Akoya standing there, a frown marring the area between his eyebrows. He likely would've complained about wrinkles if he'd noticed it. "What's wrong?"
Arima gestured from himself to the door, words failing him at the moment. Akoya frowned even more, turning to see what he could be motioning at.
"Is the doorknob broken?" Akoya murmured as he leaned in a bit closer. Arima started to tell him about the snail, but even as he opened his mouth to shape the words, Akoya leaped backwards, eyes wide. "Oh! So that's it!"
Arima nodded, letting out a low sigh. "Can you get rid of it, please?" This would've been so much easier if Kinshiro had come out. Not only did snails not bother him, but Zundar-sama stayed with him on a more or less regular basis, when he wasn't off doing whatever evil hedgehogs from Planet Evil did. And Zundar-sama ate snails.
Frankly, Arima questioned his tastes on that matter, but at least an eaten snail wasn't one that was going to slime its way around to stop him from getting inside.
Akoya looked around much as Arima had. "You don't expect me to touch it, do you? Do you know how many times I'd have to wash my hands after that?" His lips curled upward into one of his best dismissive expressions. "Someone else should do it."
Arima did not argue with this. They were part of the Student Council, part of Caerula Adamas. They were the future rulers of the world. They shouldn't have to worry about getting rid of snails. Those were things that other people should have to worry about for them.
Really, just where were the Battle Lovers when they were actually needed? One of them could just knock away the thing and be done with it. For that matter, almost anyone else could do it. And yet there didn't seem to be anyone else around who they could compel to take care of this.
"I think I saw that annoying fluff-head and some of his friends over there," Akoya said after a moment or two, his lip still curled. The idea of asking anyone, even one of the Earth Defense Club, for help like this rankled on him, Arima knew quite well. But wasn't this also part of their job description, keeping the people of Earth safe from annoying intrusions like snails? And if it wasn't, it most certainly should be!
Akoya only managed to take a step or two in the direction he'd vaguely indicated when a small group of first years came around a different corner altogether. They all stopped the moment they saw the two Student Council members there. One of them glanced at the others, then took a bit more of a step forward.
"Is there something we can help you with, Arima-senpai, Gero-senpai?"
Arima had never bothered to let anyone else, aside from Kinshiro and Akoya, know of his distaste for snails. He didn't especially feel like doing so now. He was vice-president of the student council. While he cared little what others – who weren't Kinshiro – thought of him, he still did not care for anyone else knowing certain facts about him, not unless he chose to tell them.
"No," was all that he said, therefore, not letting his eyes slit back over to the snail. It had moved! Closer to him, in fact!
Maybe it really did want to eat him.
He stayed where he was, despite longing to be in the safe and clean student council room, where any invading snails would become part of Zundar-sama's dinner. He still questioned their mentor's choice of food, but an eaten snail was so much better than a snail still moving around. At least an eaten snail wouldn't come back, whereas one that was just set outside at least could.
The one who'd spoken before looked at him, a furrow of thought between his eyebrows. "Are you certain? You look a little bothered."
He did not want them to know. He shot a glance toward Akoya, hoping for some kind of support.
Akoya twirled one curl around his finger, an amused little quirk to his lips. "You heard what he said. Are you trying to question part of the student council?" The words he chose were as innocent as Akoya ever became, but there was a definite edge to them, one Arima appreciated. If only the edge could be useful in this situation…
All three of the first years paled. Arima breathed a mental sigh of relief; there were so many benefits to his position and not having to explain himself if he didn't want to was one of them.
But the snail remained and one of the first years started to sidle toward the door, watching the two upperclassmen as if expecting to be denied permission to enter.
The door swung open from the inside and out stepped Kinshiro. Arima held no boasts to psychic ability, but he could almost feel the fear rolling off the first years at the sight of the student council president himself.
"Arima, what's taking so long?" Kinshiro asked, not even bothering to look at the younger students. "I expected you back by now."
He would've told Kinshiro what held him up. He wouldn't have needed to tell Kinshiro about his distaste for snails; Kinshiro already knew. But those first years were still there, and to let on now, he realized, would undermine their respect for the student council. And that, he would never do, because that would undermine their respect for Kinshiro.
Arima would do absolutely anything at all that Kinshiro wanted. If asked, he would've taken on all five of the Battle Lovers without so much as a blink of an eye. He'd thought about doing so already, but Kinshiro determined what they did in battle, so he held himself back. He was ready if the order was ever given.
But what he would not do, under any circumstances, was anything that would make people not respect Kinshiro.
His eyes flicked for a moment to the doorknob and the snail on it, then back to Kinshiro. Kinshiro turned, and it would've taken someone who knew him well to see the way his own eyes turned to see what Arima indicated. His control remained impeccable.
He turned then to the first years, all of whom looked as if they wished the ground would open up and drink them down. He said nothing at all, just cocked one eyebrow at them.
"We'll be going now, Mr. President!" All three chorused and hurried away with all due speed. Arima had no idea if the way they picked would take them where they wanted to go or not. He did hope they didn't get lost.
As soon as they were out of sight, Kinshiro shook his head a tiny fraction. "I should've known," was all that he said before he picked up the snail, holding it between his fingers. "I think Zundar-sama would appreciate this, don't you?"
"Of course," Arima agreed without a bit of hesitation, drawing in a deep breath of relief that the horrid thing wasn't on the doorknob anymore. And soon enough, it wouldn't be among the living anymore. "Thank you."
Kinshiro nodded, the slightest movement of his head, and turned his way back to the door. Then he looked back at Akoya.
"You could've put on gloves to deal with this. Or held it by the shell." There was a definite hint of disapproval there. Akoya shrugged, the corners of his mouth turning upward.
"But I don't have any gloves on me. And I don't have anywhere to put it if I did pick it up anyway."
"You could've just put it on the ground," Kinshiro pointed out, yanking the door open again and heading inside. Arima followed without a single word. He saw no reason to complain now that the horrid thing was in safe hands and would be disposed of soon.
Akoya only chuckled, though Arima wondered how amused he really was. It wasn't easy to get into their secretary-treasurer's head. He of all people knew what it was like to have something bother you so much.
While Kinshiro settled into his chair and waited for Zundar-sama to appear, Arima occupied himself doing what had partially caused this mess in the first place: making his dear president tea. He focused all of his attention on getting it just right. After what had just happened, Kinshiro deserved the very best.
No, Kinshiro always deserved the very best. But right now, Arima put forth extra effort into making this tea some of the very best that he ever had in his life.
He ignored the crunching sounds that told him Zundar-sama had arrived and appreciated the gift of a snack. He chose to look on the bright side of what had happened: no one whose opinion mattered had seen what had happened. Kinshiro disposed of the horrid thing, and now their day could continue as it was meant to do, finishing up the work of the student council and then finding someone they could turn into a monster, to advance their true cause.
He rather hoped that no monster they ever created turned out to be a giant snail. That would be perhaps the one time he would absolutely cheer the Battle Lovers on.
Content for now, though, he brought the tea over and settled down to enjoy one of his favorite parts of his day: time with Kinshiro and Akoya.
The End
Note: Yes, I do intend to write something where they make a giant snail monster. It will include Vesta. And that is all I say on the matter.