"What's with the whiteboard, Fujiwara-senpai?"
Fujiwara wore an ominous smile while turning her back on the rest of the student council. Right then, the door to the student council room opened to reveal Kaguya, Damian, and Anya.
"Ah, I see you've cooked up another 'team-building exercise' for the student council, Fujiwara-san. Now-"
"So, do you guys remember the arm wrestling tournament?"
Kaguya fell to the ground, covering her ears as her eyes filled with pain and sorrow!
Not the muscle queen… Anything but the muscle queen… If she mentions the muscle queen, I'll die.
Muscle queen?
Fujiwara wore an oblivious smile, completely ignoring Kaguya.
"Since we've got 2 new members of the council, we need to determine a new muscle queen! Ah, I guess that everyone else will get a second chance too, but this'll be an excellent opportunity to show our new members how we work around here!"
That was a lie. In reality, Fujiwara had been training for the entire last half year, exercising her upper body for the sole purpose of earning the title of muscle queen!
That's right, Ishigami! I'll show you… I'll show ALL OF YOU how much I've grown!
President sounds a little shallow.
Fujiwara noticed Damian raising his hand from the entrance.
"Yes, Shijo-kun? Also, there's no need for you to raise your hand to speak.
"Oh, ok then. I was going to ask: what's the point of us actually trying? Couldn't we just drop out with no consequences?"
"Yeah, but you'd have to wear the 'weakling' sash." - Fujiwara
Ishigami helpfully pulled out the sash to demonstrate with a smile.
"I see… Still, don't you think that some sort of reward is in order?"
Fujiwara thought to herself for a moment before…
"Yeah, that sounds good! How about the winner gets to ask for a favour from each of the losers?"
I'll make sure to use my winnings extra carefully~
I need to make sure that I don't lose!
Anya wore a look of panic while staring at Fujiwara's carefree smile.
President's way too good at hiding her intentions… Is she some sort of genius? In any case, I need to make sure that no one knows how much I'm freaking out right now. Smile.
Damian felt unease mingled with a strange sense of familiarity as he looked at Anya's odd smile. He flashed a smile of his own at her before looking away.
Yes! It's working! Be fooled, student council, for I, Anya Forger-
She's not good at faking expressions, huh? God, that's adorable.
…
Thankfully for Anya, no one saw her face go completely the colour of her hair.
Anyways, we've got a showdown to get to!
Fujiwara pulled out a stick from god-knows-where and began pointing to various parts of the board.
"So, this is going to be a double-elimination bracket with several one-on-one matchups to determine the final victor! First, it'll be me vs. Ishigami. Then, Miko-chan will be up against Shijo-kun, and finally, Kaguya-san vs Forger-san! Everyone got that?"
"Yep." x5
Battle Start! Fujiwara and Ishigami were both at the table, ready to go! Iino had her hands clasped around theirs before…
"3, 2, 1, fight!"
The battle seemed to be pretty even at first, but Fujiwara began losing ground after just a few seconds. Meanwhile, Kaguya watched with vague amusement, Damian watched with rapt attention, and Anya had already almost fallen asleep on the side.
Gak, this isn't good! Alright, I've just gotta do the thing I planned!
Eh? A plan?
Anya shot up, noticing Fujiwara edging towards the right side of the table.
"Miss Auditing Officer?"
"I'm the general affairs manager now, but yes?"
"Didn't the president just move to the right a little bit?"
Fujiwara froze, immediately handing the win over to Ishigami as he slammed her hand into the desk, her mind only being filled with one thought:
Sh*t.
"If one person moves to the side of the arm that they're using, then they can use their body weight to create an unfair advantage-"
Damian tapped Anya on the shoulder, causing her to stop explaining.
"I think you've said enough, Forger-san."
Sure enough, Anya saw Fujiwara on the ground with tears running down her eyes and a 'weakling' sash draped around her. Above her was Ishigami with one of the happiest expressions Anya had seen him with since they met. Iino, meanwhile, had a hand on Ishigami's holder with a slightly concerned smile.
"So, I believe that the next competition is between Iino and Shijo-kun?"
"You should watch out, Shijo-kun! I've been doing some muscle training lately, so I might just be a tough nut to crack!"
"Then, I won't be holding back against you, Iino-senpai!"
