Ch. 2

"Alright, Toujo." I sneered, "why do you believe that magic and Gods exist?"

"There's no why." She smiled, "I just do."

Again, that disarming smile.

"Good for you, I guess."

"And how should I address you?" Nozomi asked, giggling while pointing towards my eyepatch, "I believe that it's highly unlikely you would let me call you pirate-san, huh?"

"Just John will do."

"Well then, John-kun," Nozomi glanced at the sky for a moment before turning back towards me, "you don't mind staying here for a little while longer, do you?"

"I've got time." I eyed her carefully, "But why?"

"I like making new friends!" Nozomi fished out a deck of cards with a blue card back, "and I love reading other's futures."

"I didn't ask for a reading." I said coldly, "And every professional Tarot reader knows it's impolite to read one's future without permission."

"I'm no professional Tarot Reader," Nozomi smirked while shuffling the cards, "a three card reading, then?"

"Whatever suits your fancy." I sighed. Honestly, I give up.

Nozomi flipped over the first card, revealing the Three of Swords.

Personally, I've messed around with Tarot Cards a few years back, but I'm afraid that I have forgotten almost all of their meanings. However, the Three of Swords? I remember it like it was yesterday…

"Rejection, sadness, loneliness…" Nozomi looked at me pitifully, "what happened to you?"

"Nothing of your concern." I folded my arms.

Second card: The Fool.

"You know it could be anything, right?" I cockedmy eyebrows, "The Fool is one of the most powerful cards in the deck."

"Indeed." Nozomi looked confused, "A mystery."

"Ha," I joked, "I was expecting the Lovers."

"My my, I never thought you'd want that kind of card." Nozomi's warm smile slowly warped into a somewhat mischievious grin.

"Just kidding." I rolled my eyes, where Nozomi's eyes contored to surprise.

"Let's see about your future, then."

Nozomi turned the last card over, revealing The Ten of Cups.

"Achievement, prosperity." Nozomi returned to her warm smile, "You seem to have a very bright future."

Bright future, my ass.

"Yeah, whatever." I scoffed.

"The cards are very accurate, you know?"

Accurate, my ass.

"Whatever you say." I said, "Anyway, I gotta go home. It's getting dark."

"I bid you farewell, then." Nozomi gave a slight bow, "But I am certain that our paths will cross again."

"I hope so." I returned the bow, although my mind was thinking of the opposite, "It's been nice talking to you."

I went back to my apartment and closed the door. Lying down a couch that the apartment's previous owner left, I stared at the uniform that I had to wear for a whole school year starting from tomorrow.

"Hey Viktor!" Granny's voice boomed through the phone, "How's life?"

"Great. Thanks to you." I sneered.

"You'd better get some shut-eye," she said as I heard her swallow something, "it's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

"You bet." I said, doing Charlier Cuts with one handwhile holding the phone with my other.

"I have already informed Chairwoman Minami to introduce you to the Student Council as a consultant." She said, "I expect you and Eli to work well together."

"I'll try my best."

Finally, something constructive for me to do in school.

However, it finally struck me: does Eli even remember me? If she does, what should I do? Do I stick to my performance and be the "good guy" Johann? Or do I just be myself and behave like an apathetic asshole, as others usually told me?

Guess I'll just deal with it, then.

"Good night." I said, ending the phone call.

Fiddling with my deck of cards, I laid on the coach lazily, not even wanting to move a single muscle. Thoughts of making friends crossed my mind, but they were quickly dismissed.

Maybe I could get myself a girlfriend?

I mentally slapped myself when I realized what I was thinking about.

"No, Viktor." I felt disgusted, "Just save the school and leave."

But saving the school's gonna waste a lot of time.

"Or don't." I marvelled at this new idea of mine. If letting that hell-hole burn to ashes meant allowing me to return to Russia and finish my education? So be it.

"I mean, that old witch literally forced me to come here." I thought for a moment, "So yeah, no regrets on doing a bad job on purpose."

With this malicious deed in mind, I drifted into a dreamless sleep. Awaiting me was a day of surprises and a ton of problems…

Get up, slacker.

I opened my left eye, and the sun instantly poured into my eye, blinding me.

"Damn it!" I cursed as I got up and changed into the white dress shirt, blue blazer, and pants.

