Volume 6 - CH 3.5

“Gaaah, damn it.”

The student council office was completely empty except Sajou Kaede as the only person present, moving her hands in anger and rage, grumbling to herself. Kaede despised unfairness and a lack of rationality. Attending this school, most of the stress inflicted on her was caused by unreasonable circumstances. Thanks to that, more and more work ended up being pushed onto her. The most prominent example of this is the studies, the main work, of a student.

That being said, Kaede wasn’t enough of a child to fight back against all of that. Whenever she walked down the hallway, a lot of people seemed terrified of her because of the look in her eyes and her attitude. Back when she was still fighting all the irrationality in the world, when she first started attending this school, she took the way of the ‘gal’ or ‘yankee’, which led to this reputation.

She learned from the mistake she suffered back then and accepted the role she had to play as someone with baggage on her back. Without that, Kaede would probably still walk around with dyed hair, unable to deal with the workings of the world.

“Those guys…and that bastard…!”

Those guys referred to the ‘West side’ this Kouetsu High inhabited. At this very moment, this ‘West side’ was giving Kaede a whole lot of trouble. After all, they completely erased any kind of data on the previous few culture festivals and their preparations, which should have originally been available to the student council from the very start.

For that reason, the student council in control this year had to come up with the general ideas and structure themselves, thus delaying their progress as they practically had to start from zero, and lacked the necessary resources to do so. In fact, some of the student council members themselves are part of this West Side. As was made clear, it was just Kaede present in the student council office.

—They’re hiding something from me.

She realized this right away. These men usually would gather around Kaede like puppies with wagging tails, begging for her attention. Yet now, they were actively avoiding her, working in the shadows on something that Kaede did not know about. Kaede was especially sensitive towards this kind of thing because this same pattern had happened before. It was clear that they were hiding something.

You might think that Kaede-senpai is unexpectedly kind for not immediately blowing a fuse and lashing out on them, but that’s not exactly what this was. She had forsaken them from the very start. Two years ago, when Kaede was not in the best emotional state, so to speak, she simply adored the idea of hotties and handsome men. Yet after everything was said and done, these handsome men who approached her were the perfect reflection of all the unfairness and irrationality in the world that she hated so much.

As a result of that, she grew used to these handsome looks, obtaining a more clear view of things, and wasn’t particularly excited when she saw the new student council members as they were right now. At this point in time, her general thought drove more towards ‘Who cares if they’re handsome.’ Her desires to be healed and pampered could only be directed at the evening sky, nobody else.

In the midst of this mortifying time, Kaede had an existence worth protecting. This turned out to be her good-for-nothing younger brother she had always looked down on, as he suddenly decided to aim for this prestigious high school virtually out of nowhere. Back at the time, Kouetsu High was known as a fairly high-leveled and renowned high school in the area. Additionally, the school gave the students a fair amount of freedom when it came to the school regulations, making it seem more approachable and popular with the students.

Back then, Kaede’s motivation towards her studies was simply based on ‘As long as I can win against my younger brother’, nothing more. However, in a sense, it was typical for immature siblings to feel this way towards each other. Back when her younger brother wasn’t blinded by love just yet, his grades were about as average as they could be, and with the immense difference in academic skill between them, there was no reason for Kaede not to attend this school.

Right after enrolling, she was met with a weird separation of East Side and West Side, experiencing unfairness once more, and the children with rich parents were clearly prioritized. It made Kaede feel like studying diligently was not on the agenda despite this being a prestigious high school. The school was of the opinion that everything was okay as long as the students’ grades were good enough, leaving Kaede dubious and distrustful.

—And Wataru is going to attend this school?

That was the first time a flame started to burn up inside of Kaede. Equally, for the first time ever, she started thinking of herself as an older sister. She felt apologetic for previously using him as a practice punching bag for her favorite wrestling moves.

Two years passed, and Kaede was faced with all of the unfairness this school had to offer. As a result and merit of that, the broad-minded Kaede became the student council’s vice president. Not only did she acquire a mindset that allowed her to resist falling to despair against this unfairness, but she also acquired the wisdom, skills, and power to actively fight against it.