The 2 of them shared a quick smirk before getting into position. Ishigami put his hands around theirs…
"3, 2, 1, begin!"
Much to Anya's surprise, Fujiwara spontaneously changed from her uniform to an oddly familiar yellow sweatshirt and backwards baseball cap.
"Old meets new in this battle of strength where Auditing officers are at an arm's length-"
"What on earth are you doing, Fujiwara-senpai?"
The background music stopped as Fujiwara phased back into her uniform.
"Ah, sorry, I got into the habit of rapping whenever I hear '3, 2, 1, begin' anywhere."
"You have serious issues, senpai."
While this was happening, you'd think that the match would have concluded, right?
Well, you'd be dead wrong! While it might be true that Iino had begun working out recently in order to keep up with Ishigami (and maybe spend some more time with him, but she'd never admit that) Damian's no slouch either! Being in the Shijo family means that he must undergo rigorous physical training daily to stay athletic! Damian has never been particularly athletic, but this man can truly do anything he sets his mind to! Sound familiar? Well, it should!
How is this guy so strong? I should've known better not to underestimate my kouhai…
This girl really is too strong for someone of her size. I need to just give one last push!
Slowly, over the course of the next minute, Damian emerged victorious, just barely forcing Iino's hand all the way down.
"That was really close, Sy-on boy!"
"Yeah, you were fighting right until the end, Iino. Good for you."
Iino smiled at the praise from Ishigami before Fujiwara announced the next battle.
"Alright, then! Next up is Anya-chan and Kaguya-san!"
I didn't know how strong Anya-san is, so I put her against Kaguya-san to take her out early.
Is Kaguya-senpai that strong? Then I can't afford to hold back!
The rest of the council stared in horror as a murderous aura emanated from Anya's 'heh' face. That is, everyone except for Kaguya who maintained perfect composure.
Since she's so much smaller than me, I should use my right hand as a handicap.
"We should start the match now, right, Fujiwara-san?"
Fujiwara gulped nervously before giving a quick nod.
"Y-yeah, you're right. 3, 2, 1, fight!"
*WHAM!* *WOOSH*
…
The very moment Fujiwara let go, a loud crash was heard throughout the neighbourhood as the splitting of wood filled the ears of everyone in the council. Everyone stared at Anya in awe, who looked up, saying:
"Ah! Your hand is bleeding, Kaguya-senpai!"
Anya took Kaguya's hand, examining it all over.
"No deep cuts… No splinters either, you got really lucky there, just some bruising. I'll bandage that right up for you, Kaguya-senpai!"
The rest of the student council stared at Anya, everyone except Damian sharing one thought.
What? x4
Meanwhile, Damian…
Ah. That's how she punched me across the room that one time.
Why are everyone's thoughts so silent? Should I break the silence? Yeah, I think I will. C'mon, now, smile.
If Damian thought that Anya looked cute before, there was only one word to describe her now.
Terrifying…
Eh? Did I do something wrong? I could've sworn that this is a perfect smile.
Anya spoke, seemingly without moving her lips (ventriloquism!)
"N-next match: Treasury-senpai vs. Sy-on boy. Winner faces me. You can do it on the president's desk since this table's busted."
Eep! x2
Is she planning on making us do this just to look down on us?
Wearing a horrified expression, Ishigami slipped back into his old habits to cope.
This is too much… If I have to face off against her, then I might need to pull out my CD…
Wearing an equally horrified expression, Iino slipped back into her old habits to cope.
I-it's not like I'm scared of her or anything! How dare that peasant try to shake my will!
Wearing an equally horrified expression, Damian slipped back into his old habits to cope.
Damian and Ishigami made their way to the president's table, seemingly moving as slowly as possible.
Every second is a blessing I must use to its fullest.
What's the treasurer talking about?
Damian was so afraid that he didn't even turn red at Anya touching his hand.
"3, 2, 1, start!"
…
Now, at first glance, you may imagine a deathmatch between 2 men attempting to show off their strength in front of the one they love!
If you imagined that, you'd be wrong!
If I lose, then he'll have to face off against her! x2
Smiling really doesn't help, does it?
These 2 cowards were far too afraid of Anya's raw strength! Showing off their own muscles was utterly secondary to preserving their lives! Still, slowly but surely, the guilt at leaving the other to suffer began to weigh on them!
