You and I a Brand New Start

Today’s UN Training --- Crisis Control

The final rung on the ladder to the top doesn’t just end with hiding the past, there are the added elements to it that involve the aftermath of the past’s resurfacing. The most important of which is Crisis Control.

How a leader manages the revelations that look to unravel years of work is testament to their character. Some admit wrongdoing, hoping for a forgiving public response, others simply lie or deflect their way into gaslighting the public, eventually having them think it was never really an important issue to begin with. Those opposing tactics have a tendency of achieving the same results whether good or bad, depending on the social intelligence of at least half that leader’s constituency.

Tani isn’t in the position to appease many people, because he’s simply a club president at this point in his political journey; but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things out there that can and will hold him back from his dreams depending on how he handles it.

At the top of the ladder, it’s a long way down.

Akihiro Tani must mitigate the damage if he wants to continue climbing.

----------------------------

Kimura Ume wears a face that could be perceived as either angry or sad, and Tani doesn’t know how to read it, he just knows that it squeezes at his heart.

“....”

“Um… Are you going to say something?”

“Ah…” Tani's voice falters and he ends up saying nothing.

“S-So, fun fact, I have been taking guesses on what would be the first thing you’d say to me after all this time, hehe.” Ume lets out a sheepish chuckle and runs her hand through her shoulder length maroon hair.

She's not intentionally trying to do anything that should make Tani react the way he is, yet she can notice how disheveled he’s becoming by her presence. Her eyes waver from his frame and begin dancing toward any location other than his.

“When I first saw you at school, you were alone and you came across so cold, I figured you’d be mad if I just showed up out of the blue. The thought of reaching out to you then made me really nervous… I had to follow you around for a bit to really see what kind of person you’ve become before I could work up the courage to meet you face to face.”

“....”

“I hope I didn’t spook you too much, I kinda got caught up in the pursuit and let it go on for too long. Once that foreign girl saw my face, I knew the jig was up and I realized the error of my ways.”

Tani finally has the identity of the stalker, but the result was definitely not one he saw coming, and it affords him no relief.

“The more I watched you, the more those nerves turned to anticipation and excitement. It all started with that foreign girl, and the next thing I knew, you were surrounded by people again. Though you’ve changed little things about yourself, I got to see you go from someone I didn’t recognize to someone so familiar to me.”

Ume takes a few delicate steps towards him and presents her hand to him. “That being said, you look strange now that you wear glasses. It’s funny, it’s a lot like we’ve traded places.”

Tani averts his gaze, Ume retrieves her outstretched hand.

“...What is it that Akihiro Tani is going to say to me I wonder? Maybe you’ll ask me about the many Instergram* followers I have? I’m pretty famous now if you can believe it, I’ve even been offered some modeling gigs overseas, there’s been a lot you’ve missed these last three years.”

There is no arrogance within her feathery voice, this is a genuine attempt at informing him about herself. She presses on in the same manner.

“Or maybe you just keep it simple and ask me about my new hairstyle? I think this color looks really cute, and it’s nice that it isn’t so long any more.”

He can’t help but feel like he really has no clue who this person is in front of him.

“But my best guess is that you’ll ask me why I’m here at Kokusai, and why I’ve chosen now of all times to find you.”

Tani’s lips begin to quiver, and the wrinkles on his chin communicate his reluctance to speak up.

Ume can see it clearly, but she allows the morose sight of him to drip a damaging question from her lips,

“Do you really not want to know about any of it?”

What comes next is a short pause between the two, but such a direct query prompts Tani to open his mouth.

“...I don’t want to ask you anything.”

“...I-Is that so?” she replies with a crack of despair that she can’t hide behind a strained smile.

“Instead…” Tani finds the strength to look her in the eyes, using his clenched fists to store up the energy. “I want to offer you a compromise.”

“Compromise?”.

“It was smart of you to avoid coming to me before I started this club, I’m certain I would have gone through any hurdle to avoid you. But I’ve learned a few things these last couple of weeks, so instead….”

Tani holds three of his fingers up in front of her, and as soon as he does a gentle breeze briskly slides along the rooftop, tossing their hair into a gentle caper.

“I want you to ask me three questions, and I will answer them honestly.”

