Chat, am I cooked?

Another after-school spent in this room, and what I was greeted with was expected. Three resignation letters. As I fully entered the room, three students started packing up. The treasurer, secretary, and general affairs…Or I should say ex-council members, quickly whisked their belongings with them and made their way to the door.

“Good fucking luck, Iwasaki.”

“Have fun by yourself.”

“Sayonara…”

The three of them left, haphazardly leaving the door ajar. Good riddance. Nothing was lost; the last time they actually did their council duties was the end of the first month anyway. Guess who took on all the slack, met with the club captains and advisors, balanced the student activities budget, and organized the sports festival…the list went on.

They were only the president’s hangarounds anyway…not that he was any better.

I sat at the desk at the front of the room. Aside from the three letters was a stack of papers: project proposals for the cultural festival, financing documents, among other paperwork.

All the pretentious, brown nosing, two-faced cowards acting like they’re the victims—absolutely disgusting, but it would’ve been strange if they weren’t.

I looked down at my hands… knuckles were covered in scabs and faint bruises….barely noticeable at this point. It’s been a month, though things probably won’t change for a while. For the rest of the year, most likely.

Don’t care. Just graduate, get out of this hellscape of a school, move, and never associate with anyone here again. Escape and find some peace and quiet…that’s the goal.

***

The hell…

I got out of bed, looking in my semi-awake state for the time. It wasn’t even 2 am yet, and here I am waking up in the middle of the night. Why is it that pleasant dreams are almost immediately forgotten, but these stupid nightmares are so realistic that I can still remember the small details.

It was the middle of Golden Week… maybe the extra sleep is causing it. No point in going back to sleep now… maybe I’ll do something to take my mind off that for a while.

Things that can lighten the mood…food…anime…

Perhaps thinking of positive things that happened over the week, I believe one of my teachers gave a lesson on positivity and stress reduction, and mentioned this.

The concert, for example! That was fun…

“...One day, I’ll tell you a bit about it.”

Why did I say something that embarrassing?! Was I possessed?? Ok, ok…scratch that part of the night out, the concert itself was enjoyable, the singing, cheering–especially Sato, she looked really happy and cute-

I placed two hands on my temples– Snap out of it!

I give up. 0/5 for that teacher’s lesson. Food and anime, it is.

Turning on the lights, I got to the fridge to see if there was a late-night snack and drink to indulge in. Perhaps I can fix some ramen and watch a few episodes of anime. I opened the fridge to find some green onions, but the eggs I thought were in here were gone.

I must have left the eggs in the common room fridge. I grabbed my keys and phone and left for the hallway.

Closing the door gently, I walked down the hall towards the kitchen, the automatic lights turning on one by one as I passed by. It was very quiet, so I could hear my own footsteps lightly slide against the flooring. Everyone’s probably fast asleep, or if not, probably wouldn’t want to be disturbed, hence my silent approach to the common room.

I opened the kitchen fridge and retrieved the carton of eggs. Eggs really do elevate the simple bowl of packaged ramen to another level—with some green onions, minced garlic, extra chili oil—hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Also, what should I watch? Maybe a new seasonal episode release. Or I could pick a movie from the backlog, of which there are plenty to choose from. Sci-fi, fantasy, action….or maybe something more laid-back. Slice of life, comfy with a warm bowl of noodles and a crisp, refreshing drink. Kind of like camping.

Now that's life.

I retraced my steps back to my room at the end of the hall.

“...haah?!”

Who was that? I looked around to see nobody in the hall with me, even though I was sure I had heard somebody’s voice. It was muffled….sounded like it was coming from the door across from me.

I approached the door in question–it was Watson’s room.

“The hell was that? You missed from point blank ICANTEVEN-”

That sounded like Watson, but what in the world was she saying?

Oh boy, I must be hearing things. Should I even be awake and making food if I’m hallucinating these noises…

I shook my head, resolved to just go back to my room. I turned around to leave, but as I did, the voice returned.

“Ah shit one of the foam panels fell off the door–”

I heard the sound of the door handle click, and before I could react, a sharp pain exploded in the back of my head. What–

My vision blurred as I lost control of my lower limbs, falling to the ground in a forward motion.

This must be the death flag…for what? Eggs? Late-night ramen and movies?

***

“How’s Iwasaki back, wasn’t he expelled?”

“And he took over as student council president…”

“I heard Miyaji-kun’s out of the hospital… someone close to him said this was a setup?”

“Has to be…”

No use going around and explaining away the rumors going around. The clique he was a part of would just fan the flames and act like they didn’t drop the lighter in the first place.

I passed the halls and made it back to the student council room with my lunch. I suppose the plus side is that I get the room to myself to offset the work that needs to get done. Cultural festival’s coming up…good thing I had gone through the proposals over summer break.

I sighed…if most of these tasks could realistically be completed by one person, what really was the council for…just an extracurricular to look good on paper and brag to others about?

I tapped the pen on my head, letting it bounce off and land on the desk. Whatever, it was time for lunch. Mom and Dad both had late shifts, so today’s bento was some leftovers from dinner with some additions I fixed up…hopefully Kaede and Shoko find it okay.

Turning 18 at the start of summer break did help me land that job at the restaurant and when I was able to help with the cooking, the chef was quite helpful with showing how it’s done; maybe those hours paid off—-I took a bite of my lunch, and was pleasantly surprised.

As I ate and read through the paperwork, I heard a knock on the door. Usually, people don’t come to this room during lunch unless there’s a previously scheduled meeting—otherwise, it’s empty until after school.

I wasn’t expecting anyone today either…

I opened the door. “Hey, is there something I can—Kaede?” My younger sister stood at the doorway, holding her lunchbag.

“Heyo, big bro–” Kaede greeted. “Mind if I join for lunch?”

Though still confused as to her reasoning, I let her in the room, and she plopped on one of the chairs. “Your friends not at lunch?”

“Hikari-chan’s meeting with her club, and Yumi-chan’s out sick today. Also, the first years are totally talking about you, some were asking me questions, which I politely refused to answer.” She sighed. “So much gossip…”

“I thought you liked gossip,” I chuckled.

“I do! But when it involves my older brother, it gets a bit much..” She shifted her gaze to the window. “They have a nickname for you now—” That already sounds like a bad start to the semester.

“And what could that possibly be?”

She laughed. “Tekken-kaichou–makes you sound kinda cool–”

President Ironfist? What am I, a fighting character now?

I exhaled in resignation…if the first years want to turn this into some sort of urban legend…as long as Kaede’s not bothered by it.

“Oh well…how are you and your classmates getting along?”

“No trouble….Hikari-chan and Yumi-chan are still my besties though–” she grinned. “Plus, nobody’s gonna bother me anymore since President Ironfist has my back!”

***

Slowly opening my eyes for the second time, I first felt the cool, damp sensation on the back of my head. I moved my head a bit, which caused a tinge of soreness from the back, along with a quiet crunching noise. Sounds like an ice pack… and something wrapped around my head.

As I regained my senses, I tried to remember what happened. I was walking back to my room… did I hit my head as I got in? Then…bandaged myself up before drifting to sleep?

Must be, but I was lying on the floor. And this…did not look like my room—

“Good night chat!! Peace!” Chat?

My vision cleared up some more, until I was able to distinguish the figure now moving from a distance towards me.“Iwasaki-kun.. you’re awake?” Seems like it, though things do feel surreal still.

I looked at Watson, now sitting on the floor; she was wearing headphones around her neck, the wire snaking towards a computer–hold on, that PC looks fancy…a solid microphone setup…is that a gamer chair?

What did I just wake up to?!