I looked into the mirror: the pants, the blazer and the dress shirt all were of the right size. However, the green tie hung loosely at my neck, almost as if it was dangling; my hair was a total mess, hair stuck out everywhere as if it was a bird's nest. I rubbed my eye as I stared at myself lazily and yawned.

Just as I was about to walk out of my door, my stomach grumbled as if I haven't eaten in days.

"Alright, alright!" I threw my arms in the air, "Breakfast first! I get it!"

"I need something to eat… I need something to eat…" I grumbled as I dragged myself to school.

As I turned a few corners, I noticed a place that looked awfully like a shop that could sell food and crashed inside.

"Welcome to Homura!" A woman who looked like she was in her thirties, had brown hair and blue eyes smiled, "How may I help you today?"

"Uhh… You got chocolates? Bread?" I stared at her, exhausted despite just waking up.

"Yes, and what flavor would you prefer?"

"What would you recommend?" I asked her, too lazy to pick for myself.

"I personally would recommend the red bean paste."

"No! Not the red bean paste!" Someone suddenly shouted upstairs.

The woman was surprised, or at least she seemed like it. But she sighed and looked back at me.

"I apologize for my daughter, Honoka." She smiled awkwardly, "Then maybe you should try the white bean paste?"

"Not that one either!" The voice boomed.

"I'll take one of each." I sighed and handed her the money.

"Thank you." She once again smiled at me. Turning towards the stairs, she started yelling back.

"Honoka!" She shouted, "You're going to be late for school!"

"Coming!" A orange-haired girl with a side ponytail came rushing down the stairs…

…With a similar uniform, but with a red ribbon instead.

"So, which school are you going to?" The woman asked me, her blue orbs scanned my uniform peculiarly.

"Otonokizaka High." I answered bluntly, hoping not to draw any unwanted attention.

The brunette looked at me in confusion.

"I mean…" I quickly collected myself, but I don't think any words could explain the situation that I was in.

"Oh! So you're Honoka's senpai, then!" She said.

I'm starting to regret coming into this shop…

"A senpai?" The girl beamed at her mother while tugging her arm.

"This is Honoka, my daughter." The woman said, patting her daughter's head gently, "She can be very annoying at times."

"Mom!" Honoka pouted, "That's so mean!"

At this moment, I couldn't help but chuckle at thisawkward but yet sweet 'situation'. However, it was also painful to watch as it brings back memories of whatever was left of my childhood…

"Did you like the performance, Viktor?" My mother asked, patting my head.

"Like it? I absolutely love it!" I squealed as I watched a magician signed playing cards and tossedthem everywhere.

"Would you like to meet the man himself, then?"

"Really?" I beamed at her, while she just nodded, smiling.

"Ah, Valeriya!" The man in a tuxedo, a top hat, and a monocle greeted us backstage, "What brings you here today?"

"Just here to bring my adorable son to a magic show." Mom stretched the word 'adorable', making me blush.

"Mom!" I felt embarassed of her choice of words.

"It's okay, comrade." The magician grinned and knelt down so that he was at eye level at me, "Your mother is a lovely woman."

"Oh, stop it!" It was mother's time to blush, "You were always such a lady's man, Joseph."

"I try not to be." Joseph glanced at mother with a smile before turning back to me, "So, what brings you here, little man?"

"I…" I struggled to keep my words together, "I really liked your performance!"

My face went ten shades of red deeper as Joseph burst out in laughter.

"Oh my, Valeriya sure wasn't kidding when she said you were adorable!" He pinched my cheeks, "You are absolutely gorgeuous!"

"Anyway, I'll be going to school." I gave a slight bow, "I don't want to be late on my first day."

"See?" Honoka's mother flicked her daughter's forehead, "This is how you should behave!"

"Mou…" Honoka pouted, rubbing her eyes with one hand while rubbing her forehead with the other, "I just wanted some extra nap time…"

"How far is the school from here?"I asked, checking my watch. 7:50 am.

"Fifteen minutes, tops." Honoka's mother said, gently pushing her daughter out the door, while the latter still complained about the lack of sleep.

"Then I guess I should be going, as well." I smiled, stepping out of the shop, only to see Honoka dashing across the street.

What's with the rush? I thought. My name doesn't even exist on the official list, anyway.

I arrived at that old, brick buiding once again. Petals of cherry blossoms fell gracefully to the ground as a breeze came through, turning the brick floor a bright pink.

However, there was something different than the last time I visited this wretched place: it was alive. I watched as students walk in groups into the school building, smiles and laughs present on their faces; although the school was closing down, all of the girls seemed unfazed.