“Really?”

Ume is surprised, and immediately fumbles to gather up the many curiosities she has stored within her mind. It will take a few seconds for her to go through the process of narrowing them down to three.

“It’s fitting that everything comes to a head here." Tani says, "What better way to test the foundation of every rung of the ladder I’ve climbed than to be completely honest with you now. Ask me anything.”

“Uwaawa okay one second, give me one second!”

Ume turns around and can be seen fiddling with something in her hands, her shoulders leaping up and down with each frantic movement.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s nothing! Don’t mind me!”

“That’s suspicious as hell.”

Tani closes the distance between the two to see what she’s doing and peers over her shoulder. She scampers off.

“Hey!” he shouts as she flees.

She slides behind a bench and hides.

“Just let me do this! You’re going way off script here, I need to reassess the situation!”

Despite her distance away from him, Tani can hear her phone buzzing in rapid succession. He can still see half of her on the other side of the bench, and this time it’s obvious that she’s voraciously typing away, replying to whoever is texting her.

He doesn’t understand what she’s doing, but her sudden flip in personality has taken a nostalgic turn. He can visually split the current version of this girl with the one he remembers deep within his mind. That particular girl had long braided black hair, thick circular glasses, and had a series of obscure interests that she was proud to broadcast. She loved RPG games, Kurosawa films, ninja techniques from a popular shonen anime, and had Gundam replicas dangling from her school bag. She even had a poster of a J-pop band pinned up in her middle school locker.

That girl was a total nerd.

The stylish girl in front of him now might look different physically, but sensing her presence shift back to who he once knew so well puts him at ease, and the feeling plants a tender smile on his face.

“Okay I got it!” She says as she stands to her feet, making an about face with the deft footwork of an army sergeant before pointing at him. “Are you prepared for question number 1?”

“I am.”

“That tall boy from your club, is it true that you are partners in love?”

“No.”

Tani answered so fast that it makes her take a subconscious step back. He elaborates no further, and looks as if he has no intention of entertaining any more on the topic. Fearing that asking him for more details would take up one of her remaining two questions, she accepts that answer and peers back down on her phone.

"My girlfriends are gonna be disappointed to hear that! They were already in the process of writing a fanfic online."

Her thumbs go mach speed on the keyboard, and just as fast as she types, a bundle of message notifications are returned to her; she reads through them with the intent of a scholar.

“Ume.” Tani says, snatching her attention away from her phone.

“Don’t waste it by taking the advice of people who don't know me. Choose the last two questions yourself.”

Ume fumbles momentarily, but comes to understand his point. She has been waiting years for this chance, and she’s already tossed away one golden opportunity on something trivial.

“Okay… Question number 2!” She points at him again, declaring her intent. “Why did you leave me and all your friends behind the final year of middle school?”

The strength of her point seems to wane once she realizes that an answer to that lingering mystery is forthcoming, her face twists nervously.

Tani knew that this would be asked of him, he was confronted with something similar by Togashi just a couple days earlier. But this time he is compelled to answer. He feels that he at least owes her his honesty.

“Because I made a promise to someone that I have to keep…” He takes a deep breath before continuing. “I wasn’t going anywhere with my life back then, I wasn’t trying to do anything, I wasn’t trying to become anyone. I was stagnant, and I was okay with it.”

Tani makes his way towards the fence and looks out at the view of the city. The skyscrapers out in the distance are tinted in orange, and the fluffy clouds trailing off in the sky cast shadows onto roofs of houses, telephone wires and trees. The ambience of the current world around him corroborates the emotion he’s feeling, a combination of warm and cool colors akin to letting go of something and embracing it simultaneously.

“You and the others, we were all so carefree. So long as we passed our classes we could enjoy ourselves and goof off. It was really nice, but I didn’t know that while I was out with you and not applying myself… My dad was sick.”

Ume grabs at her chest, squeezing the cardigan she’s wearing.

Tani leans his back up against the chain link fence and looks towards her, the sunlight is beaming off his glasses but she can still sense the pain in the eyes the shining light is hiding.

