A/N: Thanks again to everyone reviewing and giving feedback! A special shoutout to Dad of War who left me some really awesome food for thought on what to do with the fic! Let's get going guys :)
Chapter Three: Bah
Hachiman and Yui walked up the stairs to the Volunteers Club room. In the weeks since his false confession and Iroha's successful election Yukino's smile still hadn't disappeared from her face, and her eyes looked as resigned as ever despite it. It was... concerning
"You had lunch with Yukinoshita today," the boy started, "how was it?"
Yui hummed, "Normal."
The two entered the room. There was no tea, and Yukino was sitting straight in her chair, examining a spot on the wall with particular interest.
"Yahallo, Yukino!"
"Hello, Yuigahama-san, Hikigaya-kun" the raven haired girl's voice was serene, her smile plastered on.
Hachiman gave a polite nod in her direction, and took his seat, flipped open his novel and began reading. Yui probably made an attempt at some small talk, but he didn't really notice.
A rapping knock filled the room with noise, and a blonde girl entered the room, tears on her face.
"Yahallo, Yuigahama-san, Yukinoshita-san, Senpai," she sniffled, "I need your help."
"We're here, it's okay Isshiki," Yui's voice took on a soothing tone. She reached across the table to pat Iroha, who had just taken a seat.
Yukino raised an eyebrow, "What seems to be the matter?"
"Well," she sniffed, "the Student Council is collaborating with Sobu High School to put on a Christmas event but I don't know how to make it work. None of the group discussions go anywhere and it's going to be a disaster at this rate. I tried to get out of doing this, but Hiratsuka-sensei insisted we do this! My name will be ruined!"
Hachiman's eyebrows furrowed. Was he the lone sage who saw through those puppy dog eyes and crocodile tears? Yui was comforting the girl, who had at least started making less of a scene.
Yukino turned her head to look at the girl, still smiling as she spoke, "I suppose we three could attend these meetings and try to work something out."
"Are you kidding?" Hachiman's annoyed voice pulled the attention of all three girls his way, "she already had our help in becoming President. Why should we keep helping her?" He turned to look at Iroha and huffed, "We're the Volunteers Club, not your errand people."
Iroha, to her credit, didn't decide to start crying again. Rather, she looked at him and puffed right back, "This wouldn't even be a problem if you hadn't talked me into being President instead of losing the election, Senpai!"
Oh shoot.
She had him there, all right.
"I'll talk to you outside in a bit," he waved her away and turned to Yui and Yukino, "this was something I caused on my own, I want to take care of it myself."
Yui nodded in understanding, and Yukino's smile remained frozen.
"If that is what you see as best, Hikigaya-kun. You can resolve this on your own."
"Yeah! And maybe us not doing this as a club will be good for us," Yui's smile didn't quite reach her eyes, she might not have fully believed what she was saying, but clung to it all the same.
Hachiman nodded, and left the room. He closed the door behind him.
Yui looked back down at her phone. She opened the notes application, and got back to her usual pastime in between requests in the service club; journaling. Questions stared her in the face from her past entries.
Why would Hikki ask Ebina out in front of me?
Is there any way for me to save the club? Things feel so different.
How can I make them all happy?
Will Hikki ever see what I feel for him?
She sighed, and the sound of fingers clacking on a touch screen filled the otherwise silent room.
"Okay so look," Hachiman sighed, "you're right that this is sort of my fault. I'll help you, but outside of my duties as a member of the Volunteers Club."
Her face lit up and she beamed, "Oh really? Thank you, Senpai!"
He raised a hand, "But... How come you haven't asked Meguri for any help?"
"Well... She's busy with entrance exams, and besides! You're easier to mani... work with, Senpai!"
An eyebrow arched. He wasn't surprised with that near slip up, after all he had known all along that Iroha was a devious girl.
"Alright. When's the next meeting?"
"It's today, in the community center in another hour."
Hachiman nodded and started heading for the stairs. "Sounds good. I'll see you there," he called over his shoulder.
The teen made a beeline for his usual lunch spot on the outside stairs, he had some time to kill and that seemed as good a spot as any. The soft gold of the sun's light made everything seem like a dream. He focused his thoughts on the club, on why things were so strained between them all. And no matter what angle he thought from, the answer always came back to him.
"I will always hate your methods," she had said that after he confessed to Ebina, in more words or less. And then Yui had spoken to him through tears about how that confession had hurt her. That was where things went wrong. And from there, every move he had made still used those same methods. If he really wanted to make this club work, he had to change. Otherwise, if he stuck to his old methods it would only be a band-aid.
Like how you "saved" the club earlier? Like how you're helping Iroha all alone?
Everyone seems to be of the opinion that teamwork solves problems. But the more people you have on your team, the more potential problems there are to solve. Everyone has feelings and emotions and they expect their teammates to sacrifice the most direct course to a solution to spare them any negative feeling. The world is a backwards, sentimental place full of people who selfishly hope that others will sacrifice for the sake of them, and so they do that for others. That's what the world calls manners.
