"You know, I'm starting to think that you're bad at video games in general.". Ishigami snorted at his latest win in M_rio Kart over the past week. Truthfully, it was a terrible idea to bring video games into the council room where Ishigami reigned supreme in almost all genres of electronic entertainment.
The person who suggested the idea to bring the electronics was Miko Iino, however.
A week prior, the council room was basically a funeral. No one said anything to anyone, mostly due to the fact that Chika was not present during that week as she had caught a cold from habitually forgetting that it was going to rain.
Unfortunately, luck was not on her side that day. She had accidentally misplaced her phone somewhere in the council room while she was rummaging through her board games that nearly everyone probably had enough of. She looked as though she had processed what to do in that moment, then proceeded to run as fast as she could out of the school as she possibly could, while Shirogane simply observed her from the window with a mixture of worry and disappointment.
The next day, she was marked as absent, but no one was genuinely surprised. Without the energetic love detective, even with her occasional annoying antics, to bring up the mood, everyone was doing what they would've done normally, with the planning of future school events or re-organising papers and files, doing actual student council work.
The atmosphere was just not the same without her.
Save for Ishigami, playing on his console, as usual, putting his leg down on the table while munching on snacks and a soda. This view was not new to anyone, of course, but no one had really went up to tell him to quit his antics.
Ishigami had just turned down Tsubame after all.
It was a very Ishigami-like thing to do when he was sulking, or when he was alive, to sit down while doing absolutely no work. Shirogane and Kaguya looked in disgust, while also becoming more accepting that Ishigami had to do his usual antics. It was more or less his way to wind down. Shirogane knew the exact details of what happened with Ishigami and Tsubame during that Christmas party, even if the latter had not been so willing to share most of the story at first. Even still, he knew that Ishigami would still try to win her over, trying to prove he was worthy of her. Knowing that this was one of the few times that Ishigami had actually talked to and used to like a girl, he knew that he was in some difficult times.
"Ishigami, get up. Do your work." A chilling voice echoed through the room, belonging to a brown-haired individual.
"I'd like to politely refuse, thank you."
…
Silence. Pure silence after that retort. The room went blank. Kaguya and Shirogane could only look away while overhearing the ensuing argument that followed. This has been going on for quite a while.
"Look, there must be another way to slack! Stop playing that dumb game before I take it off of you myself!"
"You aren't my mom, you authoritarian loli!"
"Okay, that's it-!"
Swipe! A sound so loud that even had Shirogane and Kaguya turning their heads. However, there was no slapping motion of red cheek marks. Instead, the console was in someone's hand, albeit the wrong one.
"You aren't getting this back until you stop being lazy!"
"M-My baby! Give her back! Please, it's the only thing I have left! Noooooooo…!"
Shirogane sighed. "When will this ever end?" he muttered to himself.
"Argh! Fine, look, I'm getting bored anyways, so um…I'll let you have it back, only if you share it." Miko pouted. In surprise, Kaguya and Shirogane both looked towards Miko with hints of *Are you serious?*, but quickly looked back when Miko looked back in their direction. They both said nothing, however.
6th place. 8th place. 5th place. 2nd place. She could never top Ishigami in his gaming prowess. She would never be in the first place.
"Damn, you're actually really good. Shame that you wanted to stay in first the whole time though, wouldn't have gotten blue-shelled otherwise."
"How was I supposed to know that you'd have that!?"
"Well, do you wanna try again?"
Miko froze. Those two words, "try again", reminded her of Ishigami's determination to prove to Tsubame that he was indeed worthy of her. She knew that he did nothing to hurt her, but yet he still felt that he had done something to hurt her in a way, which led to him constantly training for the volleyball game after becoming severely depressed in the morning, and one thing led to another and it eventually led to a date between Ishigami and Tsubame. She felt a pang of frustration that he couldn't spend as much dedication towards his actual work...but she felt that that wasn't the only reason she was being frustrated by his previous dedication. After she cleared herself mentally, she could feel the confidence needed to reply.
"I swear…you really have the most useless talents ever. Fine, bring your dumb console tomorrow, and the day, after that, and after that! Until I win!" She announced. Ishigami was surprised by her reaction, not expecting such a reaction from her, but soon shrugged it off. However, their gaming feud was cut-short by Shirogane, who told them that it was getting late and they needed to pack up. A sense of guilt had washed over them as they had spent the day playing video games, and promised to help out the next day.
When everyone had left except Miko and Ishigami, Ishigami had left first after saying a silent "Good-bye" and leaving the room. Looking at his back turned towards her, she suddenly had a sense of sadness over her as she recalled her placing in M_rio Kart. 6th, 8th, and 2nd. She was never first.
Just like how she felt when Ishigami had kept trying to win Tsubame-senpai over, even after the Christmas party. She never felt as though she was first.
*First. First. First*, she pondered, as she left the council room while shedding a single tear. She was determined now.
She was determined to be first this time.
Author's Note: There will be more parts in the future (yay), sorry if this was kinda short. Kaguya and the rest will play a role in the next few chapters, absolutely.