“—Kaede. Sorry that I left you alone this long.”

“Whatever.”

“Heh…Cold as always.”

“……”

The current student council president, Yuuki Hayato, entered the office. Back in their first year, besides his looks, he was a lazy good-for-nothing, someone who simply fooled around with whichever woman was willing, only to suddenly say ‘I’ve changed.’ In short, he was the enemy of all women. That being said, it was true that all the girls were horny for him, so he wasn’t fully to be blamed for all of it.

“…You seem awfully busy lately. Is this the ‘responsibility’ you keep telling me about?”

“Our West Side is at the root of it all, see. Please understand that we simply don’t wish to trouble you any more than necessary, Kaede.”

“……”

Yuuki kept a calm and collected expression, heading to the seat of the president in the back of the room. He seemingly had no intentions of hiding the fact that something was going on in the shadows. However, Kaede wasn’t naive enough to just accept this and take it easy. The reason she joined the student council was to ensure that her younger brother would not be forced to watch the ‘dirtiness’ of all the adults of this school. At the same time, she would do everything in her power to keep this school safe, so that she would never see a close friend of hers being hurt by the West Side. To reach this goal, she was ready to step on the kindness and goodwill of any man.

“…Takuto isn’t from the West, though?”

“He is conducting his work as the manager of general affairs. Him not being here is nothing but a coincidence.”

“Heh…I wonder about that.”

“That’s how things stand. I have no reason to refuse him if he shows motivation.” Yuuki skillfully reflected Kaede’s cutting remark.

After building this relationship for more than two years, this relationship won’t break apart so easily. Rather, Yuuki quite liked Kaede’s straightforward attitude. He always saw Kaede as an intriguing girl.

“I’m having Kai act as our reconnaissance for any possible information related to last year’s culture festival. However, the root of all problems, the spiteful West Side, won’t just go away even if we make progress with the culture festival. I judged it was necessary.”

“That…is true. What about the others?”

“I already explained that, right?”

“Whatever. I’m just checking.”

“……”

Yuuki looked at Kaede with a somewhat dubious gaze, but eventually opened his mouth to explain.

“Renji is cleaning up the mess of the executive committee with the help of his family, acting separately from us.”

“Tsk…”

“I know you don’t like the idea, but that’s the only thing we can do in order to keep up the same quality that we’ve offered during past festivals.”

“I get it already.”

‘Move things with money.’ The reason this entire school had been so messed up in the past was because of all the shitty and snobby brats, inexperienced young kids, who through that this simple rule would allow them practically everything. Kaede sought to utterly destroy this target of her hatred, and yet she was forced to rely on it in the very end, leaving her filled with self-loathing. However, simply relying on her broad-mindedness wouldn’t get Kaede anywhere…in neither camps, that is. Her resentment hadn’t vanished, but after being shaped through these past three years, Kaede’s intuition was telling her to rely on others over forcing it herself. In a way, she had opened up more.

“What about the others?”

“The others…? You should know that, right?”

“I do understand that Yuudai isn’t doing any proper work as always.”

Yuudai referred to Todoroki Yuudai. Albeit being another member of the student council, he was pretty much just an accessory. He rarely did any work, simply seated in the student council as a means of allowing the West Side more influence in the decisions made by the council. In regards to Kaede, he at one point called her an ‘interesting woman.’ It seemed like Kaede not holding back on her harsh words was what made her oddly popular with the rich hotties of this school.

“I’m talking about others, okay. Like…your underlings.”

“…Are you asking about Ishiguro?”

“I find it hard to buy that it’s just him.”

“I don’t have some small squadron listening to my orders…Aren’t you a bit too suspicious?”

“Someone who doesn’t even know the gist of one’s own organization can never act as back-up for the culture festival, right?”