"C'mon, you two, if no one wins in 15 seconds, you're both advancing and you each owe an extra favour!"
"Eh?!" x2
The guilt from earlier combined with a new fear was just enough to push these 2 boys over the edge of empathy!
As his senpai, I should really just try to take the blow for him, shouldn't I? That's right, I probably have a responsibility to protect him from having to arm-wrestle her.
As a new member of the council, wouldn't it be inconsiderate not to help out a long time member? I should be doing everything in my power to help him preserve his own life!
Is arm-wrestling me that bad? Do I smell weird or something? Maybe I forgot my lotion today and my hand's really dry? No, that's not it, I always bring 2 spares. Hm…
The harder she thought, the more power her aura exuded, thus increasing the fear that Ishigami and Damian felt in their hearts! Nevertheless, the both pushed through to overpower their opponent! The only problem was…
What the heck? He's choosing now to put in more effort? X2
They chose to take one for the team at the exact same time as each other!
Well, if he's offering, then I may as well take him up on that!
There's a deal happening here? I'm so confused…
All of a sudden, Damian felt the resistance from his opponent drain, slamming Ishigami's arm straight into the table with no mercy. Granted, it wasn't 'break the floor' hard, but it still left a mark.
"And the winner is… Sy-on boy! You looked really cool there~"
Anya said this in a way that emulated how a maniacal villain would announce the winner of their death tournament. Funny how much unexpected influence informants have.
Despite her tone, Damian wore a huge, goofy grin
"Next, Sy-on boy vs…"
Anya dramatically turned to Damian, wearing her 'heh' face.
"...me."
Her aura was stronger than ever before, causing Damian to gulp in nerves. Everyone was so scared that Fujiwara didn't even object when Anya took a seat in the president's chair. Ishigami walked up to the 2 of them, clasping his hands around theirs.
If I use all my strength, maybe I can soften the blow? Please don't kill me, Forger-san…
"3, 2, 1, begin!"
Damian immediately began pushing as hard as he could, only to be met with an unstoppable level of resistance and a blank stare from Anya. After a few moments, he began to realise something.
Her hand is… really soft.
Damian was red-faced before, but now, he swapped his colour palette for a slightly different reason. Anya, meanwhile…
Of course it's soft, I have 3 bottles of lotion on me at all times. Still, I can't use too much force, or Sy-on boy'll get hurt.
Anya neglected to show that level of mercy empathy to Kaguya, but I digress.
Alright then! Take a deep breath and control your strength on the count of 3!
I feel like she's squeezing my hand a lot… Why is she doing that?
You'll see, Sy-on boy! 1, 2, 3…
*WHAM*
Damian's futile defence was instantly overcome through Anya's brute strength. Fortunately for Damian, he would soon realize:
Hang on, my hand's not busted?
That's right! By adjusting her grip in a way which would force Damian's fingers up, Anya could shift the leverage in a way that reduced the total force outputted onto Damian's hand, thus not destroying the table or the hand!
"Good game, Sy-on boy~"
"Yeah…"
Anya raised an eyebrow when she saw that Damian's face was still red before giving a giggle.
"Ah? You're still red? I must've really pushed you hard, Sy-on boy!"
"Eh? U-uh, yeah, you really did, heh…"
Phew…
Phew?
Those 2 should date already. X4
You may believe that humans have 3 base urges, and you'd be mostly right. However, teenagers have a 4th: the desire to correct other people.
"By the way, Sy-on boy and I are actually going on a- mmph!"
Damian immediately covered her mouth with his hand. Sweat began flying out of his head as his face went 3 shades redder.
"Ah, it looks like we should get to the next contest! It's a shame we couldn't hear what Forger-san had to say, right?"
The rest of the student council eyed Damian and Anya with suspicion.
Wait, are they actually… x4
They took one look at Anya's carefree look and dismissed that thought.
That girl? - Fujiwara
No way. - Iino
A vein began to pop out of Anya's head as she cracked her knuckles, a single thought permeating through her mind.
I'm gonna clobber these people.
Result of today's battle: It's not over just yet, but at this rate, Iino and Fujiwara'll be lucky to make it out alive, so I'm gonna call it their loss for now.