"I spyyy with my little eyeee…someone…being boring and studying on a Friday night!" Kurumi's high-pitched, nasally voice cut through the still night air and Haruna cringed, tensing up and gritting her teeth, eyes closing.
No, Haruna, don't take the bait, don't rise to her challenge. You know she just wants a reaction out of you, so if you say anything, you'll only be giving her exactly what she wants…Haruna exhaled slowly and quietly and continued to read her textbook. Kurumi was not so easily deterred.
"Oh! Would you look at that? It's the crazy old Chairman!"
"Who are you calling Chairman?!" It was more reflex than reaction, Haruna suddenly whipping around in her seat to glare daggers at Kurumi. Kurumi was smiling wickedly back at her.
"Oh, good, Chairman, I'm glad to know old age hasn't rendered you deaf!"
"Kurumi! We are in the same year!"
"Then act like it! Quit studying and let's go out partying! Woo hoo!" Kurumi jumped up and down in the doorway, pumping her fist.
"Kurumi! Hush! We do not party! It is unbecoming of a proper young lady, and—"
"Oh, YAWN!" Kurumi exaggerated a yawn.
"—and just because it is the weekend, that does not give you an excuse to run around, acting like a maniac!" Haruna finished.
"Awww," Kurumi suddenly looked down, literally and metaphorically, staring at the floor as she dragged her shoe across it with frown now on her face. "But Miiko was really looking forward to seeing you, and Miyu asked so nicely, and I—"
"What?" Haruna interrupted sharply.
"Welllll," Kurumi gave a shy, embarrassed chuckle, touching the tips of her pointer fingers together as she looked away; although, Haruna knew the embarrassment was only an act on Kurumi's part. "I may or may not have already told them that we'd meet them for a little late-night music party."
"You what?!"
"So now you can't really say no since they're already waiting on you!" Kurumi finished, smiling cheerfully again with an infuriatingly smug grin.
"Kurumi!" Haruna growled, cursing under her breath, clenching her fists again. Now she was really in a bind. She wanted to keep studying, because she had a really big, really important presentation coming up, but if Kurumi really had already told Miyu and Miiko that she was down for a music party, then, well…It was just as Kurumi said, Haruna couldn't really say no at this point. And a music party did sound tempting…
Kurumi said nothing, only observing Haruna's changing expression as she slowly waded through her little inner turmoil.
Oh, Chairman, Chairman, Chairman, Kurumi shook her head, smiling to herself. You worry too much! You gotta live a little! We're only young once, after all! There's plenty of time for study later! Besides…
"Although, I guess, I could always go alone and just tell Miyu and Miiko that you can't—"
"No!" Haruna hopped up from her desk, and then looked incredibly embarrassed.
"Great!" Kurumi flashed that annoyingly smug, cheerful smile again. "Glad you're not going to be such a square-man and you'll come join us for some fun! Besides, and I never got to tell you this since you so rudely interrupted me earlier, I—"
"Hey! I did not—" Haruna crossed her arms, frowning indignantly.
"I would've missed you if you didn't come," Kurumi shrugged, then before Haruna could even process what she'd said, she darted back down the hallway with a merry, "Byeeeee, Chairman!"
…Would've…missed…me?…Hey wait a minute! Who is she calling Chairman?!
ooo
Huh? The classroom door's already open? But it's only open a crack and it looks like the lights are still off…
"…"
"KURUMI!"
Haruna didn't even need to ask to know who was responsible. After all, who else would go to the trouble of stacking up all the chairs and desks in such a way that they made it impossible to enter the classroom? But of course, if the door was barricaded by furniture, that meant the culprit was still inside! "I know you're in there!"
For a moment, she received no reply. "Don't make me come in there!" she threatened. Technically, it was not impossible to get inside, she just ran the risk of knocking several desks and chairs over in the process.
"Awww, why are you always such a party pooper? I thought you'd like Miiko and I's architecture!" Kurumi's face appeared in a gap between two of the desks. "Aren't you surprised that we actually got here before you did, for once?" she teased.
Haruna seethed. Not only had Miiko and Kurumi done all of this, but the fact that they'd done it before class (before even the teacher or Haruna arrived) meant they must've done it at night, meaning they were breaking curfew as well as breaking into classrooms.
"When I get in there, you guys are so—!"
"Pfft! As if you'd run the risk of being guilty of property damage!" Kurumi snorted, gesturing to the barricade. "Isn't that right, Ms. Goody Two Shoes Chairman?" And there was Kurumi's big mistake.
"Who are you calling Chairman?!" Without even thinking, Haruna pushed on the door as hard as she could. Desks and chairs clattered to the floor.