“When I was really little, he was like a super hero to me. Such a giant of a person who always strived to be the best at whatever he did. But as I got older I started to hate him, he forced his life motto and the expectations that came with it onto me. To make matters worse, he always made it a point to compare me with my older brother, who listened to every word he said and eventually became a very successful businessman. Life at home was like the tree of us were the same person under one roof… I couldn't handle it anymore, so I never tried to be anything but mediocre just to spite him. His frustration in my lack of drive only served to push me away from what I was capable of, and I was totally okay with going along that path forever so long as he was adamant about forcing his version of an ideal son onto me.”

“Tani…”

“The problem was that forever came a lot sooner for him. It happened so fast, pancreatic cancer… He died just a couple weeks after he was diagnosed. The big man I thought I hated had shrunk to such a size that I could carry him in my own arms. It was pathetic, it was sad, and it really struck me just how fragile even the best amongst us are.”

“I never knew… you never told me what was happening!”

“...I didn't know how to talk to anyone about it, so I didn't. It's an interesting case study, handling the death of a family member. I mean, I never even cried during the whole ordeal."

Ume bites her bottom lip.

"In the end I made him a promise on his deathbed, I promised him that I would do my best to become someone he could be proud of. He told me that he was always proud of me, and believed that one day I will change the world."

Tani looks rather emotionless all things considered, but his voice is steadily becoming more weakened by the topic in which he speaks of.

“Hearing that, I resolved myself to fulfilling that promise and proving his belief in me correct. I no longer had time for a carefree life. Everything I would ever do from that point forward was to guide me towards my destiny to the top of the world. Instead of palling around with you and the others, I threw myself into history and geopolitical books, I focused on having straight A’s. I learned a few more languages in the meantime and I started carving my way towards my goal.”

“You should have at least told us!”

“I couldn’t tell you…”

“Why!?”

“Is that your final question?”

Tears are welling up in the corner of Ume’s eyes, she wipes it with the back of her sleeve and bites her lip.

“No… That’s not my last question.”

She puffs up with a deep breath and makes her way towards him with some thunderous steps. Reaching out to him, she grabs his tie and looks him square in the eyes when she asks,

“Akihiro Tani... Leaving me behind... Is that what you wanted?”

He doesn’t answer right away, but looking down at her, memories of past times with her flood into his mind like a tidal wave. What he took for granted back then he now reminisces upon fondly, the thought of how far he has moved away from that distant world he was once a part of stings like lemon juice on a paper cut. He can picture what he used to look like when he wore contacts and styled his hair differently, he can picture himself joking around with Ume and their group of friends during lunch and after school. He vividly remembers going on a trip to Akihabara to accompany his nerdy friend while she shopped for anime trinkets and played arcade games.

He’s ashamed he had forgotten those moments and replaced it with a mind altering ambition.

Thinking back on it all, those moments no longer seem so far away. The answer to her question leaves his mouth with the ease of impulse.

“Absolutely not… How could I ever want to leave my best friend?”

The tears that were welling up in Ume’s eyes come sliding down her face, and upon feeling the warmth on her cheeks she lets loose her grip on his tie and turns around to conceal evidence of it.

“I-I see.”

Even Tani is fighting a lump in his throat.

“I’m sorry, Ume. My line of work has compelled me to do a lot of terrible things since we last saw each other. But what I did to you, that's the worst thing I've ever done, and I doubt I'll ever forgive myself for it."

"Hmm." She can only mutter while wiping her face with the back of her sleeve.

"The reason why I didn't tell you... The truth is that I'm a coward, and in the end I'm trying to work a coward's job, and I'm trying to be the best there ever was at it. I used my sudden break away from you as a stepping stone to further my cause. I'm truly sorry, I don’t know why it took me until now to see how wrong I was.” 

“I think I know.” she says with a sniffle and a relieved chuckle. “It's the people you've surrounded yourself with, you have friends again.”

Tani is forced to consider what she just said, and the thought of everyone he’s found himself spending his days with twists his face into a glower.

“No way.”

“Eh?”

“If you’ve been watching me, haven’t you noticed how crazy they are? I don’t even know where to start with them!”

“Am I missing something here??”

