A.N: School's out! Hopefully this means that the writing train will be refueled and I can return to my normal posting rate. I don't like waiting so long between chapters, and I'm sure that the people who actually read this don't mind faster updates, either.
Sixty seconds.
I glance furtively at Shizune's corner - to no avail! They see me! Misha beams.
Fifty.
My eyes glance towards the nearest doorway. It's just a few feet, two desks away from me; I can make it, surely.
Forty.
I think they can smell my fear. My fingertips dance on my desk.
Thirty.
If I asked politely, would Hanako consent to be used as a human shield?
Twenty.
Probably not.
Ten.
Wait, what?
RIIIIIING
WOOSH
"Hi! Hicchan!" Suddenly I'm being flanked by the Student Council duo.
"How did you do that?" I ask. I had turned to flee, only to be blocked off by a mischievous Shizune.
"Do what?" Misha asks, confusedly. I swear that they're just toying with me.
"Erk...never mind, then. I guess today's the day you've chosen?" I ask, not really needing an answer, though Misha doesn't disappoint.
"Fine, fine. We're going, going..." Time to march into hell, one step at a time. I wave goodbye to Hanako, who shyly waves back, before grabbing my stuff as they steadily drag me out of the room.
...
I am not impressed by the Student Council's workspace.
"Did you guys just find some random classroom to drag me into?" I ask.
"Don't be ridiculous, Hicchan." Misha replies blithely, after some direction from Shizune, "We would never do such a thing!"
It's hard to tell whether or not Misha is serious. Either way, I derive the answer for myself. Though it gives the feel of not having been used in some time, the desks are fairly clean...but that isn't really an indicator of anything, because the janitors probably clean all the classrooms...
"Alright, so, we have to fill out a lot of paperwork, Shizune and I, anyways, heh! You get to sort out a bunch, here..." Misha dumps a thick stack of paper onto one of the nearby tables. I wince at the sheer volume of work there appears to be.
"Did you at least organize them by date?" I ask.
"Nope!" Misha says, cheerfully, apparently not recognizing the ramifications of her answer.
"You should probably do that." I advise. Misha shrugs, running a quick conversation in sign with Shizune. Speaking of which, I have really got to learn how to do that...
"Taken under consideration." Misha replies. I make a face.
"Whatever. I don't have to deal with it, so it's not my concern anymore." I say. Shizune glares.
"You would leave us all alone with this mountain of paperwork?" Misha asks, pouting. It almost works, but I've steadily built up an immunity to the expression during my time with Emi.
"Yes." I say bluntly.
"Ow, so mean, Hicchan..."
Shizune snaps her fingers, a startling sound that cracks through the air and makes me cringe. Misha isn't fazed, apparently used to it. When I turn to look at her, she raps the desk before pointing at the paper in front of us.
"And I thought that Emi was bad enough..." I mutter under my breath as I pull the first sheet off the desk.
"How do you want me to organize these?" I ask Misha, scanning the contents of the paper. It seems to be a summation of the events of the stall assigned to the class of 3-4. I wonder, did my own homeroom have a stall? Who ran it? I don't think Shizune and Misha would have had the time to, and I don't really know any of my other classmates.
Eehh...I think I have enough friends as stands. I don't want to have to pick and choose who I spend time with.
"Well, most of these are reports about the festival, so there are basic incident reports that we have to sort so that Shizune can debrief the teachers, and then there's also the post-festival documents..." Misha replies.
"Post-festival?" I interrupt.
"Like, budget stuff. How many supplies there was, whether or not they kept in budget, just basic summary sheets."
"That doesn't sound so bad." I say.
"Then there are also suggestion and comment forms, and we sort those out by who filled them in. There's student workers, teacher workers, students attending, teachers attending, parents attending, non-Yamaku attendees..."
Oh.
"And there's also normal incident reports mixed in there from up to a month ago, and suggestions and comments from the students and teachers. There's also disciplinary forms that teachers fill out whenever they issue a detention to a student, and then there's budget reports that come in from the various clubs and the cafeteria as well that we have to file in the appropriate places..."
What the hell?
"...Why the hell do you guys have so much stuff saved up?" I ask.
"Normally it's not this bad!" Misha admits. "... But the festival kind of sidetracks us, and then we only take care of the...essential? stuff so that we can focus on making the festival a success." She stumbles over the longer word.
Alright, I officially feel kind of bad for the Student Council. This is just a mess. And they keep track of their academics on top of this? Shizune I can see, but how does Misha manage this workload?
"Okay, I'll...try to remember that." I say. "So, let me see if I've got all of this. For the festival: incident reports, financial reports, and suggestion and comment forms. For the normal stuff: incident reports, disciplinary reports, and budget reports. Did I get that all?" I ask.
"...Probably? And there might be some other stuff, so...!"
"I'll...just start." I say, defeated. And with that, we all get to work. Time passes in a numbing blur. I start with six piles, realize that it isn't enough, and somehow wind up with fifteen, and barely any idea of what goes where. Misha's worse off; she has a haphazard spread of papers all over the place. Shizune, of course, somehow has an immaculate workspace around her.
Misha drags four tables closer so that she can continue spreading out papers haphazardly, realizes that she doesn't have enough, and apparently gives up, slumping her head on the desk exhaustedly. Shizune seamlessly adapts the mess into her own collection, bringing order to chaos.