"Eeek!" Kurumi and Miiko both jumped back with twin shrieks. A second later, Haruna shrieked as well. What Kurumi and Miiko forgot to mention was that alongside their little redecorating scheme, one of them perched a small bucket of water atop the door, hence why it was partially open this morning. It wasn't just meant to lure Haruna in by being suspicious.
Haruna shrieked as she was suddenly doused in cold water. For a second time, without thinking, she lunged forward. Now that was her big mistake. Blinded by the water and shocked by the cold, she slipped and stumbled forward, crashing into one of the overturned chairs. It slid forward underneath the sudden weight of her body pressing up against it and her hands shot forward. She caught herself on a second chair.
Now, her waist and legs were caught in the four legs of one chair while her shaking, soaking hands grabbed onto the seat of another.
"Hehehe, well, talk about a real Chairman, huh?" Miiko chuckled softly. Kurumi snorted with laughter while Haruna growled under her breath.
"First of all, you two are in so much trouble for this! And secondly…Who are you calling Chairman?!"
ooo
Haruna got her "revenge" on Miiko and Kurumi for that little stunt with the desks and chairs and water bucket, but it didn't take long for the two girls to get back to their usual pranks and mischief. Haruna slapped her forehead and sighed. Was it possible for them to go more than an hour without causing trouble? Apparently not.
Although, Haruna did receive a bit of good news later that day. On average, rule-following in the school was on an increase!
"We aren't sure what's causing it, but yes! We've had less write-ups, detentions, and punishments of late for the entire last semester!" said the head of the Disciplinary Committee. Haruna was delighted to hear this, of course.
"Oh, speaking of detention," said another member of the Disciplinary Committee, "I know one of the teachers can't stay to look after her unruly students after class today because she has a meeting. Is there anyone here who would like to volunteer?"
Haruna's hand shot up almost before the question was even done being asked and she was smiling hopefully.
Four hours later, that smile turned to horror. Although it was good to hear that rule-following in the school was on an increase, there were still two outliers. Likewise, because rule-following was on an increase on average, that meant there were only two students in detention today.
"Hey, Chairman, what are you doing here?" Kurumi greeted, slouching back casually in her chair with her hands behind her head.
"Oh, did you get detention too?" Miiko sounded surprised, so Haruna couldn't tell if she was joking or not. On the one hand, she could definitely imagine Miiko being snide and only feigning ignorance. On the other hand, though, Miiko wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed…
"Wha—? No! I'm here to look after you two!" Haruna snapped. "And who are you calling Chairman?!"
"Oh, isn't that sweet of you," Kurumi giggled.
"What happened to our regular teacher?" Miiko asked at the same time, still sounding puzzled.
"She had a meeting," Haruna replied sharply. "So I'm your disciplinarian for today!" She crossed her arms and raised her chin.
"Oh, great, Chairman's really going to have a field-day today, isn't she?" Kurumi rolled her eyes and heaved a dramatic sigh.
"Who are you calling—?"
"Listen, Chairman, Teach usually lets us do homework during detention, so why don't you just let us do that and spare us the lecture, mkay?" Kurumi interrupted with another dramatic sigh. Haruna turned almost as red as her hair with anger, but because what Kurumi proposed wasn't a half-bad idea (and Haruna didn't actually know what else to do with her and Miiko for an hour) she decided to comply. So long as they were quiet…
"Ok, fine, whatever." She took a seat at the teacher's desk, slouching in it, resting her cheek on her knuckles, heaving an impatient sigh. Kurumi gave a satisfied smirk while Miiko cheered a little and went digging around her backpack for her latest assignment. Haruna made a mental note to ask the teacher how she usually carried out detention, since Haruna didn't exactly want to take Kurumi's words at face value. But, Haruna supposed, so long as they didn't try to pull any pranks or start anything funny, Haruna would allow detention to become a study hall. Just once.
I think this is the first time I've seen Kurumi do homework all year…
ooo
Kurumi and Miiko laughed as they watched Haruna tumble down the hill.
"Operation: Scare the Chair was a success!" Kurumi cheered, dropping her end of the clear plastic string she and Miiko used to trip Haruna. Their beloved Chairman had been so busy with committee work lately that they could see it was taking a negative toll on her mental health, so to try to cheer her up and get her to see that she was pushing herself too hard, they decided to prank her, because that's just what they did.
Kurumi had actually practiced this prank herself earlier, so she knew that Haruna wouldn't actually be hurt by the fall down the hill. What she hadn't predicted, though, was that the poster Haruna was carrying would go flying out of her hand and into the tiny pond at the base of the hill.