So naïve. I thought. So carefree…

… Or careless, for some matters.

I walked three flights of stairs up, passing by many girls, who were obviously surpised and a little bit scared when they saw me. But then again, who wouldn't be when they see a poorly dressed boy with an eye patch in a all girl's school?

"Rin-chan, why is there a boy here?" A short girl with diry-blonde hair and purple eyes who wore glasses tugged her friend, another girl with short, orange hair with yellow eyes.

"I don't know, nya…" The girl, or 'Rin', was obviously scared as both of them tried hiding behind some lockers before peering at me.

At the mention at the word 'boy', I turned my head towards them and glared with my eye.

"He…… He looks so scary, nya…" Rin cowered while the girl with glasses hid behind her, although I could still see most of her except for the head.

What the hell's wrong with you people? Shaking my head, I dragged myself up the remaining stairs and reached the third floor, where I was instructed to report at classroom 3-1.

"3-1……3-1……." I grumbled under my breath as I passed by many empty classrooms. I peeked inside one of them, but it wasn't the fact that the classroom was empty that scared me…

It felt dead.

The vibe that those empty classrooms gave me sent a chill down my spine. I knew for a fact that the school was closing no matter what, but those classrooms that should be filled with laughing students left hollow was just wrong.

"3-1." I gave a sigh of relief as I finally reached my designated classroom, where there was at least some noise, "Let's see how big of a mess I'm in , then."

I slid open the door and stepped inside.

You have got to be kidding me.

I froze in fear as the whole classroom of people turned around and stared at me, including the teacher who had dark hair and wore a suit. And before I could move a single foot, I could already hear whispers amongst my new classmates.

"Excuse me, are you the new transferee?" The teacher asked me.

"Yeah." My confirmation was weak, but she heard it nonetheless, "I'm not late, am I?"

"If you had been five minutes later, yes." She looked at her watch and motioned for me to come closer, "Now, can you introduce yourself to the class?"

I looked at the mass of thirty-something people, all of them were looking at me curiously. But amongst them, I saw two people whom I recognised immediately.

One was the purplenette that I met at the shrine yesterday.

I shivered at the memory of my brief encounter with her. Toujo, was it?

The other one who sat at the near back of the classroom, close to the windows, however, immediately sparked my interest: her blonde hair tied into a simple ponytail, the perfecty tailored blue blazer fitted her flawlessly, her sky-blue orbs pierced my hazel ones sharply.

"Hi." I smiled awkwardly, to which I earned a few giggles from the class, "My name is Schmidt, Johann Schmidt."

"So you're a foreigner?" The teacher asked me.

"Yeah, I was born in Germany." I lied, "My grandparents lived in Berlin back in the Cold War, so I learnt how to speak Russian."

"How intriguing." The teacher cooed, "Then I believe you would love to meet Ayase-san, our current Student Council President."

Without a moment's hesitation, the blonde stood up and gave a slight bow.

"I'm Ayase Eli, the current Student Council President." She said almost emotionlessly, "I look forward to learning with you."

"Then please look after me." I grinned. Man, granny wasn't joking when she said Eli became apathetic.

"Since you're so tall, Schmidt-san," the teacher interrupted me with an awkward smile, "maybe it's best if you sit at the back row, behind Ayase-san."

"Sure." I shrugged, "I don't mind."

Slouching lazily on the hard, wooden chair, I tossed my backpack at the corner of the classroom, letting it sit there. Glancing around, I saw Nozomi studying me as if I was something supernatural, sending chills down my spine.

"Alright class," The teacher put on her glasses, "I'm Kyoko Sasahara, and I will be your math and class teacher this school year, I hope we get along with each other."

God, these people are so polite that it scares me.

After a long, boring, morning of classes, I nearly fell asleep on my chair just when Nozomi and Eli came up to me.

"And I thought you were joking when you said we would meet again." I groaned, to which she giggled and Eli remained emotionless.

"I told you magic exists." She said. Again, that smile is just making me uncomfortable.

"Schmidt-san, is it?" Eli asked.

"Yeah?" I replied lazily.

"I have been informed by the Chairwoman that you have had experiences with Student Council Affairs."

"Yes, I have."

"And the fact that she would like you to be a consultant within the Council."

"I am aware of that."

"Then I hope you can give us some valuable and constructive advice during the meeting afterschool today." She said, emotionlessly yet politely.

