— — — — — —
Helping people was a pain sometimes. Otherwise, Oikawa never would have agreed to Isshiki's request in the first place.
He already knew that tomorrow was the day Isshiki would be meeting with the student council members from another school. In truth, he'd spent the entire evening wondering whether he should take on this job at all.
But if he refused... that would feel a little unfair to Isshiki.
After all, the main reason she had become student council president was because Oikawa had talked her into it.
Granted, she'd gone along with it willingly enough.
Still...
"Whatever. If you're helping someone, you might as well see it through. Spring break starts in early February anyway. At most, it's only another two months."
"I can survive that."
With his thoughts settled, Oikawa stretched lazily.
He picked up his phone, hesitated for a moment, then sent Taishi a message.
"Taishi, Christmas is coming up. Doesn't your school have any events planned?"
Sometimes, you had to take the indirect route.
If he wanted to make progress with Kawasaki, he needed to deal with her little brother first.
Otherwise, the kid would just keep getting in the way.
Taishi replied almost immediately, "Nope. But every Christmas, Saki-neesan takes me and Keika to McDonald's. We'll probably do the same thing this year."
Oikawa blinked. "Why McDonald's every year?"
"Because Keika likes it." A moment later, another message arrived. "Oikawa-niisan, do you want to come with us?"
The invitation was sincere.
After thinking it over, Oikawa replied, "Sure. I'll join you guys."
"Awesome, Oikawa-niisan!"
After exchanging a few more messages, Oikawa put down his phone and fell into thought.
Now then... how am I supposed to separate Taishi and Keika from the group?
He pondered the problem seriously.
The night grew darker.
That day, Oikawa went to bed unusually late.
...
The next day—
The place he had arranged to meet Isshiki was Marinpia Shopping Center, not far from the school. Unfortunately, Kawasaki had turned him down, saying she was busy.
A glance around Marinpia showed that most of the visitors were students.
The mall had all kinds of entertainment facilities: light novel bookstores, arcades, even batting cages.
To be fair, baseball really was one of Japan's biggest sports.
Oikawa wasn't particularly good at it, but whenever he visited a mall, he'd occasionally swing a bat a few times to blow off steam.
His philosophy was simple: Just swing. Whether you actually hit the ball or not was up to fate.
After arriving at the meeting spot, he sent Isshiki a message and lowered his head to play on his phone.
Three or four minutes later, Isshiki came jogging up to him.
"Senpai, have you been waiting long? Hehe. I brought you some milk. This is my thank-you gift for today."
Holding a bottle of hot milk in each hand, she smiled brightly and offered both of them, letting Oikawa choose.
Today, she was still wearing her Sobu High uniform. Her collar was wrapped tightly against the cold, and she had a dark blue coat over it, making her look unusually serious.
"Hurry and take one, Senpai. They're really hot!"
Oikawa took the bottle in her right hand.
The smile on Isshiki's face immediately widened.
With a mischievous grin, she said, "The one you picked has sugar in it."
"I bet you put sugar in both of them." Oikawa exposed her little trick without hesitation.
Isshiki blinked, then burst into a sheepish laugh.
"Come on. Aren't we here to buy things?" Almost instinctively, Oikawa reached out to take her backpack.
Isshiki immediately stepped back, looking flustered. "Senpai, are you trying to make me fall for you?"
"Sorry for breaking your heart, Senpai. I was almost tempted, but after calming down and thinking it through, I don't think I can accept your feelings. I think we'd be better off staying friends."
"..."
Oikawa rolled his eyes.
Then, helplessly, he asked, "So... do you need me to carry it or not?"
"Yes. Thank you, Senpai." She answered without the slightest hesitation and handed over the backpack.
As they walked toward the shopping center, Oikawa asked, "So where are you meeting those student council members from the other school later?"
"Senpai, how do you know about that?" Isshiki stopped in shock.
Oikawa kept walking. "Did you forget Meguri-senpai? She asked me to look after you. She's the one who told me. Why did you think I'd come to the mall with you?"
"Huh? Then why were you hiding it? You could've just told me directly." Isshiki hurried to catch up. "I was worried you'd think it was a hassle and refuse before. Especially because you looked really unwilling when you accepted the request."
"I looked unwilling?"
"You did!"
"When was I unwilling?"
"You were!"
The two continued bickering and laughing as they entered the mall.
The awkwardness that had once defined their interactions was gone.
Isshiki kept circling around Oikawa like a fluttering butterfly.
...
They didn't spend long shopping.