"NO! MY POSTER!" Haruna sounded so broken and terrified that Kurumi and Miiko's laughter died at once.
"Uhh…Haruna? Are you…ok?"
Haruna actually charged into the pond, grabbing at the poster, but it was too late. Even though half of it was still perfectly fine and dry, the other half was already so wet and smeared that everyone knew it was completely unsalvageable. Uh oh…
What ensued was the kind of rage from Haruna that no one had ever seen before and it actually left Kurumi and Miiko shaking, scared.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE?! THAT WAS A POSTER FOR MY PRESENTATION FOR THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE! THEY'RE TRYING TO PICK A NEW LEADER AND I WAS A CANDIDATE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG AND HARD I WORKED ON THAT POSTER?!"
Then rage turned into despair, and she broke down crying, falling to her knees again and sobbing and wailing her heart out. It was such a chilling, pathetic sound that everyone in the area looked afraid, no one brave enough to approach the mourning, grieving student.
"Ha-Ha-Haruna?" Kurumi finally mustered up some courage, stepping closer to the weeping woman.
"NO! DON'T CALL ME THAT! DON'T CALL ME CHAIRMAN! DON'T CALL ME HARUNA! DON'T CALL ME ANYTHING! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE…ME…ALONE?!"
Kurumi jumped back with a shriek, quivering. She felt tears burning in her eyes as Haruna looked up at her with tears in her own. She took all her anger out on Kurumi, but for once, Kurumi thought it was entirely deserved, and she just stood there, taking every insult and shout Haruna threw at her. Then, even after Haruna finally managed to compose herself long enough to stand up and stagger away, Kurumi remained frozen.
"I…I…Haruna…I'm sorry…so sorry…I never meant to…I didn't realize…" She watched the poster slowly sink into the pond.
"How could you be so selfish, Kurumi?! Did you ever stop and think even ONCE about anyone other than yourself, or your stupid pranks?! Just because YOU didn't think what I was doing was important doesn't mean it WASN'T!"
"I only thought it was a little poster, I didn't realize…" That was why Kurumi chose to do the prank when she did. She'd been watching Haruna all day, transporting items to and fro, and she waited until Haruna was only carrying a single poster to actually trip her. But as Haruna said…
"Just because YOU didn't think what I was doing was important doesn't mean it WASN'T!"
Haruna was right. Kurumi was nothing but a selfish idiot.
ooo
Even though Haruna was essentially out of the competition for the committee leadership position now, she was still expected to attend to support her peers. She swallowed her pride and pain and took a seat while someone else took the stage. The second she spoke into the microphone, though, it emitted a loud farting noise. For a moment, nobody made a sound. They just stared in shock while the girl on stage looked mortified. She tapped the microphone and it sounded normal, but the moment she went to speak again, the same issue happened. This time, a few people laughed.
"Enough, enough!" One of the nuns overseeing the event bustled on stage and took the microphone away. "Just speak loudly," she told the girl, but by now, she looked so mortified and worried of something else going wrong that she suffered a small bout of stage fright.
"Would you like someone else to go first?" the nun asked, and the girl nodded mutely before scurrying offstage.
The next person didn't have better luck. Even though she didn't have to worry about a…noisy microphone, when she opened her posterboard, all that was inside was a series of childish and silly cartoon drawings of animals doing stupid things. By now, people were whispering, wondering what was going on. Haruna, however, knew exactly who to blame…
"Kurumi! What in God's name are you trying to do?!" she demanded of the other girl. "Sabotaging the entire Disciplinary Committee! What has gotten into you?! Honestly, it feels like I don't even know who you are anymore!" While everyone else remained in their seats, trying to understand why every single presentation wound up suffering some hilarious and tragic technical difficulty, Haruna slipped backstage. Sure enough, Kurumi was there, balancing on the catwalk high above the stage.
For a moment, Kurumi looked afraid, but knowing that she would have to face the music eventually, she came back down.
"I'm sorry, Haruna, I'm just trying to help you win!"
"You! …What?"
"I know, I ruined everything with my stupid pranks! I wasn't thinking! I was just…trying to get you to stop being so overly committed to the committee, you know?"
"What?" Haruna narrowed her eyes dangerously, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
"I mean!" Kurumi was quick to catch herself before she accidentally said/did something offensive again. "I mean that while it's good that you're so, well, committed to them, it's…taking a toll on your mental health…in a bad way…and I…didn't really like seeing that…so I thought that maybe a prank would help…change your mind?"
Man, it sounded really stupid now, saying it out loud…
"But then I know, I ruined everything. I messed up all your hard work and stole your shot at becoming the new Chairman, so I was trying to make things better, or at least, even the playing field," she gestured helplessly towards the curtain.
