Chinatsu: The Akari & Sakurako Fan Club
Akarin!
Yui: Hey, Yuru Yuri: Amusement Club Forever is about to start.
Chizuru: Hello everyone.
Yui: In today's chapter, we'll be spending time with the middle school girls.
Chizuru: All four of them are in this chapter, and the chapter is from Chinatsu's point of view.
Yui: Have you been following what's been happening with them?
Chizuru: A little. I think-
Kyouko comes running in.
Kyouko: BORING!
Yui: Kyouko…
Kyouko: Seriously, your introduction is a total snooze, Yui. You guys need to live it up some!
Chizuru: And just what should we be doing, Toshino Kyouko?
Kyouko: Ahem. Today's chapter is about the middle school girls! They'll be fighting to the death as giant robot monsters invade the school!
Yui sighs. Chizuru rubs her forehead.
Kyouko: And then…some other stuff happens!
Yui: Fantastic. Let's get to the robot monsters and the 'other stuff' before this gets too absurd, then.
The school elections had concluded. On a sunny but cold November afternoon, Chinatsu sat in the Student Council room across from the two new members of the Student Council. The two of them had shown up for their first Student Council meeting, and, after congratulating and welcoming them, Himawari had wasted no time in getting right down to business, even though Sakurako and Akari weren't present when they started. Chinatsu knew that Sakurako had cleaning duty in their class, but she wasn't sure where Akari was. It wasn't like Akari to be late. She hoped Sakurako hadn't convinced her to stay and help clean when it wasn't her day to do so.
The new Vice President was a second-year girl who had black hair and a face that was shaped a little like a cat's. She smiled impishly at Chinatsu as Himawari talked with them and went over what they'd be doing with the Student Council. Chinatsu figured the new Vice President must have somehow known Sakurako and Akari, having asked about them before their meeting even started. Chinatsu raised an eyebrow at her, and the girl wiggled her nose at her.
Are you going to be trouble? I wonder. You should at least be more respectful to your senpai and not look at me like that when you're supposed to be paying attention to Himawari.
Chinatsu turned away from her and looked at the new first-year who had joined the Student Council. She had long, straight green hair that went almost to her waist and a little mole under her right eye. Unlike the second-year, she was diligently paying attention to Himawari and even taking notes on what she was saying.
"So, I know this all must be a lot to take in," Himawari was saying. "But please don't feel overwhelmed. We all work together, and we're ready to help each other with anything that comes up."
Chinatsu was about to concur when the Student Council room door was flung open. Sakurako marched in, and Akari was right behind her, carrying a small grey shopping bag in addition to her own schoolbag. Chinatsu looked up, glad to see Akari.
She always lights up any room she's in. I just wish it could her and me for a while without Sakurako being there.
"Hi, everyone!" Sakurako said. She turned to the table. "Welcome, new Student Council members! Oh, hey, it's the bench girls!"
"Bench girls?" Chinatsu asked.
"Yes, because they were sitting on a bench outside when we met them before."
"You remembered us, Omuro-senpai," the Vice President said happily.
"Hello, again!" Akari said from behind Sakurako. "We brought drinks to celebrate you two joining the Student Council! And there's ice-cream in the mini-fridge as well."
"There is?" Himawari asked.
Akari nodded. "We made sure to get some for today!"
"Akaza-senpai is so thoughtful," the first-year said happily. "That's one of the reasons so many girls look up to her."
Good grief.
"Eheheh," Akari smiled.
"I've always looked straight at Akari, never up or down to her," Sakurako mused.
The Vice President giggled. "And Omuro-senpai's such a clever comedian. No wonder you two are so well-liked." Sakurako grinned toothily at her.
"Well, thank you for taking care of that, Co-President Sakurako and Special Assistant Akari," Himawari said shortly. "Now, if you two would please sit down, we can continue the meeting."
"We could finish that later, Hima!" Sakurako waved her hand. "We have ice-cream to eat and soda to drink!"
"We still have official business to go over," Himawari said. She sounded very annoyed now. "Remember what we talked about before, Sakurako?"
"What?"
"Ugh, Sakurako!"
