Chapter 338: Tokyo Bay is so warm
The afternoon two days before the opening ceremony.
"I'm tired. My hands are numb." Ishigami Yuu closed his laptop and turned to Sakurai Saki: "Sakurai-senpai, wanna play a game?"
"What are you going to do if Kaguya-san comes back later?" Sakurai Saki said while looking at the suggestion slip in his hand.
This was the first time he learned — the student council even had something called a suggestion box.
It collects students' opinions, and then the student council will consider whether they can be implemented.
But most of the students' opinions usually sank like stones in water — Shirogane Miyuki was not the type of person who liked radical reforms. Compared to drastic changes, he preferred gradual, subtle influence bit by bit.
"Then… let's just forget it." Ishigami Yuu immediately backed down.
"I'll go make some tea then."
Ishigami took out a few white packets from the student council's cabinet.
"What's that?"
"Flower tea. It helps relieve stress. I brought it before, but since Shinomiya-senpai is always the one making tea, I never got a chance to use it." Ishigami said helplessly.
I may not be good at brewing black tea, but I'm good at flower tea.
Before long, the fragrance had spread throughout the student council room.
'This smell is…'
Sakurai Saki looked at the suggestion slip in front of him, seeming a little hesitant: "The pond behind the school… hasn't been cleaned in a long time, right?"
"Pond? Our school has something like that?" Ishigami, a true shut-in, hadn't even explored every corner of the school.
"Ishigami, you should pay more attention to your surroundings."
"Sakurai-senpai, you're lecturing me too now? But I'll try to observe more." Ishigami smiled, then brought the tea over.
"Actually, I've never been there either, just heard about it." Sakurai Saki rubbed his temples.
That pond was quite large. If they relied only on the student council, it would probably take a good amount of time — at least an entire afternoon.
But with only two days left before the opening ceremony, no students other than the student council were at school. Were they really going to call the teachers for help?
"Sakurai-senpai, we can just wait until after the opening ceremony and call people to clean it together!" Ishigami said eagerly.
"..."
This guy… does he think that just because he's a second-year now he can order the underclassmen around?
"Ishigami, even if you're a second-year, don't get too cocky with the juniors." Sakurai Saki cut off his fantasy.
"Sakurai-senpai, do you know what the student council at Shuchiin represents?" Ishigami said in a mysterious tone.
"Huh?"
Sakurai honestly didn't really get it.
Aside from the president receiving recommendation letters to top universities and the members getting extra points… what else was there?
"Hehe, Sakurai-senpai, no one dares to refuse a request from the student council, and besides, we've got Shinomiya-senpai as our 'nuclear deterrent'!" Ishigami rested his chin on his hands, looking just like some behind-the-scenes manipulator: "Club budgets, school trip locations, even the cultural festival venue — all of it falls under our control…"
"Ishigami, don't ever go into politics. I'm afraid you'd turn into some lawless bastard." Sakurai Saki's face darkened.
Get near ink, you turn black; near light, you shine — who the hell did Ishigami Yuu learn this from?
Shinomiya Kaguya?
Even though people often joked the two were like a mother and child, why didn't he learn the good parts and only pick up the shady tricks?
"I've only realized one thing over this long life — one chopstick is easy to break, but a bundle of chopsticks is hard to snap. That's the power of unity!" Ishigami Yuu spread his arms like a bird in flight, the light from the window shining behind him made him look almost like some saint.
"..."
Who exactly are you talking about chopsticks with? Even a hundred chopsticks — Esper would break them all for you!
And what does "unity" have to do with what you just said?
"Huh? Sakurai-senpai doesn't get it?" Ishigami explained: "As long as we have Shinomiya-senpai on our side, the student council is invincible!"
Huh? I thought this was heading into some shounen manga hot-blooded development, turns out it's realpolitik?!
So dark, truly too dark.
Has Shuchiin already become the Shinomiya family's toy?
"Tomorrow, the student council will go clean that pond." Sakurai Saki concluded.
"...Yeah." Ishigami Yuu, terrified of physical work, was a NEET who stayed inside all day — cleaning the pond might as well kill him!
"Don't even think about skipping tomorrow!" Sakurai Saki shot him a sharp look.
Lately, Ishigami Yuu seemed to be a little too "high."
Was it because love was watering his brain that he'd forgotten his place?
"Think of it as a group activity. We've got six people in the student council, that should be enough."
"Sakurai-senpai, why don't we ask Shinomiya-senpai first?" Ishigami Yuu felt sure Shinomiya Kaguya wouldn't want to go deal with some filthy pond.
"You seem to be underestimating Kaguya. She won't refuse — I guarantee it." Sakurai Saki's tone was confident.
A person like Shinomiya Kaguya, once she decides to do something, she'll see it through to the end.
That personality was something Sakurai Saki liked a lot.
As vice president, even if the pond were twice as dirty, she would still show up.
"Huh? Did I just hear someone talking about me?" Shinomiya Kaguya pushed the door open and entered, with Shirogane Miyuki following behind.
"Miko-chan and Chika, where are they?" Sakurai Saki curiously asked.
"They went to sort out the disciplinary committee's documents, Fujiwara the secretary said she wanted to help." Shirogane Miyuki replied.
After saying that, he stretched.
Just now he had gone to arrange the seating in the gymnasium, which had taken quite a bit of time and effort.
"Sakurai-san, what were you guys talking about?" Shinomiya Kaguya saw him change the subject and immediately pursued the question.
"A student sent a suggestion letter, saying that the pond in the school is too dirty, and you can even smell a stench around it."
Sakurai Saki explained briefly, then handed the piece of paper in his hand to her.
Shinomiya Kaguya took it, glanced at it a few times: "How do you plan to deal with this?"
"Just clean it up. As far as I know, the student council two years ago also cleaned it." Sakurai Saki looked toward Shirogane Miyuki.
Shirogane Miyuki nodded: "I went to help back then too."
"At that time, I even jumped in to save someone." Shinomiya Kaguya complained, "It was disgustingly dirty. I had to shower several times afterward to barely wash off that smell."
The person she saved was the president of the media club back then. In the end, her good deed wasn't rewarded; instead, rumors about her and Sakurai Saki spread everywhere.
"Shinomiya-senpai, how about we call more people to help after the opening ceremony? It'll probably be faster that way."
"No need. Calling people would only prove that our student council is incompetent." Shinomiya Kaguya shook her head.
This was originally the responsibility of the student council.
Having the privilege of being a member of the student council also meant fulfilling responsibilities perfectly.
Ishigami Yuu recalled Sakurai Saki's earlier speech.
He couldn't help but exclaim: "The relationship between Sakurai-senpai and Shinomiya-senpai is really good, huh."
"Ara~, Ishigami-kun, how did you come to that conclusion?" Shinomiya Kaguya's face wore a 'gentle' and 'motherly' smile.
Someone like Ishigami Yuu dared to gossip about her relationship with someone else!
"Because…"
"Ishigami, I suggest you kneel down and apologize right now, maybe there's still hope." Sakurai Saki said with a smile.
"I… I'll kneel right away!" Ishigami Yuu trembled.
I'm sorry, I was too full of myself!
Please, Shinomiya-senpai, don't lock me up in that dark room again!
"Alright, stop kneeling, you're embarrassing the student council."
Ishigami Yuu: "…"
There won't be another "concrete barrel" in Tokyo Bay tomorrow, right?