For a moment, Haruna only stood there in silence, arms still crossed and face still severe.
"I…I'm sorry, Haruna…I'm sorry I ruined everything for you…" Kurumi hung her head, genuinely ashamed. Maybe trying to use pranks to fix a problem that got started because of pranks wasn't—
Kurumi's thoughts were interrupted by Haruna's laughter. Kurumi looked up in astonishment. The other girl was crying, but she was also smiling. Wh-what…was going on here? Had Chairman finally snapped?
"Oh, Kurumi, you didn't need to go that far!" Haruna hiccupped. "Besides, you know I'd never accept a victory that wasn't won fair and square!"
"But this is fair and square!" Kurumi argued. "You had your poster all ready for this thing! But it was my fault it got all messed up, so it was only fair that I evened the odds for everyone else, too!"
Haruna shook her head, still laughing and crying. There was so much wrong with Kurumi's logic, but all she could focus on was the realization of just how far crazy, stupid, pranking Kurumi would go to help Haruna get something that they both knew meant the world to her.
"Oh, and by the way," Haruna was still laughing and crying, "Who are you calling Chairman?"
ooo
In the end, Haruna did not win the leadership position. Even though she was a strong contender, especially after Kurumi interfered with the first handful of candidates, someone else was still chosen instead.
"Oh well, there's always next year!" Haruna shrugged as she congratulated the new committee head. Kurumi was no longer there, having turned herself in for her little pranks. Haruna hadn't told her to, but she offered to do it, knowing it would make Haruna happy.
"I'm proud of you," Haruna squeezed Kurumi's hand before she left for the headmistress' office.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Kurumi muttered, but she squeezed Haruna's hand right back.
To say that Kurumi was in trouble was an understatement. She'd been inches away from suspension, and the only reason she wasn't was because Haruna and enough of the Disciplinary Committee vouched for her. Even though some of them were mad at her sabotaging their speeches, and all of them did want her to pay for her pranks in one way or another, none of them wanted to see her gone, even for a short period of time.
(Likewise, expulsion was never a concern because Kurumi had gotten away with so much for so long already. They all knew it wasn't likely to happen just because it would make the academy look bad). But even though Kurumi was slated to stay in school, for better or worse, she was still going to do a lot of community service and detention.
"Whew, being a good person sure is a lot of work!" she sighed, wiping her forehead as she continued to help clean up campus.
"Well, I'm proud of you, Kurumi." Kurumi turned around to see Haruna standing there, smiling at her.
"Haruna!" A real smile spread across Kurumi's face. "How did the competition go? Did you win?" she demanded.
"No, unfortunately not," Haruna shook her head with a rueful smile. Kurumi's own smile fell.
"Oh, Haruna, I'm so sorry…"
"There's always next year," Haruna replied with a shrug. Kurumi still wasn't sure Haruna hadn't totally lost it back there in the backstage area, when she freaked Kurumi out by laugh-crying.
So, she didn't get to be Chairman after all, huh? Kurumi thought. She felt regret, both for Haruna and herself. On Haruna's end, she didn't get something she really wanted, and really deserved, and all because of Kurumi…But for Kurumi herself, she couldn't help but mourn all the missed jokes and opportunities now that Haruna had lost the election. I guess this is my karma. I won't prank her next year during election season and maybe she'll actually get to become Chairman, then!
"Maybe it was a good thing," Haruna finally said, pensive. Neither she nor Kurumi knew if she was serious, or just trying to console herself, but she did bring up good points. "You were right, Kurumi, I was spending too much time with them. I was becoming a workaholic!"
"Or, well, a worse one," Kurumi couldn't stop a joke. Haruna gave her a look, but couldn't find it within herself to disagree. Kurumi wasn't wrong.
"So that's why, maybe it's good I didn't win. I won't overwork myself now!"
That brought a smile to both the girls' faces.
"Besides," Haruna continued. "Now I know for sure, I'm something much more important and something much better than a Chairman!"
"Oh?" Kurumi looked at her curiously.
"I'm your friend, Kurumi, and I know that you are mine as well."
"Awww, Haruna!" Kurumi felt a lump in her throat. She wasn't going to be able to speak for much longer…Good thing for her, she didn't have to. Haruna chuckled before opening her arms, and Kurumi was more than happy to rush into them. That hug said more than words ever could, and Kurumi was infinitely glad to have Haruna as a friend again.
AN: Thanks to my OWN D4 squad (Penguinfangirl611, Snorlax891, Net Neutrality) for inspiring this fic, and it's mini sequel chapter! You guys are the best!
