Fishy Business

Harsh winds swept in through the open council window as the room overlooked the sports grounds.

Yet inside this room, the air felt frozen.

Because Rei-senpai was staring directly at him.

“Arata-kun,” she said, voice low and controlled, “why did you enter the student council room without permission?”

Her tone was polite, painfully so. but it was the kind of politeness that someone such as the president of the Student Council must show.

Arata’s hand was still on the metal handle of the door, as if he might flee this situation instantly.

 Unfortunately, his legs had decided they were done cooperating.

“I, uh…” He forced himself to straighten, trying not to fidget under her gaze. “The door wasn’t locked, so I thought…”

“That it was all right to come in uninvited?” she finished.

Rei-senpai stood behind the council president’s desk, posture unnaturally perfect, the white armband on her left arm immaculate. The fading sunlight traced a line along her red hair, neatly tied with a dark ribbon. Her expression, as always, was unreadable.

Arata looked away for a second.

“Why the hell am i getting swept away by thoughts in this critical moment?” he thought as he felt a subtle fuzziness spread inside him.

But there was one thing that controlled Arata Sato that overtook even his temporary desires.

[JUSTICE]

Arata began trying to awaken his inner actor.

“You’re overworked. Someone as talented and BEATIFU-...”

Arata-kun cleared his throat and looked into the window, trying to hide his horrible acting skills.

“I mean, acknowledgably well suited for the title of President shouldn’t be bothered with such small matters like me.”

He ended now in an awkward pose as he pointed to himself.

Rei-senpai paused as Arata-kun’s dramatic speech caught her off-guard.

She chuckled softly, having smiled genuinely after a long time.

Arata-kun’s brain strangled his heart instantly as he could feel his thoughts beat up his emotions internally at the sight of her joy.

“‘I guess’?” Rei-senpai repeated. “Is that truly an apology?” she asked, with the same smile.

Arata couldn’t bother to lie to her face anymore.

“Okay, okay... I am sorry. Seriously. I just… wanted to talk to you.” he confessed.

Rei-senpai’s fingers tightened slightly around the papers. “About what?”

Arata-kun scratched his cheek, suddenly aware that barging into the student council room after hours sounded more suspicious out loud than it had in his head.

“Well… you looked tired today. In class. More than usual. So I thought maybe something was wrong with the council stuff.” Arata-kun said hesitantly

A flicker of surprise crossed Rei-senpai’s face, for a fraction of a second, she seemed… vulnerable.

“You entered a restricted room because I looked… tired?” Rei-senpai’s voice softened.

“When you say it like that, yeah, it sounds pretty bad,”

Arata admitted. “But I was worried.”

Rei-senpai blinked.

For a moment, the rigid president slipped, and what peeked through was just a girl who hadn’t expected anyone to say that.

“Worried?” she asked him again quietly.

“Yeah. I mean, everyone talks about how perfect you are, you know? Top grades, flawless record, never late, always prepared.” Arata continued

‘Flower of the academy,’ all that.” He shrugged.

“But someone as such wouldn't be bumping into new students in the hallway..” Arata finished the sentence.

Instead of answering, she sat down slowly. The wooden chair creaked.

“Arata-kun,” Rei-senpai began, then stopped. Silence stretched, broken only by the ticking clock.

Finally, Rei-senpai spoke,

“You shouldn’t worry about things that aren’t your responsibility.”

“That’s not how that works,” Arata-kun replied instantly.

Her eyes narrowed, more in confusion than anger.

“Pardon?”

“You don’t choose who worries about you,” he said.

“That’s kind of the whole point of worrying.”

“...and” Arata-kun finally spoke confidently.

“I’m not here just to express my concerns.”

He stepped closer to the desk, glancing around the empty room.

The long table in the center was bare, and the bulletin board showed mostly past events, flyers curling at the edges.

Only Rei-sepnai’s desk was filled with papers, sticky notes, neatly arranged files, a bursting planner, and a pen that looked worn from overuse.

“Where is everyone, anyway?” Arata-kun asked.

“Shouldn’t there be other council members around?”

Rei-senpai’s shoulders stiffened.