"I guess I'll try my best, then." I grinned. Well done, Eli, on being the worst replica of me, ever.

Honestly, I haven't sensed a bit of emotion since I met Eli. One the other hand, I could still laugh at the fact that she couldn't recognise me, despite my eyepatch and a 'change of attitude'.

"I take it you haven't explored the school yet?" Nozomi asked. However, it was time I took notice of the elephant in the room…

She's got a very impressive bust.

"I… Haven't, yet." I struggled to keep eye contact with her, but it was also hard for me as that look of her's could hypnotize people.

"Then maybe Elicchi and I can show you around?" Nozomi tried to smile sweetly, but I couldn't help but notice that it was devious.

"M… Maybe I'll do fine on my own." I stammered as I smiled at them awkwardly, "I don't like people spoiling my surprises."

"Whatever suits your fancy, then." Nozomi imitated my tone from yesterday.

I swear to God, I have no idea how to deal with her.

"Anything else?" The nice, old lady at the tuck shop asked me.

"Just the sandwich and a cup of tea will do , thank you." I smiled as I payed her.

As I strolled around the school, I came across three girls sitting at a bench that surrounded a huge tree, and one of them was the ginger-haired girl, Honoka, that I met this morning.

I saw her whispering something to her two friends, one with ocean blue hair and another with ash-grey hair and amber eyes…

Who looked awfully like the Chairwoman's daughter.

The trio then stared at me as if I was some sort of alien.

Do something, you idiot! I waved at them slightly.

While her two friends didn't do much, Honoka waved at me as if she was high on sugar.

"Senpai!" Her voice boomed and echoed throughout the school, "Over here!"

And you had to make this less awkward, Honoka. I facepalmed as I saw literally everyone turn their heads to stare at me.

"Hi." Was all I said as I approached the three girls.

"Umi-chan, Kotori-chan!" Honoka looked at her two friends and back at me again, "This is the senpai that I met this morning!"

I gave the two girls a smile, but they seemed more frightened than excited to meet someone new.

"A… And you didn't bother to ask his name?" The girl with blue hair, who I assumed to be 'Umi' due to her hair color, asked her energetic friend.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Honoka said sheepishly, sticking her tongue out in embarassment, "My name is Kousaka Honoka!"

"Schmidt." I said, "Johann Schmidt."

"It's very nice to meet you, Schmidt-senpai." The bluenette stood up and gave a slight bow, "I'm Sonada Umi."

"Please, just John will do." I chuckled, "calling me senpai just makes me sound old."

"Please look after us, Schmidt-senpai!" The girl in ash-grey hair said in an awfully high pitch, "I'm Minami Kotori."

So she IS the Chairwoman's daughter, then.

"Likewise," I said, creasing my eyebrows, "but please, just John will do."

"Eh?!" The three girls exclaimed, "We… We can't…"

I looked at the color of their ribbons, and at my own tie.

"So you guys classify me as a upperclassman because of the color of my tie, huh?" I asked.

"Y… Yeah…" Honoka tapped her index fingers together, "And mom told me that you are my senpai, so…"

"So it's the tie's fault, right?" I said, taking off the green tie and putting it in my pocket, leaving me now with just a plain, white shirt, "Better?"

"But still…" They hesitated.

"No tie, no upperclassman." I said casually, "So, what do you call me?"

"It's… Nice to met you…" Honoka hesitated for a moment, "… John-kun."

"That's way better." I smiled and patted her head, to which she blushed furiously, "See? It wasn't so hard, was it?"

"I… I guess so…" Kotori stammered before giving a warm smile, "John-kun."

"Bingo! Well done, Kotori!" I gave her a fist bump, to which she happily complied to.

"Now for you, Umi." I smirked.

"I… I…" Umi blushed ten shades of red deeper, "It's so embarassing!"

What? Really?

"Umi-chan!" Honoka pouted, "It's only you here who thinks it's embarassing!"

"I'm afraid Honoka-chan's right." Kotori gave a dry laugh, "Even John-kun is willing to treat us as equals."

"I… I just can't…" Umi hugged her knees.

"Hi, I'm John." I reached out my right hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Hi… J… John…" Umi took my hand with her's and hesitantly shook it, "It's… Nice to… Meet you…"

As I shook Umi's hand, I noticed something: her right middle and index finger had quite a few calluses on them. And as I recall from what I've learnt, only certain people have them…

"Nice job, Viktor." My archery coach, Leon, clapped slowly as he looked away from his binoculars.

