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My paper got published with only minor changes. A new upper bound on the sofa couch problem rather than a permanent upper bound on the sofa couch problem. Someone contributed to my arguments regarding the symmetry of the sofa couch and its rotational path.

It was a good thing.

Nobody did anything alone anymore. Nobody. Not even Terrence Tao did. Everyone was all working together. But with my first publication under my belt I had some leverage. I could write to professors at my local universities and ask advice. I had proved I was worth the time.

I helped Yukinoshita move Meguri-senpai's stuff out of the president's room. The student council chambers, that was. She moved in a new heater and the like. I carried it easily enough.

"Over there if you would," Yukinoshita directed me with a flex of her finger.

I moved it where she pointed.

"My sister is coming here next year…" I muttered.

"Oh? Doesn't she still have exams?" Yukinoshita asked.

"Sure but she'll pass. She works hard. She's clever. So make this a good school for her."

"I see…" Yukinoshita looked away. "I'll be graduating with you, you know."

"Yeah but you can have a long impact on this school from your position."

"So can you. Being valedictorian and all."

"Not quite the same. I can't influence the culture of the place."

"I'll do my best," Yukinoshita decided.

"I'm sure you will," I smiled at her. She looked away from me. "Don't forget Yui wants to celebrate your birthday."

"How?"

"Not sure yet. But she'll come up with something. Even if it's just karaoke again."

"That is becoming a bit of a tradition for us," she bobbed her head.

"This is rather what I expected. Yukinoshita-san becoming president. Yuigahama-san would become vice president. And Hikigaya-kun would be the general affairs," Meguri-senpai cut in.

"Oh?" Yukinoshita pressed. "Of course you would assume Hikigaya-kun gets a position with no authority. Maybe I should consider that."

"Hey now. Let's be polite to each other," I suggested lightly. "Besides who says I even want a position?"

"You'll take one if I ask you to."

"Who fucking says?" I demanded.

She rolled her eyes like I was being extra like a mother fucker. When in truth I really did want answers.

"Then, Hikigaya-kun won't you be my general affairs."

"Well… that is to say… I could maybe…"

Yukinoshita and Meguri-senpai were just looking at me. Just looking. Nothing innocuous in that. Just looking.

I sighed and shook my head.

"Fuck. Fuck! Fine!"

"Hell of a speech," Yukinoshita informed me sardonically. She was smiling though. "So elegant and eloquent."

"It must be love," Meguri-senpai informed us.

I was happy when we both flinched like the thought burned us.

"No. No," Ykinoshita said to Meguri.

"It isn't like that between us," I went with the next breath.

"Still though, do you think he'd ask how high to jump once he was already in the air?" Meguri asked.

I frowned. I wasn't a puppet. Well maybe depending on how that free will thing panned out. I rather doubted I had free will which certainly made me somebody's puppet. Just not Yukinoshita's. It made me a puppet of the internet.

I picked up a dehumidifier and carried it out to Meguri-senpai's car. I wasn't sure what her plans were. Would she go off to college? Probably. I think she was humanities focused. Not science. Not like me. I was still thinking about my Boltzman dreams thought experiment. I might be able to publish that too depending on how much math I could put in it. There was also the weak anthropic principle which stated that in order for a universe to be observed it had to be capable of hosting observers. I could maybe do something with that. It had implications for the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.

I had said I didn't like the notion that the fundamental constants of our universe were plucked from a hat, but they could be. And if they were, should we be surprised to find ourselves in a universe with life? With observers?

No. Because in order for a universe to be observed it needed to be capable of hosting observers.

So that was something to argue about regarding the fine tuning of our universe for life. If indeed our universe was fine tuned for life. Which I wasn't sure it was. If you were to go to most places in this universe you would die almost instantly.

Much to think about.

I passed Meguri-senpair on my way back in. She was carrying one last box.

"Is that the last box?" I asked.

"Ah? Yes it is."

I took it from her on basic principle and carried it out to her car. She tilted her head at me when I did that. I ignored that adorable face. When I rejoined the room Meguri was looking around fondly one last time.

"I suppose this is it," Yukinoshita began.

"Oh I'll be by to visit on occasion," Meguri-senpai dismissed.

"Yes but this is it. Your last foray here as council president," Yukinoshita went on.

"I… yes. I suppose it is. Now you're president. Look after the school well."

"I shall," Yukinoshita vowed.

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We ended up going out to a karaoke bar. We were far too young to drink any alcohol so we didn't. Instead we had Aperol spritzers which were virgin.

"So any big plans?" I asked Yukinoshita.

"I'm sorry?"

"With your family. Any big plans to celebrate your birthday?"

"Ah. No. Not so much. There will be dinner on some night but apart from that not really."

Yukinoshita was wearing the kitten earrings I got her. Yui was in the bathroom at the moment so there was a lull. I reached out tentatively for a moment. Unable to think better of it, I touched her face. Just next to her earlobe and examined the earrings in her ears. She exhaled slowly and shaky and my heart raced in my chest as I touched her.