The original stack dwindles down. I'm not sure if any progress has actually been made. Misha disappears, presumably to use the restroom.
Time wears on. I think I've been here for several hours, but I'm not really keeping time. It's probably easier that way.
"I'm going to learn sign language." I tell Shizune, even though she can't hear me. I don't know why I'm doing this. I guess it makes me feel better if I talk to someone. The silence isn't comfortable when there's someone right next to you, even if they're diligently shuffling papers and not paying an ounce of attention to you.
"I don't get you. I kind of want to, though." I'm not sure if I'll regret that decision or not yet.
Shizune apparently notices that I've stopped working and glances up at me, freezing when she realizes that I'm staring directly at her.
"Sound good, Shizune?" I ask. She blinks.
"I don't think you understand me. Or maybe you can read lips." I say, scrutinizing her to see if she reacts. She does not, besides pointing at the paper in front of me as if to tell me to get back to work.
"Okay, okay. We're almost done, anyways." I reply. It's then that the passage of time gets to me.
"Er...where'd Misha go...?" I wonder. She's been gone for a while, I think. I'm not sure how to ask that to Shizune, even in crude hand gesture language, so I hunt down a piece of scrap paper and pull out a pen from my pocket.
Shizune starts when I place the paper in front of her. She glances at it before pushing her glasses up her face and jotting down a reply with the pen that she has in front of her.
Aura-mart.
"The convenience store?" I ask to no one in particular. "I see." She's not done writing yet, though.
You've worked hard, so you are allowed to participate in the feast. Shizune writes with her dark blue pen. Her handwriting is extremely neat. I take my own black pen and scrawl my own reply, wincing at my own poor penmanship.
I see. Who's paying for this?
The festival budget, of course. We deserve payment for our work.
Isn't that corruption? Shouldn't those funds be appropriated for better use? Shizune scowls at me.
Just for that, your portion will be rationed. I stick my tongue out at her, but choose not to pursue the topic.
I'm just about done. Is what I have good? I ask. Shizune stands up in order to inspect my work.
Yes. This is acceptable. She quickly grabs it before walking over to a nearby set of drawers and filing it in. I would help her, but I don't know where anything goes.
I yawn, stretching. I guess I may as well stay to eat, too. It's not like I had any dinner plans. Hm...what am I supposed to do for dinner? There's always the cafeteria, I guess...
Shizune's snap startles me out of my thoughts. I glance at her to see that she's holding up a chess board. My eyes widen; she smiles at my reaction before walking over and setting the chessboard down.
Indulge me, please. Standard rules? Shizune writes. I nod. She slides the board and I help her set up the pieces.
I'm not at all surprised to see her snatch the white pieces. I guess she would want to control the flow of the game, after all. So I can expect an aggressive strategy, then?
I crack my knuckles and settle down for an intense game.
...
"Checkmate." I say at last, relieved.
What a nightmare. Shizune controlled the flow for a majority of the game and it was only through a sneaky trap that I was able to pull off at the last possible second. But even when I turned the tables in a single devastating sweep of my bishop, she fought me tooth and nail the whole way, almost retaking the board before trying to force me into a stalemate through Perpetual Check.
At least, I assume that's what she was going for. She might have just been stubborn enough to keep forcing me to play her game. I don't think she would be happy with a stalemate like that.
To my surprise, she is a rather gracious loser, shaking my hand with a small smile on her face before reaching for the pad. Perhaps I have earned some respect in her eyes.
I'm glad to have lost to you. I stare at her dumbly. She draws a line below her words, indicating that there's more, before continuing to write.
You've kept that spark of aggression that you showed me back in the game of Risk we played. And you have taken it to whole new levels, playing a game you truly enjoy and wish to be better at. I do not hesitate to call you a master at the game, regardless of your own opinions. Your desire to be better coupled with your ability makes you this way. That is why... Shizune pauses in her writing. ...I am glad to have lost to you. That is what I saw back when we first met, and that is why I wanted you to join the Student Council.
Oh. Wow. That's...flattering. Really...
Thank you. I'm not sure if I can say anything past that. Shizune seems to get it, though, shrugging nonchalantly before taking the paper back.
Another round? She writes.
I would, but I think I hear Misha coming up the corridor. A flash of sadness flits across her face, but I blink and it's gone.
...Huh?
In one deft motion, Shizune crumples up the paper and throws it into the nearest waste basket, cheering silently when it sails right in. I smile at the sight.
"I'm! Baaack! Hicchan! Shicchan!" Misha bubbles, kicking open the door to the Student Council room, arms laden with goodies.
Dinner is a relatively quick affair. Eventually we bid each other farewell before heading off towards the dorms.
A/N: "Is Shizune OOC?"
I don't think so, personally. She's aggressive borderline abrasive; not mean. The events of the classroom argument still weigh heavily on her.
That being said, she isn't going to be a flower for the rest of the series. She's tentative right now; when she realizes that for all intents and purposes Hisao didn't break she's going to go right back and keep on pushing.
I'm strongly considering writing in several POVs; at least, some kind of small fictions so that people can get a better grasp on how I've interpreted the personality of the canon characters, but possibly integrating multiple POV into my story. Thoughts?