"Thanks." I muttered, before loading another arrow on to my recurve bow.

"Although we all know that you have already mastered the recurve and compound," Leon said, pressing his hand on my bow to prevent me from shooting another arrow, "how far can you go with a longbow?"

I have heard of those kind of bows before: used during the ancient times, those bows were just bare sticks of bamboo, wood, and leather with a piece of string. You pull the string with two fingers, the index and the middle instead of three. Accuracy back then was pure gut feeling, with no sights to help with the aim.

"I don't know." I shrugged, unloading my arrow and putting my bow on it's stand, "Wouldn't mind if I try."

"Atta boy." Leon smiled, "Always up for a challenge."

Leon turned around and took what seemed like a bow twice my size off the wall, along with a quiver of twelve arrows.

"My grandfather was a captain back in the Second World War." He said proudly, caressing the bow, "A Japanese admiral gave this to him when they surrendered."

"I see it has a long history, then." I said, feeling it in my hands. The bow was light, but as it's name suggests, it was huge.

"Now, shooting with a longbow requires skill, of course," Leon said as I loaded an arrow, "but you also need that gut feeling."

I rolled my eyes. You don't say?

"You know I don't usually rely on my instincts." I said, pulling the string. Damn, this thing is really hard to pull.

"Thought it would be lighter, huh?" Leon gave a small chuckle, "let's see how the Ace of our team does with an antique."

I aimed at my target. 18 metres. I thought. I continued to exhale through pulling the string, but I couldn't even find a place to aim!

"Line your shot through the string, arrow, and target." Leon said, looking at the 'x' on the target paper, "Gives you a better 'gut feeling'."

I lined up the shot and stuck the side of my index finger with my cheek bone, allowing me a clear line of sight with the target.

"Remember, continue to pull when you are releasing." Leon looked at my form, "Don't let the gut feeling take over the basics."

My arms were trembling by the time I've aimed properly at the target, my back soaked in sweat. I gritted my teeth as I exhaled, hissing sounds echoed through the range. Releasing the string, I let the arrow fly…

I missed the target entirely.

"Not bad for starters." Leon chuckled as I lowered the bow, "Most experienced archers missed the target by more than a few inches on their first try."

"How far off was I?"

"Just an inch or so." Leon sipped from his water bottle, "But still, you missed."

"Guess I'm not good at everything, then." I said, handing him back the longbow, but he didn't take it.

"Do a few more shots with it," he said.

"Look, Leon." I sighed, "Maybe I'm just bad at the longbow, so if you would be so kind and…"

"Nearly everyone's bad at something on their first try." Leon said, shoving the bow back to me, "But they keep trying."

"Did my father try this bow?" I asked.

"He did." Leon lit a cigarette, "Guess how far off did he go?"

"How far?"

"Ten inches."

"And I'm supposed to be proud that I did better than papa?" I sneered.

"Your father was the Ace of the team, just like you." Leon said, smoke from his cigarette puffed out of his mouth, "But he possessed something that I never seen you have."

"And what would that be?"

"Passion."

"I see that you practice the arts, then." I let go of Umi's hand.

"Huh?"

"The calluses on your middle and index finger." I eyed her right hand, "Longbow?"

"Yes, indeed." Umi suddenly became less flustered and stood straight.

"So, there's an archery club around here?" I asked.

"Apparantly, yes." Umi glanced at a small, old building that had the word 'archery' printed on a board in traditional Japanese calligraphy, "I practice everyday after school."

"It's nice to see someone who share the same interests as I do." I smirked, but the phrase 'afterschool' reminded me of something.

"However, I'm afraid that I can't go today."

"And why is that?"

"I got to deal with the Student Council."

"Ehhhh?!" The three girls exclaimed again, "You're with the Student Council?!"

"I'm just a consultant." I deadpanned, "I don't really work with them. I just give my honest opinions and hopefully, they ignore me."

Dead silence…

"But hey," I shrugged, "I haven't even been to the first meeting yet."

"We wish you good luck then," Umi bowed a little, "John-kun."

"And viola, she said it." I grinned, "Now I must leave you three as I gotta explore this new environment."

I strolled around for a while and turned a few corners until I heard something that didn't sound human: the sound was lazy, laid back, but it certainly wasn't human.

