Akari: Third Wheel
Akarin!
Chitose: Hello. Yuru Yuri: Amusement Club Forever is about to start!
Yui waves.
Chitose: Today, we'll be with Akaza Akari, as she spends time in the Student Council room at the middle school.
Yui: So, this should all seem pretty familiar with you.
Chitose: Very much so, of course.
Yui: Do you miss it?
Chitose: I miss some of the people more than the room.
Yui: Of course.
Chitose: I also miss the air conditioner.
Yui: The air conditioner?
Chitose: Yes, the one in the Student Council room at Nanamori Senior High doesn't work well most of the time. I was getting terrible nose bleeds from the heat.
Yui: I'm not sure heat causes those.
Chitose: But we're getting off-topic, Funami. Let's start the chapter!
Akari made her way up the stairs at Nanamori Middle School. She was on her way to the Student Council room. Himawari had called her and Chinatsu the other day and asked them to come in to the school. There was still some work for them to catch up on, but Himawari thought that, with the four of them working, they could finish it all in one morning. Akari hoped so too as she walked through the quiet, empty halls, her footsteps echoing.
It's so strange being at the school when so few others are here. I know some teachers are here and maybe some clubs, but I can't hear them. So, it almost feels like I'm the only one here.
When she got to the Student Council Room, she saw that Himawari and Sakurako were already there.
"Hello!" she greeted them. "Oh, sorry for being late."
"Hello, Akari," Himawari said. "You aren't late. We're just early."
"Yes, hi Akari," Sakurako said sleepily. "Himawari dragged me here early. On our summer break! Can you believe it?"
Akari gave Sakurako a sympathetic smile.
"The President of the Student Council has to assume responsibility and certain duties. And that requires hard work, even during school breaks, Sakurako. I've explained all that to you before."
"Right, right. Can't our duties be finished a little later though?"
"The earlier we start, the earlier we finish."
"But with four of us, we should finish fairly quickly!" Akari said brightly.
"Three," Sakurako corrected her.
"Three?"
"Yes, Sakurako's right. It's just us three today," Himawari said. "Chinatsu called, and she's apparently ill."
"Oh no! That must have just happened today. She was fine when Akari saw her yesterday…"
"These things can set in quickly," Himawari said.
"Hima, I feel sick," Sakurako said. "I don't think I can work!"
"I know you're not sick, Sakurako."
"What if too much work makes me sick?!"
"That's a chance we'll have to take."
"My sister won't be happy if you overwork me and make me sick!"
"Your sister wouldn't believe that I was able to overwork you."
"Um," Akari said. "What do you want Akari to work on?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Akari," Himawari said.
"Ignoring our special assistant, Hima?" Sakurako teased.
"So were you," Himawari retorted. "Anyway! These handouts for the teachers need to be put together, so you can start with them, Akari. Sakurako will help you. After that, we'll need to organize the class logs and figure out which forms still need to be entered into the computer."
"Understood!"
Akari got to work. Once the teachers' handouts were finished, Akari sat down on one side of the Student Council table, and Sakurako sat across from her, twirling her hair. Himawari took a seat at the end and started looking over some binders she had stacked there.
"This is boring," Sakurako complained. "I know what could make things more exciting in here!"
Akari looked up from her work as Sakurako reached into her bag. She pulled out a deck of cards and removed a rubber band from around them.
"Sakurako, we don't have time to play cards. What are you getting those out for?" Himawari asked.
"Fortune telling! I draw the cards and interpret them."
"You need special cards to do that," Himawari frowned. "Tarot cards, I think. Not the kind of standard deck you have there."
"Oh, these are fine, trust me. I read it about it online!"
"That doesn't exactly inspire confidence, nor is it related to our work here."
Sakurako didn't respond. She sat back down at the table across from Akari and shuffled the cards. Akari was impressed by her dexterity and speed.
"So!" Sakurako declared, looking up. "Which one of you would like your fortune told first?"
"I don't want my fortune told at all," Himawari said. "I'm going to finish this going through these class logs."
Sakurako looked slightly disappointed.
"Okay, you can tell Akari's, Sakurako-chan." Akari smiled at her.
"Yay! Thank you, Akari! Okay, draw your first card!"
"Aren't you supposed to draw them and lay them down if you're telling my fortune?"
"Oh, right. Here we go!"
Sakurako drew a card and laid it face-up in front of her.
"The King of Diamonds. That means you'll be richly rewarded with something, Akari-chan!"
"Oh, that will be nice. But what?"
Sakurako didn't answer and drew a second card. "The five of diamonds. You'll lose it on the fifth."
"What?! Just after I got it?"
"Sorry, Akari-chan. Let's see. Ah, the Ace of Spades! That means…uh…you'll have ramen for lunch soon!"
"Today? Or some other day?"
Sakurako shrugged. "Next up: the three of clubs! That's because your birthday is in March!"
"No, Akari's birthday is in July." Next to them, Himawari looked up from her work and snickered.
"Oh, whoops. In that case, March will be a very special month for you. Okay next up, the Queen of Hearts! That means you're very loved, Akari. And that you have a secret admirer."
"Is that so?" Akari blushed slightly. Himawari raised an eyebrow.
"Er, but she's not here!" Sakurako added hastily. "She's somewhere else, far away!"
"How far away?"
"I don't know. The cards don't tell me!"
"The cards withhold quite a bit, it seems," Himawari remarked.
"Oh, what do you know about fortune telling, Hima?"
"Well, I certainly wouldn't presume that I know as much as you, Sakurako."
"Of course you don't! So, want me to tell your fortune now? You can find out your future too!"
Himawari sighed. "If I agree, will you actually do some work? Or at least be quiet for a bit?"
"Sure, sure."