"Hey, hey!" Akari cut in. "Let's not argue. Let's get a little more work done, and then we can reward ourselves with ice-cream. How does that sound?"
Sakurako beamed at her. "That's a good compromise, Akari-chan!"
"Fine," Himawari said. She was clearly irked. Chinatsu could guess at what she was thinking: she was most likely exasperated by the fact that, once again, Sakurako would listen to Akari but not her.
And as for me? Akari almost completely ignores me when she's with Sakurako. It feels like we're not as close as we were before, as if Sakurako's stolen her from me. Do you think Akari's stolen Sakurako from you, Himawari? If someone suggested that, would you laugh it off and say Akari was welcome to her? I wonder.
In the days that followed, the two new members of the Student Council settled well into the routine Himawari had set out for them. They seemed prone to socializing and laughing with Akari and Sakurako, but they were at least willing to buckle down and work when it was time to do so. One afternoon, following a meeting, Himawari barely had to outline the task she had for them before they dutifully set to it. She smiled at the two of them as they set off to go take care of their work. Once that was done, she pulled three stacks of print-outs from a shelf and set them down on the table. Chinatsu recognized them as the ones Himawari had her put together the previous day.
"These printouts need to be distributed to the third-year classrooms." Himawari explained to Akari, pointing at the first stack. She then pointed at the other stacks as she continued to give instructions. "Those will need to go to the second-year classrooms and those will need to go to the first-year classrooms."
"Understood!" Akari said smartly. "Akari will take care of them."
"Thank you."
"I'll help you, Akari-chan!" Sakurako piped up.
"Is that really necessary?" Himawari asked.
"Of course, Hima! Look at all that, you can't expect Akari to carry such a heavy load of paper by herself."
"Thank you, Sakurako-chan," Akari smiled. "That's very thoughtful of you."
"I…have a different job for you, Sakurako," Himawari said.
"Oh, what is it?"
"Well, um…" Himawari stammered. "You can…uh…you can take care of it when you're done helping Akari."
"Okay! Let's go, Akari-chan!"
Sakurako grabbed two of the stacks of print-outs from the table and took off.
"Wait up!" Akari called as she grabbed the third and ran after her.
"And off they go," Chinatsu commented.
"Yes," Himawari agreed. "At least I know Sakurako's probably doing work if she's with Akari."
"Or maybe Sakurako's convincing her to goof off."
"I suppose that's also possible."
"Himawari, do you want me to take care of the job you were going to give to Sakurako?"
"What? Oh, no, that's fine, Chinatsu. To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was going to have her do."
"Huh? But that's not what you told her."
Himawari ignored Chinatsu's reply. "I do have something you could take care of, Chinatsu."
"Sure, what do you need?" You could have asked Akari to stay instead of Sakurako, maybe. I would have liked having her around more.
"I need to you to go through these class rolls and mark who and who hasn't completed their goal forms for November."
"Sure thing."
Himawari handed her a stack of class rolls and a long list indicating whose forms had been turned in. She then rolled the computer desk over next to the head of the table and began working on something there. Chinatsu began to work down the list, matching names on it to names on the class rolls. She had just turned a page to start marking off names for a different class when she heard two girls talking just outside the Student Council room door.
"…can meet them. Akaza-senpai is cute and sweet, and Omuro-senpai is really funny and smart. They're basically perfect upperclassmen. "
"Wow. Will they want to talk with us? I mean, I'm a transfer student, and I only just started here a week ago…"
"Sure. I met them with Nishi, and they were very friendly to me. They'll make you feel super-welcome!"
"They sound really nice. I knew some girls like that at my old school. Say, are they together?"
"Of course they are. They're in the same class and on the Student Council, so they're probably together all the time."
"I mean are they 'together' together?"
"Ooh. I don't know, but maybe? If they aren't, they'd make a super adorable couple."
"Like out of a manga or anime?"
"Sure, but real!"
Chinatsu looked up at the door, frowning. Two heads were peeking inside the Student Council room, but quickly retreated when they saw Chinatsu had noticed them. From outside the door, Chinatsu could hear the girls carry on with their conversation.
"Which one is Akaza-senpai? The one with the big boobs and blue hair?"