“………”

Kaede looked at the silent Yuuki, and didn’t doubt that he had other pawns at his disposal. She had known of this Ishiguro who served the ‘Yuuki’ faction, with her and Ishiguro having a relationship that went beyond seniors and juniors, where they could spit poison at each other whenever they so wished for it. With nothing to hide, they could always be honest and show no restraint. If there was one thing she couldn’t stand about him, then that would be the part of Ishiguro acting shrewdly despite being someone’s pet.

“…It’s just as you think. I had Ishiguro work behind the scenes as well.”

“Tsk…”

Kaede had no real problem with Ishiguro acting as Yuuki’s foot. However, she couldn’t quite accept the fact that he was moving separately as a different group. Accepting that things are happening behind her back, and yet just moving on with her life like nothing was going on was not part of Kaede’s personality. Neither was she willing to accept anybody reacting in this way. That is why she highly evaluated her younger brother. Rather than individual ability and skill, maybe even circumstances, he used applications proven to be worthwhile in history as his own knowledge and used experiences he made to form his own skill. In the current student council, this kind of action was needed more than anything else.

“Don’t take it the wrong way. We all just don’t want to waste your time.”

“Hey…don’t cling to me like that!” Kaede aggressively brushed away the arm that suddenly flung down her collarbone.

It was a regular action Yuuki would show whenever it was just the two of them. In the end, his heart sought out Kaede more than the fianceé his family decided for him. Kaede thought they were just talking about work, so she paid more attention to the documents than this evil-doer.

I might not be able able to win in terms of raw strength, but I have my other ways of slipping away.

“Don’t mix things up. At the very least, your servant may say he ‘doesn’t understand’, but then he’s busy smoking with every single breath.”

“Don’t turn your junior into some underage smoker, okay.”

Yuuki seemingly didn’t enjoy that joke, as his face tightened up, and he took a bit of distance from Kaede. It seemed like Kaede wasn’t always the top priority for him. That being said, Ishiguro had the facial features and build of an adult, so as long as he didn’t wear any uniform while outside, nobody would bat an eye at him smoking. In a way, a single different step in his life may have very well led to that. Yuuki apparently didn’t like the evaluation of his trusted junior being dragged through the mud, since he turned towards Kaede, and explained Ishiguro’s duty.

“Ishiguro is acting as the negotiator and supporter of the work at the executive committee. He mostly is responsible for the digitalization of their work, and managing contact with the Renji team.”

“…I see.”

In other words, average organizational work. It seemed like the kind of stuff you would give to people who pose no other value, and it would be a waste to have a major like Yuuki do miscellaneous work such as that. In that sense, Ishiguro was the perfect fit for that. In fact, the information reaching the student council was simple and concise, making it easy to grasp the situation. He must have had a lot of influence on that. Kaede didn’t like to admit it, but Ishiguro was talented, to say the least—

“…?”

Suddenly, something set Kaede on edge. She looked at the documents in front of her, confirming them with the data on her computer. She looked through the new format of the daily reports handed in by the executive committee. At the same time, she also checked the plans for the online meeting with Hanawa’s team.

“…Hayato.”

“What?”

“Your underling…is it only Ishiguro?”

“Phrasing…As I just said, it’s only him.”

“……”

The sense of discomfort didn’t go away. She stopped her hands and started thinking. If Kaede were to compare her abilities with Ishiguro, then he’d definitely be more of a tactician, and if they were given the same job, then Ishiguro’s efficiency would excel and outshine Kaede’s. She herself understood that more than anybody, and that’s why she evaluated him the way she did.

However, she could still spit poison at him because of his known flaws. If he really was a perfect existence with nothing to complain about, Kaede would be forced to only work in silence. Put in simpler words, Ishiguro wasn’t perfect.

—It’s far too well-done.

Assuming that Ishiguro acted as the guide and instructor for the entire committee while organizing everything behind the scenes, could he really move all twenty or more people, including the third-years, this easily? And that wasn’t all. According to what Yuuki said, Ishiguro was working separately in another squad all the same. Even if they changed their approach in the committee, would there really be results this quickly? She wasn’t taking the male servant of the ‘Yuuki’ faction lightly, but…this was far too well-done.