Following the sound, I made my way into a corner, where there were two girls and a pair of alpacas.

Wait, aren't those the two girls I met this morning who were gawking at me?

"Hi there." I waved a little, and the two girls turned around, needless to say they look terrified when they saw me.

"H… Hi…" The girl with glasses stammered, she was holding a bunch of straw, and the white alpaca was munching on some.

"Hi…..Nya…" The other girl, Rin, was it? Waved a little, too. However, her wave was subtle, kind of like a cat. Despite the 'nya'.

I took a look at their ribbons: blue. So they're first years, huh?

"Alpacas, huh?" I glanced at the two furry animals: the white one seemed friendly enough, the brown one, however…

I cowered as the brown alpaca spat all over me, and might I say…

It smelled awful.

"My… You are…" I wiped bits of saliva off myself, flinging it to the ground, "…Feisty."

While I was doing so, I couldn't help but notice that the two girls were covering their mouths with their hands, trying to conceal their laughter.

"I swear…" Wiping the rest of the saliva off, "That brown monstrosity did not like me…"

The brown alpaca huffed in defiance and turned it's head away.

"Now, don't you gimme that attitude." I pointed at it, but it didn't even bother.

"I think she just wanted to have fun." The girl with glasses spoke up, her eyes filled with tears due to her laughter. Patted the brown alpaca, producing a lazy yawn from it.

Fun, my ass.

"Great." I spat, "Just great."

"I'm Hoshizara Rin!" The girl with orange hair was struggling to introduce herself as she was still trying hard not to laugh, "Nice to meet'cha!"

"Just call me John," I groaned, "Don't call me senpai."

"I'm….. I'm…." The girl with glasses was struggling, too. However, her face was a deep shade of red.

"Koizumi Hanayo, desu."

"Nice to meet you," I reached out my hand, which she shook reluctantly, "I'm John."

"So, John-senpai is a boy?" Rin asked.

"Long story." I sighed, "Maybe I can tell you some other time."

Leaving the two first-graders as they were, I walked straight back into the building, but bumping into someone in the way…

"Hey!" A short, raven-haired girl in a pink sweater yelled at me, "Watch where you're going!"

I looked at her: a third year? Really?

"You're a third year?" I asked.

"Wha… Of course I am!" She huffed.

"You ain't fooling me, rookie." I smirked, "Ain't no third year this short…"

"You idiot!" She yelled at me.

"Look who's talking." I scoffed.

"What did you just say?!" She bellowed, "Do you think I'm stupid?!"

"Maybe. I don't know you yet." I shrugged.

Before I could even properly introduce myself, she ran off, obviously pissed.

Well, I guess that's as far as I can get around people.

After school, I woke up, only to discover that I've slept through the rest of classes. The classrooms were empty, but already cleaned.

But then I remembered something…

Carefully knocking on the door of the Student Council, I waited patiently outside with a cup of tea from the tuck shop. Sipping on the hot beverage, I was thinking on what to say to explain my tardiness when…

"Come in." Nozomi said, opening the door.

"Thank you." I said, making my way in. However…

"Ever since I made my first step in here, I feel like I'm in an aquarium." I said, "Everyone's looking at me."

"You're late." Eli said. She was looking at some documents on her desk.

"Yeah." I found a chair and sat on it. "Sorry."

"No matter." Eli said, "So, what should we talk about today?"

What…

"Excuse me…" I raised my hand, "Don't you guys have an agenda?"

"We…" Eli looked at Nozomi, in which she just shrugged, "We… Don't have one."

You have got to be kidding me.

"Well done." I said sarcastically, "I give full marks for effort and zero points for constructiveness on this… Whatever this is."

Maybe… That might be a little bit too honest.

I looked at Eli: she doesn't seem too happy about my comments.

"Then what do you suggest? Consultant." She almost spat.

"Like I said. Genius." I crossed my arms, "Get an agenda."

"I say that's enough." Nozomi said calmly, "Can you two please calm down?"

"Yeah," I said, glancing at Nozomi first then back to Eli, "You'd better calm down."

"And why is that?"

I looked at Nozomi again. She too, did not like the situation that the Student Council was in right now, but what seemed to worry her more was Eli's temper.

"Because fat lot of good, you guys are." I spat, "You guys have no idea how bad the situation is, do you?"

They all shook their heads.

"Great." I scoffed. "Just… Great."

"Because this school is closing down, and you guys are running out of time."