“First off, Shirai-sensei either has an unhealthy crush on me, or she’s even more of a monster than I am!” He crosses his arms and lifts his chin. “Charl believes that the answer to drawing a great manga is through an imaginary love life between she and I, and I think he purposefully makes my life more difficult just to see how I’ll react so he can take notes.”

“O-Oh.”

“And Emilia! Dealing with her is like pulling teeth, she’s so difficult that it drives me crazy. Every time we take a step forward she’ll screw up and take two steps back. If Purgatory were a human, it would be Emilia Mazzoli!”

“That’s harsh!”

“And our newest member Mariko, she’s a half Japanese American that has no shame. She seems to be extremely indecisive so I know that I'll have to be burdened with doing the thinking for her. Not to mention, she has more energy than she knows what to do with. Like a puppy dog or something!”

“A puppy!?”

“Yeah! I’d hardly call them my friends, I just got stuck with them cause they joined my club.”

“What about the golden haired girl?”

“Mi scusi?” 

“You left out the girl on the ladder from the library. She is the first member of your club isn’t she? I saw you two in the classroom the other day, it didn't look like she's someone you're just stuck with.”

Tani clears his throat and passively replies, “Ah yes, Anita.”

“What is she to you?”

He pauses and contemplates, but quickly shakes his head back and forth as though something comes to mind, “That makes four questions!”

“Uwaha no this is just going with the flow of a natural conversation!”

“Well I have decided that I’m no longer going to contribute to this natural conversation.”

“I assure you that your reaction has looked way worse than whatever answer you’ll give!”

Tani begins walking towards the door leading back into the school building, he’s attempting to make an escape. But Ume darts in front of him and blocks his path, her outstretched arms like the wings of a small bird trying to look bigger than it actually is.

“Just tell me.”

Tani lets out a slacken sigh before saying, “Anita is… Someone who’s taught me how to teach, shown me how important it is to take a break and rest, proved to me that it’s okay to be human while I strive towards my goal. If not for her, I wouldn’t be able to face you right now. Somehow I’ve learned all this from her despite her inability to speak more than a few words. Maybe she's helped me become less of a coward.”

“So she’s your friend?”

“...Yeah, Anita is my friend. And she’s the reason that I am able to enjoy being around my other members despite how odd and annoying they are.”

Ume smiles, Tani is showing her a familiar face that she hasn’t seen since they were both in middle school. This kind of expression belongs to someone that has acceptance in their heart, content with where they are but still trying to do their best.

“So just to be sure… she’s not your girlfriend though right??”

He chokes on that suggestive inquiry and hurries away from her, “That makes six questions! I'm cutting you off!”

“Hehehe, that’s good enough for me.”

“I need to get back to my clubroom anyways, they’re probably wondering where I am."

Ume sends him a playful wink when she says, “So this is goodbye for now then. Can we meet more often now?"

She’s half expecting him to protest, but instead, Tani receives her suggestion with a smile.

“Meet more often huh? Sure, I need to take responsibility for the time lost.”

"Take responsibility? Uwa, I wasn't expecting that line to exit your mouth!"

"Ha! You said you were wondering what the first thing I'd ask you would be. I got a question for you, and I bet that it's also something you would not have expected going into this.”

“Huh?”

“Kimura Ume…" 

He holds his hand out to her.

"Will you join the Languages club?”

At first revealing an expression of disbelief, her face lights up when she realizes what Tani has just offered her.

She doesn’t hesitate to grab his outstretched hand.

“It will be my pleasure, Tani. Let’s get to work!”

No scheming was necessary to achieve his final member, instead it was an honest request during a face to face interaction. Something our ambitious high schooler did so much to avoid is what ended up saving him in the end.

Courtesy of an overdue reunion brought upon by a tragedy and callous, cowardly decision, the Languages Club is saved. From this point forward, they will navigate their final year of high school together with four foreigners and one very aloof teacher.

Tani's Crisis Control was top notch, but it didn't come from years of relentless political training. This time, it came from certain truths about human connection just recently learned with the arrival of a Foreign Girl from Norway. Akihiro Tani has grown, or perhaps reverted to the point where he no longer needs to live within such rigidity. 

It's a brand new start. It's onto the next adventure.

Today’s UN Lesson --- In certain cases, crises are manufactured! Do what you can to make it right!