Part 34: Anzu
"Miss President. Welcome back! I trust your vacation went well?"
"It did, Naya. Thank you."
The Student Council Secretary recoiled slightly as President Kadotani passed her. Her tone of voice seemed off as well. "...I'm glad. Well, you have a few-"
"Hold my calls, please." Anzu didn't look her Secretary friend in the eye as she spoke, only holding up a hand as she stepped through her office door. "And I would like to not be disturbed."
"A-alright, then, Miss President. Would you like me to-?" The sentence was cut off by Kadotani closing the door firmly.
Standing in the relative peace and quiet of her office, Anzu let out a deep sigh as she leaned against the heavy wood door. It had been nearly a month since she had set foot in the room. Bringing her school back from the brink of closure, twice, had been one thing. Bringing it back from a catastrophe of such magnitude as what Pravda had unleashed was another matter entirely. Kadotani had felt genuinely overwhelmed for the first time since she had taken office, which seemed like much more than three years ago now. The last six months alone had felt like nearly a decade to the President and her staff. So much so that Anzu had only told Kawashima and Koyama where she was going when she left Nishizumi-chan's party. She hadn't gone to the office. She hadn't gone home. She had completely left the country for a whole week.
Privately, she had wished the vacation would have been longer. But alas, her parents weren't made of money. And duty called once again.
The interview with Taiga and Miho had also been unexpectedly draining. Anzu always loved to boast about Ooarai's team, but she found the interview to do nothing for her except bring up things she had tried so hard to forget.
Anzu paced towards her desk, apprehensive. She let her bag fall off of her shoulder and land on the floor. Unsurprisingly, the stack of mail that normally would have gone through Yuzu was nearly as tall as the desk itself. Koyama was still absent from the carrier, but was expected to return before school started again. The President picked up a small handful of envelopes, briefly scanning the addressee before tossing them in a haphazard heap around the desktop computer, ignoring the 'urgent' stamps on most of them.
"Ugh…" She muttered, stepping away again and moving to the windows. Kadotani put her hand against the glass as she gazed over the dark and snowy carrier. The view brought back some unpleasant memories, such as Koyama watching tanks driving through the gaseous haze, and Kawashima incapacitated and nearly blinded from exposure.
However, some positivity broke through. One of the most prominent views on Zuikaku's skyline, the tower crane, was gone. In its place was the new dormitory building that had recently been finished. Hachimiya and her girls had kicked into eleventh gear to complete the project, starting before the mercenaries had even left the ship. Anzu had been almost amused by the bizarre sight of people in CBRN gear building a new addition to the school. If there was one thing the President was looking forward to, it was the grand opening next week.
Hopefully, Miho wouldn't be too overwhelmed.
A muffled argument caught Anzu's attention, and she turned her head in time to see Koyama Yuzu stepping through the door, Secretary Naya hot on her heels.
"...she specifically requested not to be disturbed!"
"I'm sure my presence will not be a disturbance. And either way… I am the Vice. President. This is my office just as much as it is Anzu's."
"Miss Koyama, I must-"
"It's okay, Naya." Anzu said sternly. "Please return to your duties." She thought for a moment. "However, if Momo-chan shows up, you have my permission to bar her entry."
Naya eyed the two Upperclassmen, before bowing her head and retreating. Anzu and Yuzu stared at each other for a time, before the former broke the silence.
"Yuzu-chan. I hadn't heard you had returned."
"Nor I you, Prez." Koyama stated, shrugging off her jacket. "Happy birthday, by the way."
Kadotani nodded in thanks, not taking her eyes off of her second in command. "How was Okinawa? And your grandparents?"
"All well, thank you. Though, it is far warmer there than it is here." She concluded with a small shiver, hanging her jacket up and removing her scarf. "It's good that you're back, Anzu. I'm sure Kawashima will be glad, too. You know how she is with being put in charge of-"
"What do you want, Yuzu?" Kadotani flatly interrupted, crossing her arms. The Vice President turned around and offered an innocent expression.
"I'm your charge. And your friend. I don't want anything." She said with a shrug. Anzu arched her brow, and Yuzu deflated. "You know why I'm here." She took a step forward. "I know you've been home for exactly two days, I didn't approve of you dropping off the grid on your trip, and I didn't buy your 'phone signal troubles' excuse for a second." Anzu shrugged.
"I needed a break. From everything. We all need an escape of some kind every now and then. You certainly could, clearly."
"Prez." Yuzu said firmly. "Over a thousand people on this carrier died during the attack. Two of our teammates were killed during the war."
"You think I don't know that?" Anzu demanded. "You think I don't think about Utsugi and Kondou every. Single. Day? You would do well not to tell me my business."
"Your business should be leading the school forward." Koyama protested. "Not holeing yourself up in this office every day, then disappearing to Singapore, of all places!"
"Should I remind you of what your business at the start of all this was? Ensuring that the Order didn't find out about our involvement in Aomori?" Yuzu deflated a little further as Anzu gestured to the windows. "Good job. Well done, Yuzu-chan."
Koyama sighed. "Yes. I messed up there. But I didn't come here to argue."
"Then why did you?"
"Because… this school needs you. We need our leader. And if not you, then someone."
Anzu paced away from her friend, folding her hands behind her back as she approached the windows again.
"You know something, Yuzu?" She began after a long silence. "We've been at this game for a long time."
The Vice President tilted her head. "...Prez?"
"These three years, going on four, have been some of the most exciting of my life. You know, I can't even remember my last opponent. That's how long we've been here."
"Our most recent opponents were Yuhara Aeko, Okada Rui, and Okuyama Machiko, respectively." Yuzu stated. Anzu smiled.