The main reason Isshiki had come was to buy drinks, snacks, and other refreshments. But by the time everything was packed together, the bags were surprisingly heavy.
Oikawa gave her an approving look. "Didn't expect you to be this thoughtful."
"Of course I am!" Isshiki puffed out her chest proudly. "I've sworn to become a proper student council president. Maybe I can't be like Meguri-senpai, but I'm definitely going to be the kind of president everyone can look up to."
She jogged a few steps ahead, then turned around to face him.
Looking straight into his eyes, she asked, "Oikawa-senpai, do you still think I can become a good student council president?"
"Of course."
The answer came without hesitation.
Oikawa had never doubted it. Not once. He watched the anime after all.
"But... My grades are nowhere near Meguri-senpai's level."
"Who says good grades are what make a good student council president?" Oikawa shrugged. "For all you know, Meguri-senpai wasn't any better than you when she first started. Just do your best. There's no need to put so much pressure on yourself."
Isshiki blinked. "Senpai, you're really good at saying the right thing."
Then she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Tell me honestly. Have you used sweet talk like that to trick a lot of girls? Do you date multiple girlfriends at the same time?"
"What's it to you?"
"Heh." She pointed accusingly at him. "You're totally a player."
"..."
After leaving the shopping center, Oikawa followed Isshiki to the civic center where the Christmas event planning meeting was being held.
They climbed to the third floor.
A room labeled "Seminar Room" came into view.
"Senpai, this is where the meeting's being held."
"Alright. Let's go in."
Even before opening the door, they could hear the lively chatter inside.
It felt a lot like standing outside a classroom during lunch break.
"Thanks for your hard work, everyone." Isshiki greeted the room as she stepped inside.
Nobody responded.
There were around a dozen people present. Most of them were students from Kaihin High School, roughly seven or eight in total.
As for Sobu High, there were only three or four students scattered among them.
Unlike the Kaihin students, who were chatting enthusiastically, the Sobu students looked completely drained. Every one of them wore the expression of someone desperately wishing they could leave.
Then Oikawa entered.
"Oikawa!"
"Oikawa-kun, you're here!"
"Oikawa-senpai, I'm Wakaba Koyo from first year. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
The difference in treatment was immediate.
While Isshiki's arrival had barely earned a glance, Oikawa's appearance sent the Sobu students into a frenzy.
Out of the four students, however, Oikawa only recognized one. A boy from his year. They'd exchanged a few words during the school festival.
"Oikawa-kun, let me carry those." The boy hurried over and took the drinks and snacks from Oikawa's hands.
Then the boy's expression immediately turned serious. "The situation's pretty bad. We're counting on you, Oikawa-kun."
Oikawa blinked.
He hadn't expected that one day people would actually rely on him this much.
Yet as he looked into the hopeful eyes of his schoolmates, something stirred in his chest.
A strange sense of pride.
Maybe this was what people meant when they said: I can complain about my school all I want, but nobody else gets to.
"Who's that?"
One of the Kaihin students quietly asked Isshiki.
With a bright smile, she answered loudly enough for everyone to hear, "That's Oikawa Tōru. First place in the second-year exams. And my secret weapon."
A male student stepped forward. "My name is Tamanawa. I'm the student council president of Kaihin High School. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." Oikawa smiled politely and waited.
Sure enough, there was more coming.
"Excellent." Tamanawa pushed up his glasses and continued. "As two fresh rookie student council presidents planning this event together, I hope we can establish a relationship built on mutual respect, form a productive partnership, and generate strong synergy."
Oikawa nearly laughed.
Corporate buzzwords.
The guy sounded exactly like one of those office workers who sprinkled random English into every sentence because they thought it made them sound international.
If Oikawa's English wasn't good, he might actually have been impressed.
Around them, the Kaihin student council members watched with obvious anticipation.
They were waiting for a reaction. Watching the show.
A faint smile appeared on Oikawa's face.
Then he replied in fluent English with a British accent. "I hope so too. Though personally, I think competence matters more than vocabulary."
Tamanawa froze. The Kaihin students froze. The entire room froze.
Oikawa continued casually.
"If I remember correctly, Kaihin teaches English as well, doesn't it? Could it be that President Tamanawa doesn't understand the words coming out of my mouth?"
"What a shame. I thought I might find someone to speak English with, or I might end up forgetting my accent."
The counterattack landed cleanly.
School-to-school collaborations were a lot like diplomacy between nations. Show even a hint of weakness, and the other side would keep pushing for more leverage.