"Bah," he spat, "manners."
He shook his head, and got up. Maybe he'd stop at the convenience store for a coffee to clear his head before the meeting. As he was walked, he thought he could faintly make out Yui in the horizon. She was unmistakable, her pink hair positively glowed in the gilded light. He kept going, and came to the intersection with the convenience store. He looked to the crosswalk, wiping the girl from his mind. Iroha was on the other side, and she smiled and waved at him. He went ahead and crossed the street.
"Senpai, that's jaywalking!"
"I don't see any cars."
He looked down at her hands, which were both clutching a bag full of items; snacks for her and the Council, possibly.
"I just bought all of this stuff," she smiled, "it's soooo heavy!"
He reached out for the bags, and she shrunk away from his outstretched hands. There was a look of plain confusion on her face.
He deadpanned, "What? That wasn't a 'this stuff is heavy so please carry it for me' kind of statement?"
The look on her face switched from confusion to one of shock. "Wha - were you just hitting on me right now?" Her back stiffened and she bowed and continued, "I'm sorry Senpai, that was very sweet and made my heart flutter but after coming to my senses I still can't."
Hachiman rolled his eyes, took the bags from her, turned around and walked back toward the school.
So much for that coffee.
"Senpai! Please wait for me!"
He slowed his pace for the brat, and they made their way to the meeting.
The Kaihin Sougou students were stupid, Hachiman was sold. If he had to hear anything else about "analyzing opportunity costs versus maximal synergistic benefits" (which isn't even a real thing, he might add) or another "right on" or "preach it" he might well blow a gasket.
"What we need to do is maximize synergy by calibrating our group expectations and mobilize the community to obtain peak labor participation and efficiency," the dolt Tamanawa spoke so confidently for a man full of piping hot garbage. This meeting was going nowhere and fast. It was easy to see why Iroha wanted his help with this.
"So, what are we mobilizing all of these volunteers for exactly?" Hachiman posed the question cautiously, unsure of what kind of answer he was going to get. Some of the Sougou kids gave him the stinkeye.
Tamanawa turned to look at him and smiled, "It's too early now to decide where the labor will be pooled," he paused and took a sip from a bottle of water he had nearby, adjusted his tie and continued, "starting this early implies losing valuable brainpower and losing the ability to follow through on multiple unheard ideas; to put on the best event with the peak satisfaction for the customer, every idea must be carefully considered and optimized for peak consumption pleasure."
"Preach it!"
Surely, the universe was testing him. How much more of this could a man possibly take? Maybe he could nudge them along with a different approach.
He spoke again, more tentatively, "But in order for us to peak our labor productivity and satisfaction per person, it perhaps is necessary to have an idea of what tasks will be necessary to accomplish in order to consolidate our talent and bring minds together for ideal creativity?"
At this, Iroha looked at him again, as did that girl from junior high... Kaori Orimoto, the same girl who had been obnoxiously shouting "preach it" every other line of conversation. The students began murmuring to themselves, considering the new approach.
"I believe our per capita satisfaction," he started, almost smugly (was he trying to one up Hachiman's per person statement?), "would be peaked with as much creative processing power as possible behind these events even before we begin creatively constructing these events themselves. To have an idea of these events before we have an idea about the idea of these events would limit our creative powers and therefore diminish consumer satisfaction noticeably. It is most advantageous for us to simply brainstorm at this moment."
If Hachiman's eyes rolled any further into the back of his head, he would probably sever his optic nerves.
"But," he protested, "perhaps something can be done to initialize these creative steps. After all, the best ideas come through action. Perhaps an action that will bring this project to the forefront of our minds and begin to allocate resources will also begin to consolidate creativity and foster better inter school relationships?"
The students chattered among themselves again. Kaori even threw an enthusiastic "preach it!" out in response to his suggestion.
Another student from Sougou cleared his throat and spoke up, "It's true! A strategic assessment of all disposable capital would optimize the creative process by allowing us to work with what we have."
And Yukino thought he had the eyes of a dead fish before. Hilarious.
Tamanawa spoke up again, "Alright everyone! It seems like a good idea would be to come up with possible mechanisms to secure additional revenue and capital for this event, do we have any volunteers?"
Iroha's hand shot up and the Student Council's heads drooped down. "We'll handle it, President Tamanawa," she smiled easily and moved to pick up a set of forms from the head of the tables.
Another student, this time a girl, spoke up. "I feel the scale of our efforts are too minor, perhaps we could do well with upscaling and even getting another high school involved in the creative process?"
Chatter filled the room, and another "preach it" was thrown out there. This was bad, any other high schools getting involved would only make these meetings a bigger dead end!