"Right. I remember now. 'It's Time For Change'." The President said with a chuckle, with air quotations. "Maybe it is."
"What are you saying, Anzu? Do you… want to step down from your position as President?"
After a long moment, Kadotani turned around.
"Nah. Not quite yet." She sauntered towards her desk, lazily dropping into her chair. "I like this office too much." Yuzu blinked a few times.
"Then… what's with all the melodrama?"
"Well, I was partially serious." Anzu reached forward, pulling herself towards the desk with her feet. "This administration has been in office for a long time. Longer than any Student Council that came before." At Koyama's nod of agreement, she continued. "Something we should be thinking about is graduation. The next batch coming in after us."
"Who could possibly take up the mantle of Kadotani Anzu?" The Vice President asked with a giggle. "They're big shoes to fill… metaphorically speaking."
"Oh, ha ha." Anzu shot the bird at her friend.
"While that is an item for concern, the wellbeing of the school is a more pressing matter. Rebuilding. Not only infrastructure, but confidence. Confidence in us from the student body and the civilian population that we can protect them."
"See? That's why you're my Vice President, Yuzu. I can point out a serious issue, and you form the roadmap for tackling it by going after the problems leading to it." Yuzu closed her eyes and dipped her head.
"You're too kind, Prez. But I still believe that we should get a handle on everything aboard the carrier, and with the team… before we think of bringing in a new Student Council." Anzu nodded.
"Sure. I get that. Wouldn't want to rope in a couple of First Years tomorrow and say 'Good luck.', eh?" Kadotani leaned back and rested her feet on her desk. "You need a carrot or a stick to drive a mule, and Ooarai has neither right now..."
"Indeed. Oh! Speaking of…" Koyama padded over to her jacket and pulled an envelope from one of the pockets. "This was in the Council mailbox, addressed to you, so I took the liberty of bringing it up. Maybe it will be an important first step?"
"Hmm…" The President hummed curiously, accepting the envelope.
From: MEXT Education Administrative Board
Compensation Division
2215 Shimazake Blvd. Suite 17B
Taito City, Tokyo Prefecture
110-0015
To: Student Council President Kadotani Anzu
Ooarai Girls Academy
IJN Zuikaku
Ooarai, Ibaraki Prefecture
311-1305
"Compensation Division…" Anzu echoed. She cleanly cut open one end of the envelope with the small pair of scissors on her desk, quickly pulling out the contents.
"Dear Miss Kadotani," She began reading, leaning back in her chair. "'Miss'… I like that… The last six months have undoubtedly brought an unprecedented level of suffering to you and your school…"
"They're ones to talk." Koyama muttered, slowly pacing back and forth as her friend narrated the letter.
"Your school and your students were subjected to an unprovoked attack, brought upon by yahdie yahdie yahdie…" Anzu flipped to the last page, which unraveled further. "...we on the MEXT Board are offering…" She squinted at the words on the page, unsure if she was reading correctly. "A compensation payout of thirteen billion yen?!"
Yuzu performed a double take, halting in her tracks. "To be paid to your school through MEXT's financial compensation fund. This money may be used for repairs to any damaged infrastructure, unfinished cleanup, or to compensate any families who lost loved ones in the attack. Signed…' Of all people… 'Tsuji Renta, MEXT Education Board Director."
Yuzu snatched the letter out of Anzu's hands, skimming over every word.
"...holy shit…" She mumbled, staring at the check attached to the bottom of the page. True to Renta's words, the amount ¥13 billion was staring right back at her in bold black ink.
"Jeez, Yuzu-chan. You kiss your mother with that mouth?"
The Vice president didn't offer a verbal response, only looking up and staring at her friend for a time. "Your Financial Secretary is going to think we robbed a bank." Anzu commented.
"...what do we do?"
"What do you think we do? We're rich, baby!" Kadotani jumped up onto her desk, pumping her fists. The remaining stack of mail tumbled to the floor. "Woohoo! Goodbye, bankruptcy! Hello, cha-ching! Think of all the dried sweet potatoes I could get with thirteen stacks!"
"Anzu." Yuzu caught her excited friend's attention. "This is serious. We've never had this kind of money before, at least, not all at once. We need to be responsible. What are we supposed to do with it?"
"Well… for starters…" Anzu dropped down and sat cross-legged on the desk. "How much do we still owe the Blue Collar girls for the dorm project? I know that account fell behind."
"Uhh…" Koyama shuffled over to her own desk, but Kadotani stopped her with a raised hand.
"However much it is, pay it. Throw in some interest for good measure. Then…" Anzu reached into her pocket and produced her phone. "Send a healthy bit to the Utsugi family and Kondou family. I know they weren't here for the attack, but… those two went above and beyond for us. Third…" Koyama approached her desk and grabbed her notebook and pen, quickly scribbling down the President's decrees. "Make some offers to Saunders, Kuromorimine, and or Pravda Republic to buy some of their tank wrecks. Go through Hachimiya-chan and Nishizumi-chan for those, and to our friend Permafrost if we feel like it. The rest goes to the stuff mentioned in the letter."
Koyama nodded, finishing off her notes. "Consider it done, Prez. Looks like we just found a carrot and a stick."
"Good." Anzu tapped a name on her contact list, raising the device to her ear. After a few rings, the recipient answered. "Momo-chan! Good, you're still up. Say, don't freak out or anything, but we just became billionaires."
A/N: Things are looking up at Ooarai
For reference, 13 billion yen is around 90 million dollars, which is something approaching what a town or small city in the US would get from the federal government in the event of some kind of natural disaster. In some cases, it would be more, but USD is worth alot more than Japanese yen, so numbers can get pretty crazy
$1 is ¥147 for reference
Money is weird