And more. Until eventually they'd walk all over you.
Besides... wasn't this exactly why Isshiki had dragged him here in the first place?
Oikawa had never intended to play the nice guy.
"Senpai, that was amazing," Isshiki whispered in admiration.
The Sobu students looked equally thrilled, their earlier gloom completely gone. Their heads were high again.
The atmosphere in the room had flipped in an instant. Now it was the Kaihin students who looked awkward and deflated.
At last, the real meeting began.
Tamanawa sat at the front of the room, with Isshiki seated beside him.
"Then, just like last time, we'll begin with a... brainstorm."
Again, he added an English word at the end of his sentence automatically.
The moment Tamanawa remembered Oikawa, however, he corrected himself. "We'll start with a brainstorming session. The theme is the overall concept of the Christmas event and any ideas for its contents."
The moment he finished speaking, silence descended over the room.
Oikawa leaned toward Isshiki and whispered, "You've had meetings before?"
"Yeah." Isshiki nodded awkwardly. "We had a simple meeting a few days ago after deciding to host the event together."
Then she lowered her voice. "But basically all the Kaihin student council members were talking. We just listened..."
No wonder the Sobu students had looked like they'd seen their savior when he arrived.
So they'd already been put through this once.
Still... Not knowing the full situation yet, Oikawa chose to stay quiet.
Seeing nobody respond, one of the Kaihin students raised his hand. "Considering the needs of high school students, I believe we should stimulate the innovative aspects of the youthful mind..." He paused after noticing Oikawa's stare. "Uh... in other words, the creativity of young people."
Oikawa felt a headache coming on.
Why couldn't these Kaihin people just speak normally? Either speak Japanese or English—what the hell is this thing where they stick English words in every few sentences? Just hearing it was a headache.
And surely they didn't think this sounded cool, right?
...Right? Please tell me they didn't.
Then another Kaihin student spoke. And another..... And another.
Every single one of them sprinkled English words into their sentences.
At this point, Oikawa was starting to question reality itself.
What exactly was the purpose of this meeting? Weren't they supposed to be planning a Christmas event?
Why did it sound more like a graduate-level academic symposium?
He glanced at Isshiki.
She kept nodding along seriously.
Oikawa was willing to bet she hadn't understood a single word.
That was it. He'd had enough.
With a loud smack, Oikawa slapped his hand onto the desk and stood up.
Every eye in the room turned toward him.
"You guys are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. And I just remembered that my English grades are terrible. So could the people from Kaihin High please stop stuffing English into every sentence?"
Ignoring the looks directed his way, Oikawa walked to the blackboard.
He grabbed a piece of chalk and began writing rapidly.
—Christmas Event—
Then beneath it:
1. Activities: Concert / Musical / Dance performance / Stage play / Poetry reading
2. Expenses: Christmas cake / Christmas tree / Miscellaneous costs
3. Personnel: Performers / Staff members
After writing everything down, Oikawa turned back toward the room.
Specifically, toward the Kaihin students.
"Planning a Christmas event is this simple. For future meetings, Sobu High can cooperate with your brainstorming sessions if you want. But please don't make us sit through any more random English."
"If there's nothing else, let's end today's meeting here."
Oikawa swept his gaze across the room one final time before turning and walking out.
"Then we'll conclude today's meeting here." Isshiki bowed to everyone and hurried after him.
Not long afterward, the rest of Sobu High's student council members exchanged glances and followed suit, leaving the seminar room one after another.
The room fell silent.
The Kaihin students stared at one another helplessly.
Nobody knew what to say.
...
"Senpai, you were so cool just now!" Isshiki hurried after Oikawa, her eyes sparkling. "You should've seen it after you left. Tamanawa's ears turned completely red."
Oikawa stopped walking.
Then he turned and looked at her seriously. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Senpai, why are you suddenly like this?" Isshiki shrank back slightly. "You're being really scary..."
She looked pitiful enough that Oikawa let out a sigh.
Some of his irritation faded.
"You." He pointed at her forehead. "You're the student council president now. You have a whole team of student council members under you."
Oikawa spoke patiently, trying to get his point across. "I understand there are things you don't know. That's normal. But you can't let the people working under you suffer because of it."
"Those students are already dissatisfied with you. If this keeps up, how can you expect them to cooperate with you in the future—"
Oikawa suddenly stopped.
His eyes widened.
"...Why are you crying?"
"Wait, don't cry! Are you for real right now?"
.
.
.