"Okay, fine," Himawari acquiesced. She closed the binder she had been working in and set it aside. She got up from the head of the table and sat down next to Akari. "Tell my future, oh great fortune teller."
Sakurako smiled as she reshuffled the cards. She laid down the first card.
"The nine of hearts!"
"So, what does that mean?"
"You're going to have at least nine lucks today!"
"I see…"
"Next up: the ace of clubs. That…uh…means you'll have fun sometime in the future!"
"What an earthshattering prediction," Himawari said flatly.
"And next we have…huh? A joker?"
"That one might be for your fortune, Sakurako."
"Very funny, Hima. So, hey, it fits! And here's the last one!"
Sakurako laid down another card in front of Himawari. It had a large amount of tiny print on it.
Himawari peered at the card. "Five fun card games you can play…?" she read.
"Whoops," Sakurako said. "I probably should have taken that one out before I started."
Himawari rolled her eyes. "Alright, you've told both our fortunes. Are we done now?"
"Sure, sure. What do you want to play next?"
"Sakurako, we're here to work, not play!"
"It's summer break though!"
"You still need to work, President Omuro!"
"Well, you're just no fun, President Furutani!"
"Why are you so lazy?!"
"I don't know. Why are you…" She looked at Himawari's chest. "…so endowed?!"
"Hey!" Himawari got up and glared at Sakurako. Sakurako glared right back.
"Now, now!" Akari interrupted. She got up from her chair and put a hand on Himawari's shoulder. "Let's be nice. We're all friends, right?"
"Sure," Himawari said, sighing. She went back to the head of the table and sat down.
"Sakurako," Akari said. "Let's just finish the little bit of work we have. There's not much left. Then we can spend all afternoon having fun."
"Oh, do you want to go play games this afternoon, Akari-chan? Or have some other kind of fun?"
"Sure, Akari promises."
"Okay, I'll get to it, then!"
With Sakurako refocused on her work, the things that they needed to complete actually got done in fairly short order. They organized forms for the clubs, put together more packets for the teachers, and made up flyers that would be handed out to students when the summer break was over. For her part, Sakurako was true to word and actually did more work than Himawari and Akari during the rest of the morning.
She can focus and work hard and efficiently sometimes, Akari thought. Why doesn't she do that more often? I guess she wouldn't be Sakurako if she did though.
Finished with the club forms that needed organizing, she handed the folder to Himawari, who placed it in the filing cabinet. It seemed like they were done for the day. It was only eleven-thirty, but Akari already felt a bit worn out.
"There is one more thing we need to do before we leave," Himawari said.
"Even more?!" Sakurako boggled.
"What else needs to be done?" Akari asked.
"Well, look at the mess in this place."
"Okay!" Sakurako said. She looked around the room and then spun herself in place on her foot. "All done! That was easy, Hima."
"Sakurako, I'm serious."
"Aw, why do I have to spend my summer break cleaning?" Sakurako whined. "First we had to clean that beach house, and now it's the Student Council room."
"Cleaning the beach house was our payment for staying in it," Himawari explained. "And we keep the Student Council room clean because we're part of the Student Council!"
"But there are only four of us. So, who cares?"
"I don't like the room being a mess. It's hard to work in, and it looks bad when we get visitors! Additionally, nobody will ever want to join us if the Student Council room is a pig sty!"
"There are elections in November still, right? We'll get two more members at least. We'll make them clean."
"We can't simply leave the place a mess until November nor will give all of our own responsibilities to our juniors."
"Maybe we could move our Student Council meetings to the roof…"
"No, Sakurako. And you're delaying our cleaning starting."
"Forget the cleaning! Let's go have fun!"
"Not this again, Sakurako."
"Akari said we could go have fun!"
"And I say we need to clean!"
"What if," Akari cut in. "We do just a little cleaning today?"
"A little?"
"Yes, we don't have to do everything. We can just organize the clutter and come back another day to finish the scrubbing and dusting and such. I think we're all a little tired from spending the morning working, and nobody will be coming in here over summer break, so it won't matter too much until school starts again."
"That's a good compromise, Akari-chan!" Sakurako hugged her again.
"It's not really something we should have to compromise on," Himawari remarked. "But Akari's reasoning makes sense. Okay, let's clean up the clutter on the table and the shelves and then call it a day."
Simply tidying up the clutter took far less time than cleaning the entire room would have taken. Within fifteen minutes, the three girls were all through and ready to leave.
"Akari, would you like to come to my place for lunch?" Himawari asked as they exited the Student Council room.
"No!" Sakurako said. "Akari and I are going to have fun this afternoon, so she's going to come with me for lunch."
"Is she? And what are you going to have?"
"Uh…ramen!"
"You're inviting to come eat instant ramen with you?"
"No…um…at a restaurant! Akari, do you have any money?"
"Sakurako, you're terrible!"
"Well, I spent mine yesterday on a cute animal pillow!"
"How could you ask someone to lunch and then ask them to pay for you?!"
"Uh, like that? Hey, Akari, in exchange for lunch, would you like a cute animal pillow?"
"It's okay, it's okay!" Akari said, waving her hands. "Let's all go eat lunch together!"
"Hooray! Thank you, Akari-chan!" Sakurako hugged Akari.
"Eheheh, it's no problem."
Lunch turned out to indeed be ramen at a restaurant. So, her fortune actually came true. To Akari's surprise, Sakurako and Himawari didn't argue the rest of the afternoon either. Rather, they seemed to genuinely be enjoying each other's company. Akari was glad for a respite from their arguing, but she still felt a bit like a tagalong all the same; they sometimes went off during their own conversations and ignored her.
Still, she thought. I'm with my friends, and we're all having fun. More days should really be like this.