Rei Tsukiko remembered the day she was first elected as the president and started her duties.

Soon, due to her extreme standards and many of the council members’ dismissive behaviour.

She was forced to take up all the grueling work of the student council alone.

No one else seemed to notice. Or they saw and just assumed she’d handle it.

Because she always did.

Rei-senpai mustered her courage to reply to Arata-kun.

Her fingertips brushed a file, then curled into a fist.

“Midterms are approaching,” she said.

“The cultural festival preparations are postponed, and the autumn sports meet is over. There are fewer urgent tasks, so the others felt it would be acceptable to take a temporary step back to… focus on their own priorities.”

The way she said “others” made something twist in Arata’s chest.

“Temporary, huh. How long has this ‘temporary’ been going on?”

She didn’t look at him.

Arata-kun noticed the trash bin by her desk filled with crumpled sticky notes and old drafts, all in the same neat handwriting.

“President,” he said deliberately,

“How long?”

Rei Tsukiko flinched almost imperceptibly.

“Since the beginning of this term,” she replied at last.

“This term? That’s months!” Arata snapped

“Please do not shout in the council room,” she scolded automatically.

“You’ve been handling all this alone? For months?” Arata continued.

Rei-senpai clasped her hands, knuckles white.

“It is my duty as student council president,” she said, slipping back into formality like armor.

“I was elected to this position. Naturally, I bear the responsibility.”

“Responsibility doesn’t mean ‘do everything by yourself,’” Arata shot back.

The setting sun slanted across her face, making the shadows beneath her eyes obvious.

Her perfect uniform couldn’t hide the stiffness in her shoulders.

“This school doesn’t run on its own,” Rei continued, voice brittle.

“Events, budgets, facility requests and there are deadlines and approvals. If I don’t do it, things will fall apart. And if that happens, everyone will say the student council failed.” she said as she held back her tears.

“They won’t remember that the others stopped showing up. They will only remember that I was president when it collapsed.” Rei-senpai continued as her voice got shaky.

“And… you never complained?” Arata-kun asked.

“Complaining won’t make them come,” she said.

“If I push too hard, they’ll say I’m overbearing. If I don’t push, they drift away and say they’re ‘busy.’ In the end, it was easier to stay silent and… do it myself.” A single tear escaped her eye as her shoulder drooped down in defeat.

Arata’s palm hit the desk before he could stop himself.

"I’ll make sure you feel the same joy you did when you first became student council president." Arata declared.

Rei-senpai jumped back in surprise.

“Rei-senpai,”  Arata-kun said clearly,

“Give me one day.” he asked.

“One… day?” she said hesitantly.

“Yeah. Just one day. I’ll fix this.” Arata said as his stance stood firm.

Even he knew how ridiculous that sounded. But he needed to say it. She needed to hear it.

“Just one day,” She finally agreed.

Rei-senpai spoke again, struggling to make eye contact.

“And if you fail?”

“I won’t.” Arata-kun instantly replied.

She gave him a look.

Arata’s legs were wobbly as he, too, was aware of his baseless words.

The Next day

Hiro and Arata walked alongside as Hiro-kun asked him

“Have you found a way to reduce Rei-senpai’s workload yet?”

“I’ll figure it out today,” replied Arata-kun casually,

Hiro-kun was actually relieved he hadn’t thought of anything sinister.

He hadn’t been able to sleep properly yesterday after seeing Arata-kun’s crooked smile upon seeing the billboard.

They both stopped as Arata narrowed his eyes at the scene ahead.

“WHY DID YOU BRING ME THIS DRINK, YOU FOOL?!” a boy shouted as he threw the can at the other boy.

An esteemed student was bullying another while a crowd watched.

Hiro-kun whispered to Arata that the one shouting was the heir of the Ryoken family, famous for its monopoly on book publishing, and the other boy was the heir of a company Ryoken Publishing had bought some time ago.

Hiro-kun stepped back instantly as he sensed danger. His breathing fastened as drops of sweat covered his forehead.

Hiro Daiki had been trained in several martial arts since he was a kid.

However, 

The threat he felt just now wasn’t from the  rich hostile students but

The malicious smile on Arata Sato’s face.