I stood just outside the heavy doors of the Student Council room. Over the past two years, I hadn't set foot in this room a single time. Yet, in this month alone, I had already been here twice.
I walked in, taking a quick audit of the room. Aside from me, Remi and Sora were already here—they were student council members, after all. Luna and Yu, however, were nowhere to be found.
Maybe it was different for the other two, but for me, that wasn't much of a surprise. The only reason I'm ever late to things on weekends is because I wake up late. If all three of us are awake at the same time, then I'm usually the first one to arrive.
Sora, sitting with practiced, presidential air in his high-backed chair, beamed at me as I entered the room. "Good morning, Hoshino! I hope you're having a productive day!"
The day just started… That's what I thought, but I kept my thoughts to myself.
Sora, who was oblivious to my thoughts, continued his polite, formal greeting. "You're here quite early. I heard that you sleep in pretty late on weekends, so I was expecting you not to show up at all!"
I knew he meant well, saying it to lighten the mood, but I couldn't help but take it as a backhanded insult.
"Well, I was already awake this morning," I said with a casual shrug. "So, I decided that I'd just come along. It's not like I have anything better to do."
Remi, who was hunched over a desk nearby, studying for one of her classes, let out a sharp, audible scoff.
The hell are you scoffing for?
"I can believe that you didn't have anything better to do," she said, keeping her attention on her notes. "What I can't believe is that you actually came."
Well—Remi was right. I only came because everyone else came, and I didn't want to look bad. But did that really matter? At the end of the day, I was here. That's better than some people.
"You know what… you're right," I said with a seemingly resigned sigh.
Remi's hand stopped moving, but she didn't look up. Stubborn in not paying me any attention.
It's too late. You lost the moment you stopped moving.
"Ahhhh, would you look at that? I think this is my cue to leave." Remi's chair scraped along the ground as my words hit her with physical force—but she refused to move or say anything.
So, continuing my assault, I turned toward the door and began walking. "Apparently, it isn't in my nature to help out, so I'll just leave since it's bothering you so much."
"Wa–" Sora stood up from his seat, his hand outstretched in an attempt to stop me.
But before he could do anything more, Remi shot him a murderous glare, demanding that he sit back down to call my bluff.
"There's no way he'd actually leave." Is what she probably thought.
Well, sucks to be you, but I'm not.
I pushed the door open and began walking through the hallway. Seconds passed, and nothing had changed. That was fine, I had already reached the stairs anyway.
Without wasting a moment, I began to descend the stairs. I was already halfway down the first flight when the sound of frantic, angry footsteps filled the halls.
"WAIT!"
I was hauled back mid-step and dragged by the collar of my shirt to the top of the stairs.
I turned to find a very flushed, very irritated Remi.
"Wh-what do you think you're doing?!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the hallway. "Were you really going to go home if I didn't stop you?"
"Uh, yeah?" I replied without hesitation.
Remi raised an eyebrow at me as she studied my expression. "...I can't tell if you're lying."
"Trust me, I'm not."
Of course, I actually wasn't going to leave. I spent so much time getting ready that it'd basically be a waste.
Readjusting her grip on my shirt, she began tugging me back in the direction of the Student Council room.
"Geez," she muttered. "There's just no winning with you."
From her point of view, there really was no winning. It was either she kept her pride and let me leave, or she abandoned it and begged me to stay.
I chuckled. "Really? You may not know it, but I'm on an insane losing streak right now."
"Is that so? You probably deserve it."
"That's harsh."
As Remi and I drew closer to the Student Council room, two familiar voices called out to us from behind.
"Sorry we're late!" a female voice gasped between breaths.
"I was eating breakfast and lost track of time!" a male voice added, sounding entirely too happy for someone who was late.
We both turned around, watching—and waiting—as they ran through the hallway to get to us.
"Oh my God!" Luna cried, slinging her arm over my shoulder and using me to support the weight of her entire sweaty body. "I had to run all the way here to make it on time! Can you believe that?"
I immediately grabbed her by the face and shoved her back. "Please—get off me. You're sweaty and smelly."
Maybe that was a bit of an over-exaggeration. While she wasn't smelly—she was definitely sweaty, and that's why I cared. But because she was in this state, I could not let it slide. I didn't want my clothes—or me—to get dirty.
I glanced down at the hand that had just been used to push her away. And there it was. A subtle, disgusting sheen of sweat stained my palm.
...Thanks a lot.
Pursing my lips together, I reluctantly wiped it on the side of my cargo pants.
"Bro, you're sweaty as shit," I stated flatly. "I don't care if you want to lean on me when you're tired or something, but please—not when you're sweaty."
Luna stared at me, dumbfounded. "Really? That's what you're worried about? I've taken a number 2 at your house before. Who cares?! We're basically siblings!"
"Yeah—except I don't let my actual sister anywhere near me when she is sweating."
"Hah!" Luna snorted, seemingly finding something I said to be funny. "And how often is that? We both know Lily is a bed rotter. I have a higher chance of getting married in the next year than Lily going outside and getting sweaty."
Hey, don't talk about my sister that way! …is what I would've said if Luna wasn't right.
I let out a breath of defeated agreement. "Well… you got me there."
Luna crossed her arms and let out a triumphant snort. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Anywayyyy."
Luna flicked her hair sassily at me. "Now that we know I'm right about this, we also know that I'm right in that you would let Lily hug you no matter what condition she was in. So don't treat me any differently."
…So this is how Remi felt.
No matter what I said, Luna already had me right where she wanted me. If I outright told her, "But you're not my sister," I'd validate my disgust—but our friendship would be undermined. If I admitted she was like a sister, then I wouldn't have the right to push her away.
If I have to choose one… then I might as well be honest.
"...Fine. You're right," I muttered begrudgingly.
I expected Luna to be all smug about it, but she just gave me a genuine, bright smile. "See?! Was that so hard? It doesn't kill you to be honest, you male tsun..." She paused, her words slowly trailing off as she lost her train of thought. "Wait... what was the word again?"
I knew what she was trying to say, but I didn't say anything. And I expected everyone else to do the same thing. After all, I doubted that anyone here was actually tapped into that culture—
"Tsundere?" Yu chimed in, almost instantly.
All hope drained away from me just as fast.
Ah, that's right. This guy's a disgusting weeb. Of course, he knows all the terminology.
"That's right!" Luna exclaimed, playfully jabbing me on the rib. "Being a tsundere isn't attractive, Hoshino! Just be honest!"
Please stop calling me that. I'm not a tsundere. And how am I even supposed to fight back? No matter what I say, they will end up laughing at me regardless.
With no options left, I kept my mouth shut and ignored them the whole walk back as Yu, Luna, and Remi continued discussing traits I shared with classic tsundere characters.
Thankfully, the conversation came to an end when we arrived in the student council room.
Sora, still sitting in the President's seat, welcomed us in and gave a dramatic gesture toward the empty seats, telling us to help ourselves. The light reflected off his glasses as he did, hiding his eyes and making it difficult to discern his expression.
Wowwww. I'll admit it. That looked pretty cool.
I gave him a respectful, knowing thumbs-up. He stiffened, then gave me one right back. The two of us shared a brief moment of mutual understanding in that second.
The Student Council room was set up in a way that the president's desk rested at the center, with one desk on the right and one on the left.
I took a seat on the left with Yu, while Remi and Luna sat on the right.
The student council president menacingly pushed up his glasses and cleared his throat.
"Now… let's begin."
Okay... that was less cool. Still cool, though.