Classroom cleaning duty. It's mine and Suzu's turn, and our schedule is at the end of the school day. Despite us both being vertically challenged, we're fairly quick and efficient. This is mostly due to Suzu taking the lead, which is fine by me. Following good orders is second nature for Heroic Spirits. Fortunately, Ousai's standards are so high that our students keep things tidy to begin with, so our responsibilities fall mostly under polishing, dusting, and picking up the rare scrap of trash missed by our classmates.

The floors are spotless. The desks are replaced in short order. Now all that's left is the whiteboard. Aside from the bookshelves, we always save that one for last due to our mutual handicap. We have to work very closely together for this undertaking. She goes high, I go low.

"They've adjusted the board height again," says Suzu. "I can't quite finish up the top. Would you be able to get on your toes?"

"Sure thing."

I still hear her grunting a bit, but she ultimately finishes. "Got it," she says. We repeat this process for the rest of the whiteboard before I let her down from my shoulders. Suzu then checks her watch and groans. "Why today, of all days? Pendragon, the all-clubs meeting starts in two minutes. We have to go now."

I throw my wad of paper towels in the trash and then stand at the doorway, ready to sprint to my heart's content. "We can totally make it."

"No running in the halls." Aww, crap. She's right.

Since we're already going to be late, anyway, we take a moment to double-check that we properly put everything back into place. Once we're satisfied, we lock up our classroom and begin a power walk to our destination. It'll take a few minutes to get there, but rules are rules. Then out of nowhere, Suzu says something to me I never would've expected. "Pendragon, I'm glad you're here."

"Oh. Thank you?" We continue on in silence until I have to ask, "So, am I doing all right on the council?"

Suzu shrugs. "Sure. But I mostly meant that when it's just you and I walking together, we don't look so out of place."

Ah. The 'height' thing. I bite my tongue rather than elaborate.

We texted the others beforehand to go ahead and start without us if we're late, which we totally are. I expect that when we arrive, we'll simply have to do the whole 'quiet bow, soft apology' thing, and then take our seats while the meeting continues like nothing happened. Once we get there, though? Woof. There's a riotous altercation taking place. Okay, no one's angry or outright shouting, but most tones are unmistakably excited. From what I can tell, there's three total camps in this room.

The first is the smallest grouping, with Mutsumi, and Takatoshi's friend, Kenji, among them. Their faces look either confused, or indifferent. They're sitting in the corner with no signs of wanting to interfere one way or the other. Let's just call them Switzerland.

The next is almost as small, and are all standing together, yet loosely, by the windows. There's Takatoshi, Kaede, and Chiri. Plus, a handful of others I don't know by name, but whose faces I recognize from around the halls. Our allies, without a doubt. Let's call this lot the Grumblers, because that's what they're currently doing.

Crowded all across the front of the classroom, where the whiteboard stretches from wall to wall, are them. This last camp is the largest, by far, and are apparently engaged in a multi-faction civil war of sorts. Shino and her team are debating something with Hata's, who in turn are debating with Nene's. Everyone is arguing with Aria's, all while an animated crew of no-names look like they're just trying their damnedest to get a word in edgewise.

I can't make anything out. There's too many voices going over each other. You know what? Let's just assume they're all perverts, and move on.

Suzu and I snake past the Pervs to meet with our fellow Grumblers. Suzu is the first of us to speak. "What on Earth is going on in here?" The inquiry is met with a mixture of sighs and shaking heads.

"You wouldn't believe us even if we told you," says Kaede.

"I take it we're just skipping the all-clubs meeting," I say.

Takatoshi groans. "Only if they don't come to an agreement by about four-thirty. Even then, that's pushing it. We'll need at least fifteen minutes alone just to decide where the sophomore-year school trip is going to be."

"Not to mention the eight other items on the agenda," adds Kaede.

"Thing is, they started arguing even before the meeting officially began," says Chiri. "There's no sign of it slowing down either. If anything, it's actually getting worse."

Takatoshi checks his watch. "If they keep going at this rate, we'll have to postpone until Thursday."

"The only other day this week that this room is available." Suzu clenches her fist. "Such a gross misuse of everybody's time. Haven't any of you tried reigning these fools in yet?"

Kaede nods. "Tried and failed."

"It's true," says Takatoshi. "There's too many of them. They can't even hear us." The nods from the nameless Grumblers beside him reaffirm this.

Regardless, Suzu yells her little lungs out at the Pervs, but to no avail. She doesn't give up, though.

"I guess we'll need a miracle at this point." I really don't want to sit here listening to this ruckus for the next hour, so I figure, what the hell? A teensy bit of magic never hurt, right? If I keep this low enough, I'm certain I won't trigger any of the Association's detection runes around the city. Hopefully.

Now, Luck has always been a vague parameter for us Heroic Spirits. From my experience, it's unreliable at worst, and questionable when it supposedly works, at best. It apparently only plays a hand in surviving powerful, magic-based attacks, though there's really no definitive science that I'm aware of to confirm anything. However, I've contended with Servants in the past who swear it can come into play in mysterious ways, but only if you focus on it. This is a crippling handicap in a life-or-death fight, since it completely distracts you, which is a surefire way to get a one-way ticket back to the Throne of Heroes. Thankfully, though, this isn't one of those times. Whatever. Here goes nothing.

Without trying to draw the attention of anybody, I slowly take a deep breath and close my eyes. Sound itself begins to drown out while the confines of the room, and everything and everyone in it, become distinct without sight, so at least something is drawing on my prana. The moment passes, and my awareness normalizes. I glance around the room as innocuously as possible to confirm that, yes, nobody took notice of me. Now, it's simply a matter of playing the waiting game.

Whether it really was from Luck as a parameter, or just plain old dumb luck in general, the door to the room eventually opens, which somehow causes all the Pervs to quiet down. Shino turns to the person who just entered. "Miss Yokoshima!" she calls. "Perhaps you can settle this matter for us."

"Oh? Let's hear it, then."

Shino clears her throat. "What would you say is the female equivalent to a sausage fest?"

And I must scream.

Yokoshima, undisturbed, places a hand to her chin and ponders. She then nods to herself and calmly answers, "Fish market." At this, the room erupts. For two wildly conflicting reasons.