"Miyuki-senpai's coming here for the winter break?"
Kaguya gave Damian a nod.
"Yes. It all happened so fast, but what I got was that he's going to be back from the culture festival until the day after new years."
"Well, that's awesome! I guess you'll be hanging out with him a lot over the break then, Kaguya-san?"
Kaguya averted her eyes from Fujiwara, going slightly red.
"Well… You could say something like that…"
The rest of the student council eyed her with curiousity as she shrunk in her sit.
###
"You're living together?!"
Kaguya paused before giving Fujiwara an affirming nod.
"H-he offered, so I accepted."
"What about your duties as a daughter of the Shinomiya family?"
Kaguya looked at Anya, then blinked twice before her face turned to the expression of a person who'd just remembered an embarrassing thing they did in middle school.
"Ah… Well, actually… That got figured out a while ago. Remember a little bit before Miyuki-san left when we takled about how I would run the Shinomiya family, Ishigami?"
"Yep."
###
Flashback
Iino sat beside Ishigami filling out paperwork while he typed away at a laptop, talking to Kaguya.
"I'd suggest you get a trusted adult you know who has experience with this kind of thing and also has enough free time to help out."
Kaguya put her fingers to her chin in response to Ishigami.
"Hm… I could ask the Hayasakas- wait, no, the dad tried to kidnap me and they probably be too busy anyways, maybe Fujiwara's dad? No, she'd probably say no. Think…"
A jovial smile appeared on Ishigami's face as he leant back from his laptop.
"Someone who's good at business management and has plenty of spare time? Good luck finding a person like that."
…
A dark look overtook Kaguya's expression, a change which did not go unnoticed by him.
"U-uh, Shinomiya-senpai? D-did you think of someone?"
"Yes… I think I have to speak with Shirogane."
"Don't you mean 'Miyuki-san'? You've been making a point to call him-"
"No no, I meant Shirogane."
Iino looked up from her papers with a confused glance.
"What do you mean- oh. Oh."
A look of realization mingled with horror came across her face before Ishigami began frantically looking between the 2 of them.
"Am I missing something here? He raised the president, so he must be a decent person, right? I remember he even went out of his way to help you get better at fps games, Iino, so…"
Kaguya gulped before answering.
"I-it's not that he's a bad man. Quite the opposite, in fact. It's just…"
"I get what you mean…"
Result of today's battle: Papagane wins.
###
"I still have no idea what you two were going on about."
"Well, long story short, Shirogane's father now controls a 5th of the Shinomiya corporation's assets."
"That's… scary to think about…"
Ishigami gave Fujiwara a confused look.
"How come?"
"I never imagined that the Miyuki who was always scrimping and saving would be the heir to the Shinomiya conglomerate but now? His dad controls a fifth and when he marries Kaguya-san, he'll get half…"
"It really is surprising, isn't it, Shinomiya-senpai?"
Kaguya completely ignored Ishigami, instead turning red and getting lost in her mind.
Marriage?! Fujiwara-san thinks that Miyuki-chan and I will get… Kyaa! That's too much! Then again, we're both going to be adults and we've almost been dating for a year- wait, our anniversary is coming up! Could that be why…
A serene smile came across Kaguya's face.
I love him so much~
Anya was slightly puzzled at this.
Kaguya-senpai being like this scares me a little.
That's when a look of realization came across Anya's face.
"Hold on, that reminds me, the culture festival's happening really soon, right?"
Fujiwara nodded.
"In that case, what does council have to do for it? Is there anything we need to keep track of?"
A star shot out of Fujiwara's eye as a smile appeared on her face.
"Nope! During this year's Hoshin festival, the student council gets a well-deserved break, barring emergencies of course. After almost a year of non-stop work, I'd say we deserve this time off."
"Haven't you been president for less than a month?"
"Shut it, Ishigami-kun. Point is, the culture festival is the time to celebrate your youth! Experience the springtime of your life, fall in love-"
"I've heard that you've never had a boyfriend, though?"
Fujiwara ignored Anya's statement and continued.
"-Have fun with the people you love! So, do you get it?"
Anya gave a curt nod.
"I think so, yeah."
Falling in love? Kind of hard when you have to get close to another boy for world peace.
"So, does that mean that you'll be spending your time with the rest of council, president Fujiwara?"
Fujiwara stared at Damian for a few moments before turning around.
"Making a lot of friends is an important part of youth too."
"Eh? Traitor!"