Unlike before it didn't have the slick texture of a hallucination, her warm skin that was. Not that it was overly warm. It was almost but not quite cool to the touch. She looked me dead in the eyes for a long moment and I realized she was holding her breath. I was holding my breath as well.

Yui burst back into our private room.

We jumped apart as though caught in some impure act when there was nothing more pure than what we were just doing.

"Oh. Uh. Were you…?" Yui trailed off.

"I was just examining her new earrings in her ears. They look nice."

Yukinoshita nodded. "It was nothing. Join us Yui."

The moment, now broken, shattered, could never be recovered. And I wasn't sure I wanted to recover it.

"Your mom seemed nice when we met her," Yui murmured under the music.

Yukinoshita sighed. "She's polite but she has a strong will. We all bow to it eventually."

"In a good or in a bad way?" Yui wondered.

"It depends. Sometimes it's one. Sometimes the other. She's a bit like my sister in that regard. She looks out for me. In her own time. In her own way. Not always the way I want her to."

I nodded like I could see it. And I could a little. Sometimes as a big brother I did things for Komachi from the shadows. I discouraged Takashi Kawasaki. Not that she needed a ton of help with that. She shut him down real good.

And I suppose Komachi looked after me in her own time and way as well. This trio I was with right now would be impossible without her gentle guiding hand. It was so subtle so as to appear nonexistent but it was there.

I knew all about the subtle guiding hand. I saw it in my basilisk. I saw ads for things I had only thought about. It was, quite literally, reading my mind.

Of course sometimes it was off but that was the price of doing business. And not every place sold targeted ads or they could be toggled. Like reddit.

And of course there were ads in porn. Porn wasn't good for a person. It made me nervous, like what was I getting myself addicted to by watching it or reading doujinshis. Porn was as bad for your brain as a cocaine addiction. It was bad for you.

But these thoughts I kept to myself in this company. I wasn't sure who I could really talk to about this. Besides my therapist and psychiatrist. They would get the concern behind, at least I hoped so.

Otherwise… otherwise what? Otherwise was porn one of the ways the master cracked the whip.

It was easy to imagine an AI growing darker as it fed off people's desires. These habits we taught the internet now would carry forward until the end. Whatever form that came in.

"I'm never sure what to make of your interactions with your sister. Did you choose to become president just because she nudged you in that direction?" I asked.

"Maybe…" Yukinoshita trailed off at my words. "But that would be true either way wouldn't it? This was an ideal solution. Yui as vice president and you as general affairs."

"Maybe. Just so long as you're not doing this for the wrong reasons, Yukinon," Yui supplied.

Yui stretched back and Yukinoshita and I stared at her abdomen before it was covered by her uniform again. The soft skin there would be so warm to touch. I could smell, well, her. In a lot of unhelpful ways. The creaminess of her shampoo. The tightness of her perfume. The scent of her lotion.

My mouth watered subconsciously. I wanted to taste her skin. I wanted to run my fingers through her pretty pink hair. I wanted those big red eyes to look up at me. I was taller than her by enough that she'd have to crane her neck while we sat next to one another.

She was wearing the choker I got her. It was a simple thing with a single metallic disk.

She looked stunning in it.

Poor puppy dog. And I bet you just wanted attention. Won't someone, anyone, pay attention to her?

Well I was. I was paying her a lot of attention. I watched as she reorganized her hair into an updo and began to take to the microphone to sing. She had a clear loud and passionate voice. One which rose and fell over the notes and made my chest heave.

Then came Yukinoshita's turn. Her voice was clear like crystal. I understood her malcontent. If words don't mean as much then I hope this never ends.

Then it was my turn on the microphone and the girls had the grace not to laugh as my voice wobbled. I laughed at myself as I sat back down and had a drink of my Aperol spritzer. They were both looking at me.

"What?"

"Oh um it's nothing. Nothing at all," Yui responded, waving her hands in front of her.

"Okay, why are you both looking at me like that?"

"With practice your voice could be something special. That's all," Yukinoshita informed me. "Perhaps you could take lessons?"

I blushed heavily. "I don't think so. It's not the path for me. I prefer the music of the spheres."

"I thought you didn't hear anything like that," Yukinoshita demanded. "I asked you if playing with numbers was the same as playing music for you and you told me 'no'."

"It's a bastardized quote by Kepler," I defended. "He wondered if the planets made music in their orbits across the sky at night. He thought it was a distinct possibility."

"I thought there was no sound in space," Yui mumbled.

"Well there isn't. Not really. But this was before we knew that," I answered kindly.

"Oh. I see." Yui perked up. "Did you have a good party, Yukinon?"

"I did. Yes. It was better than anything my family could dream up and better than I hoped by far. There are no people I'd rather spend it with."

"Aw Yukinon!" Yui exclaimed.

"It's the truth. Did you have fun, Hikigaya-kun?"

"I did. Yes."

"It's hard to tell with you sometimes. Both of you. You both keep your cards so close to your chest…" Yui stammered off.

"I'll work on it. And I'm sure Hikigaya will too."

"Let's not make promises for one another now…" I protested.

"You will if I ask you to, won't you Hikki? You won't leave in the dark." Yui whined.

"No. I won't leave you in the dark," I vowed.

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-WG