“…This.”

“…Kaede?”

“The data of the committee,” Kaede said, pointing at the laptop screen.

On there were the folders containing the data the culture festival executive committee had completed. Using the network of the school, Kaede could check this in real-time.

“The folder with today’s date…it contains the newest data that still is being updated right now, yeah?”

“Yeah…that is true.”

“There are things that need checking. Is that also Ishiguro’s job?”

“Should be the work of a committee member who hasn’t gotten used to it yet. The final check will be done by Ishiguro, maybe President Hasegawa, or somebody else who’s used to working with computers.”

“…”

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Kaede put her fingers on the mouse, moving it over random folders, opening them, and confirming the contents. Yuuki seemed utterly confused as to what she was doing. At that moment, Kaede spotted a peculiar folder.

—An unapproved folder.

She set eyes on a single file from inside that folder, opening it up with a double click. The document was a written application for permission for a third-year class and their sweets snack bar at the infirmary. From how things looked, the document had been filled out the wrong way, or maybe it previously lacked information, as it had a comment on the document stating that.

“…Data that needs to be handed in again, huh. Making even more work for us…”

“………”

Yuuki let out a bothered grumble. Of course, he only did such a thing in front of Kaede, but there shouldn’t be any reason to show off how close they were at this point in time.

“It’s not like every student of this school can look at this file.”

“…Hm?”

“When using the school laptops, for every official use, they handed out access rights to the culture festival executive committee just yesterday, right?”

“Y-Yeah, what about it?”

“And what do they use to register that access?”

“The respective registered student number………?!” Yuuki nonchalantly answered the question.

He thought something was off, and when he took a glance at which file was open on the laptop, it showed the same as before, with an opened browsing tab. On there, it showed the student number of the last person who had edited this file.

[KS490083]

—It was the student number of first-year Sajou Wataru. As Kaede was the vice president of the student council, she obviously remembered her younger brother’s student number. Naturally, he wasn’t affiliated with the culture festival committee, so he should have no access to this file. He was just your average student. And yet, there were traces of him having accessed this rather important document. Normally, that should not be the case.

“—What is going on?”

“…”

“Hey, tell me.”

Kaede had her gaze directed at the screen, but Yuuki gave no response. He didn’t dare open his mouth, let alone try to escape. His experience told him that spilling the beans would only make matters worse. That being said, silent treatment such as that didn’t cool down the boiling fury inside of Kaede either.

“Tsk…”

Kaede stood up, grabbed Yuuki’s collar, and pulled him up. Despite their difference in height, with her long fingers burying into his throat, it was enough to make a man of 180cm in size suffer. Yuuki grabbed Kaede’s arm with both of his, losing his cool in the face of this unprecedented situation.

“K-Kae—”

“…Hmpfh!”

“Guho?!”

Together with an audible breath, Kaede rammed her fist right into Yuuki’s solar plexus. Her aim was absolutely on-point, as Yuuki felt the impact reverberate deep inside of him. His perfect and prime height that made him so popular now acted as his kryptonite.

“Gah…Ugh…”

Kaede let go of Yuuki’s collar, who sank down on the ground while holding his stomach in agony. Kaede couldn’t make out the expression he had at that moment, but it wasn’t hard to see his face distorted in pain. Either way, looking at a suffering hottie’s face still wasn’t enough to calm this burning rage inside of her.

“You shitty…”

“…Urgk…”

The hate and loathing Kaede felt towards the darkness reigning at Kouetsu High was something not even the student council president Yuuki could resolve. As a result of that, he needed to gather more allies at this side—However one of his pawns just so turned out to be Kaede’s skilled younger brother. In order to break from this deadlock of a situation, Yuuki was forced to lie.