"No, Akaza-senpai has red hair and hair buns."
"Oh. Is that Omuro-senpai, then?"
"No. She's smaller and has lighter hair. I guess they're not around right now."
"Then who's that in there, sitting at the head of the table? I would think the Student Council President would sit there, but Omuro-senpai is the President, right?"
"Right. I'm not sure who that girl is or the other one ether."
"Ahem! Do you two need something?" Himawari cleared her throat loudly and called out to the two girls standing just outside the room. She had a pleasant look on her face, but Chinatsu suspected it was just a façade.
"Uh, excuse us!" one of the girls said, peeking around the door again, leaning somewhat into the room. Chinatsu recognized her voice as the first girl she had heard speaking. "We were just seeing if Akaza-senpai and Omuro-senpai were here."
"They're busy taking care of some work," Himawari said. "If you need something from the Student Council, I'd be happy to help out."
"Oh…do you know when they'll be back?"
"I'm sorry," Himawari said. To Chinatsu, the smile on her face looked forced. "I don't know."
"Okay, we'll check back another day then. Thank you!" The girl disappeared from the doorway.
A second girl briefly poked her head in. "Please excuse us again!" She quickly followed her friend.
Himawari sighed.
"What was up with them?" Chinatsu asked.
"Future members of the Akari and Sakurako Fan Club, I guess," Himawari replied sourly.
Chinatsu smirked, but Himawari touched on something that she herself had taken notice of. For some strange reason, Akari and Sakurako had recently become very popular among the first and second-years at their school. This probably had been building for some time, but it was now far more apparent to Chinatsu. She had noticed that, over the past week or so, many girls called out to the two of them in the hallways. And during breaks and lunches, some of them would come to their classroom vying for attention from the two of them, wanting to talk with them or just admire them. Chinatsu sardonically wondered if she'd start to see younger students sporting hair buns similar to Akari's. And now they were gossiping about Akari and Sakurako as well, it seemed. It really was a de facto fan club.
I guess you finally found your presence, Akari. I'm happy for you, but I'm also a little sad. It's so selfish, but I wish things could be like they were before when you and Sakurako...didn't act like such a couple.
They absolutely were not a couple, Chinatsu insisted to herself. Things would have radically changed were that the case. Realizing her thoughts might quickly cause her to spiral into a bad mood, she turned back to Himawari.
"I know you're joking," Chinatsu said. "But it seems weird that would suddenly be a thing. Or practically a thing anyway."
"Well, if some younger students want to act like silly fan girls over those two, it doesn't matter to me."
You don't sound convinced of that, Himawari. I think it bothers you as much as it bothers me.
"How did that even come to be?" Chinatsu wondered.
"I don't know, and I don't care," Himawari said curtly. "I've scarcely noticed."
"Um, okay. I thought it was hard not to notice."
"Is that so?" Himawari murmured, she typed more.
"Hey, Himawari?"
"Hmmm?"
"Now that you have more members on the Student Council, do you still want Akari and me to stay on? I mean, Akari will probably stay on regardless, but…"
Himawari stopped her typing and looked over at her. "You're not thinking of quitting, are you Chinatsu?"
"No, I was just wondering."
"We discussed this once before, remember? You're a vital part of the Student Council. And we'd have never been able to get through the past six months without you. I don't know what I'd do if you left."
"Okay, point taken. I'm not going anywhere."
"That's good to hear. Don't worry about Akari and Sakurako."
"Eh?" You're telling me not to worry? I can tell you've thought about this as much as I have.
"They're still both our friends," Himawari said. "And I guess they're just having fun. As for them suddenly being popular, well, who can explain how these things work? I'm surprised it hasn't all gone to Sakurako's head, causing her to say something ridiculous about it."
Himawari , are you trying to convince me or yourself? Or both? And why is this getting to me so much?
Chinatsu nodded. "I guess. Hey, if nothing else, you could use that to advertise for us. Come join the Student Council, work with Akari and Sakurako!"
Himawari chuckled. "Then it would really go to Sakurako's head."
Chinatsu laughed with her. Feeling at least a little better, she returned to her work.