"Well," Hachiman cleared his throat and the room went silent. All eyes were on him now. "If we involved another high school then our own creative voices might be stifled by a rivaling vision, creating a destructive interference and lowering consumer satisfaction. Perhaps it would be best simply for us to outsource some of these problems to others in the community more capable of supporting our vision, rather than rivaling it."
The President rubbed his chin, "I rather like the idea of outsourcing. Perhaps we can involve local elementary students in this project and get their feedback!"
"But how?" Another student mused aloud, rubbing her chin.
"Preach it!"
"I've got it," Tamanawa snapped his fingers, "game therapy! We can have the children make ornaments and Christmas decorations and as them what they hope will be there!"
"Righteous!"
"Preach it!"
"My mother teaches at a local elementary, I'll have her get the word out!"
"Excellent!"
Hachiman was losing his mind, when would this damned meeting end?
"This has been a productive meeting," the President huffed, cutting into the chatter adjusting his tie again, "we should adjourn until tomorrow, where we'll go over other possible methods to increase creativity, refine brainstorming, and calibrate our expectations of the event."
Thank goodness it's over.
The students began packing up, a flurry of friendly chatter overtook the fake professional atmosphere from earlier. It seemed like the rest of the Student Council and Iroha were having some difficulties finding a good working relationship. Perhaps it would be important to talk to her about that, Hachiman considered.
"Senpai, you were actually pretty helpful out there!" The younger girl beamed up at him, taking no note of the dirty looks coming from behind her as the Student Council collected extra sheets of paper from the students, presumably to complete other functions the first year had volunteered them for.
"I just decided to talk as stupidly as everyone else does," he mumbled, "say, Isshiki, how has your relationship with the Student Council been?"
Her easy smile slipped into a pout, "Strained," she admitted. She looked over her shoulder, hoping they hadn't noticed her admit this. She wrung her hands together in play anxiety, "Would Senpai have any advice about that?"
Ah, so she is capable of reading between the lines when it might not suit her. Interesting.
"Yeah, you seem to volunteer them for things and leave them to do all the work from the functions you signed them up for. If you help them out a little it might make things better."
"Aye-aye, cap'n!" She giggled and mock saluted and left for her Council.
Hachiman sighed, glad it was over, and ducked out of the room. He made his way to the nearest vending machine and bought himself a coffee, sat down and cracked the can open.
"You were awesome in there," a voice called out to him. Kaori Orimoto, just his luck. She sat down next to him and continued, "Were you on Student Council in junior high? Or did you just pick this up recently?"
He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, "I've actually never been on the student council," he confessed.
"Really?" An eyebrow arched, "I would never have guessed with how capable you seemed in there! So different from the awkward Hikigaya I remember!" She chuckled at her own joke.
She cleared her throat, "So, anyway... I was wondering, did you break up with your last girlfriend? I noticed you and the President on your Council seem to be getting closer, is it possible you're going for her now?"
The implications of that statement brought a fiery blush to his cheeks as he stiffened slightly in his chair and stammered a response, "N-no... I never had a girlfriend to break up with in the first place."
"Oh? I thought you were with one of the two girls that found you when we all went out with Hayato," she admitted.
"Oh no, we're just clubmates," he corrected her, barely holding back another eye roll. He blew air up at his cowlick lazily, sending the lock of hair flopping.
"What club are you in?"
"The Volunteers Club."
She thought that was very funny, if her uproarious laughter was anything to go by.
"Oh Hikigaya, you're hilarious! The Volunteers Club! What kind of name is that?" She squeaked the words out, rocking back and forth in her chair.
"I wasn't even joking..."
The laughter intensified, and between her laughing fits she wheezed out her response, "I know! That's the best part!"
Ever the trooper, Hachiman ground through the close of conversation, chugged the last of his coffee, and departed without any further hassle. It was time to go home and sleep.
"Bah, he muttered, "politics."
This was going to be a long few weeks till Christmas, between this, the broken state of the club, and... whatever he and Yui were doing.
Before Hachiman could mount his bike, his phone started ringing.
Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Beep.
"Hello?"
"Hikki, I need someone to talk to."
A/N: Hey guys! I was working on this one and figured it'd be better to just post this today and work on a new chapter tomorrow! I've been doing some research to hopefully refine my writing a little bit more, and I'm glad to see that I'm starting to lengthen the chapter lengths, hopefully the next one will be even longer! I'll be doing my best, but with my university finals right around the corner, it's possible that I may not be able to keep up the daily updates in another few weeks... Er, well again I'm still gonna do my best on that though. I'm rambling. Sorry guys it's 4AM and I just finished grinding this chapter out on a caffeine high because I felt too guilty just leaving that short drunken garbage for you all from earlier. Anyways, I'm super glad to see all of the awesome feedback I've been getting and I'm stoked so many people are enjoying my first fic! If you have any ideas, comments, suggestions, my inbox is open and as always, don't hesitate to review! Have a lovely day/night, my wonderful readers!