Anya giggled upon seeing Damian's smirk as he said this before she noticed Iino, Ishigami, and Kaguya looking somewhat sheepish. Upon reading their minds…
"I'm guessing each of you have your own things? Kaguya-senpai's going to be with Former-President-Senpai and Treasury-senpai and General Affairs Senpai are going together. Am I right?"
The three of them went rigid before Ishigami broke the silence with a sigh.
"You're way too perceptive, Forger-san."
"Fufufu… As expected of the Shuchiin PR rep!"
That's when Damian's eyes went wide as a thought generated in his mind.
Wait… if none of the rest of student council is going to be with us, then that means that I don't have any friends that I need to hang out with!
That's sad. Sy-on boy should really get a li-
That means that I can spend the whole thing with Forger-san!
…
Eh?
Anya's face began to contort into a puzzled expression.
Spending the whole day with me? Aren't we already going on a date on Sunday? The culture fest is happening the Thursday and Friday after this one, so does that mean we'll be going on 2 dates in a row? This operation's going way easier than expected! But why would he want to do that? Has he figured out my mission and wants to help me? Or maybe…
Anya's face began to turn red as she looked to the ground.
Maybe he just wants to spend time with me that much…
"A-anyways, Do you have a minute, Forger-san?"
Anya snapped to attention, turning towards Damian.
"Y-yes! Of course!"
She mechanically marched after Damian. He looked back and saw Iino flashing him a thumbs up before anxiously looking forward.
###
They were behind the school again, neither of them having said a word the entire walk there. Before long, they were at the spot they were at before (Damian could tell because of the palm mark in the wall).
"So… What did you want to talk about, Sy-on boy?"
"Well, er…"
Damian positioned himself so that Anya was between him in the wall before taking a deep breath and slamming the wall with his hand.
*BAM*
…
It was nowhere near the destructive capabilities of Anya's 'big wall boom', nor was the effect it had on Anya's heart rate compared to his own, but it did leave her with a slightly confused expression.
"What are you doing, Sy-"
"F-for the date on Sunday!"
The date? Oh, so he's not asking me to the culture festival, or at least, he isn't yet. Alright then, what's he going to say?
"How does the museum sound?"
Anya stayed quiet for a few moments before responding.
"Is there a specific reason?"
"Well… er… I thought that since I know a lot about history, I could try to escort you better while we're there so…"
Anya's mind immediately went where it goes best: work.
If Sy-on boy wants to escort me if we go to a museum, then doesn't that make my job a lot easier?
Why did I say that?! No one ever tells the other person that they want to escort them! That was completely stupid! Gah…
Gak! I need to keep him open to this idea!
"By the way, that wasn't a stupid idea, Sy-on boy!"
Damian gave Anya a slightly confused expression.
Eh? How did she know that I was… Why did she say that?
Shaking his doubts aside, Damian continued.
"So… Is that a yes?"
"Let me think for a moment…"
It was quite the surreal sight; any onlooker would've seen a high school boy 'pinning' a girl to the wall and then noticed that the girl seemed to be… deep in thought? That and her face didn't bear a trace of embarrassment?
The museum is conducive to starting conversations although we'll be in a spot without a lot of other couples so I might not be able to generate progress. Still, there'll be a lot of time to-
Right then, however, Anya's train of thought stopped as a memory from a few days ago popped into her head.
"Shouldn't you think about what you would enjoy the most?"
Anya looked to the ground, suppressing a smile at this memory.
I don't get Sy-on boy. He can be kind of weird and hard to understand sometimes, but really nice other times. Either way…
Her cheeks went red as she began to direct her gaze to the ground.
This kind of thing is nice every once in a while, isn't it?
Anya took a breath, speaking in a hushed, wispy kind of voice which almost sounded like a whisper.
"I think that the museum's a wonderful idea, Sy-on boy."
Damian took a step back, a smile beginning to appear on his face before he caught himself, and went to a cold, slightly grumpy expression.
"...Good. I-I'll see you Sunday morning then!"
She said yes! I didn't think that she would be interested in a museum but she said yes! Haha! I did it! I… she actually said yes. I can't believe it! Ok, ok, ok, ok, I need to prepare now! Go home, get some advice, and prepare.
Anya's expression went deadpan as she watched Damian marching away with thoughts that sounded like he'd just won the lottery.
Sy-on boy doesn't act the way he thinks, but…
The blush returned to Anya's face along with a smile as she looked to the orange sky and scratched her cheek.
"He can be really cute sometimes."
Result of today's battle: Damian wins!