Involving Kaede’s younger brother in the conflict of East and West—If she were to find out, it would mean that he would have to clash with her. He was prepared for that, and yet he was far too naive. Born into a wealthy family, he never encountered any roadblock or other obstacle standing in his way. If he were to conquer such a wall himself, it would surely contribute to his growth. That being said, the question was if he even had the strength to get up again after experiencing something painful. In his entire life, the one person who inflicted true pain onto Yuuki was Kaede after all. He still didn’t forget the slap on his cheek that picked him up from his listless and lazy life up to that point. Yuuki expected something on the same level as that, but…it instead terrified him.

“…Don’t joke with me.”

“Wai—”

Kaede turned around on her heel, aiming to leave the office. Yuuki tried his hardest to stop her, but he could barely muster up the strength to look at her. Once again, Kaede inflicted another first time onto Yuuki. The door closed, with Kaede without turning around again, gone. Listening to the footsteps slowly growing more distant, Yuuki was forced to sit still and wait for the pain to subside.

*

‘—I’m doing this because I want to, so could you just pull back this once?’

“……”

As a result, this battle for Wataru ended with Yuuki’s victory. Being able to move people like that was one of Yuuki’s special skills, especially when it came to grasping their weaknesses. Even in her position as his older sister, Kaede practically failed at it. It was like Kaede herself fell into his grasp.

She may have let Wataru go after their heated discussion, but she had no intentions of returning to the student council office. Seeing the hurt and defeated face of Yuuki might act as a boost of motivation, but she didn’t have any, to begin with, so she gave up on it. She walked along the empty hallway, which to the other students just looked like the vice president going on patrol. Usually, she would walk around without giving much attention to her surroundings, but now the students almost seemed aware of her mental state, carefully opening up a path for her. With this open path ahead of her, Kaede headed for a different room instead of the student council.

She put her hand on the door, devoid of any strength, slowly opening it. Immediately after, she was greeted by a girl’s shriek, like someone had witnessed a ghost.

“Eeek…?! Hey, at least knock on the—Huh?”

“……”

Even though she received a sharp complaint, Kaede didn’t have the energy to politely greet her junior. She headed for the visitor sofa across the room, falling down onto a certain female student’s lap, gently placing her forehead on it.

“—Rin, I’m borrowing your lap.”

“I thought you hated post de-facto reports,?” Ayano asked.

“Three-second rule.”

“Geez…”

Mita Ayano showed a bitter smile, sitting across from the two, with Inatomi Yuyu joining it. Kaede however didn’t bother to pay much attention to their gazes, and simply enjoyed the warmth of these juicy thighs, as she closed her eyes. Oddly enough, this was a familiar sight in the public morals committee office.

“Hey, stop breathing, you’re tickling me,” Rin complained.

“Are you telling me to die?”

“Don’t be like—Eeek! No talking either!”

Unlike the student council office, the public morals committee office was a place where Kaede could truly relax, not having to worry about playing along with the boys, giving them proper attention all the time. It was like her stress-healing oasis. Coming here to release some stress was something like her defensive mechanism at this point.

“I’ll drink some of that.”

“Hey, that’s my tea! Oi, don’t you dare spill any now, okay! You hear me?!”

With her body still lying sideways on the sofa, Kaede took a sip from the tea. It was more than enough to heal her cold heart. After she returned the cup to its original place, she fell back onto Rin’s thighs, burying her face in her skirt. After feeling satisfied, Kaede uttered her next request.

“Now I want to sleep on Ayano’s lap. Or sleep on your two big, well-endowed…Mmm.”

“Sexual harassment.”

Kaede completely forgot about everything, and just worked to relieve as much stress as possible. Relaxing when necessary was something these siblings had in common. Kaede practically entered maintenance mode, reaching the point nobody would believe that she was the vice president of the student council.

“Then…Rin it is.”

“Stop it. Also, I’m not letting you.”

“And with how big they are, they’re practically being pressed on—Ouch.”

Kaede dared to poke at the two large fruits hanging down in front of her, only to get receive a karate chop on her head. Having been finished, Kaede just slumped down like a dead corpse on Rin’s lap. The right hand on her forehead was awfully small and far too feminine to reach a man’s solar plexus.