Vol 2 Chapter 3 (1/2)
VOLUME 2
[3rd Discussion ~The Working Student Council~]
“Justice without power cannot be called true justice at all!”
As usual, the president stuck out her small chest and proudly spoke as if she were reciting something she probably read in some book.
I sighed and muttered, “Well, I do get what you mean.”
“Recently, dissatisfaction with the club funding has been pretty depressing…… I understand why you would want to use force, I really do.”
I picked up one of the countless pet.i.tions that were scattered on the long table. It was a pet.i.tion for the men’s tennis club. Since the contents were the usual stuff, I listlessly read it aloud.
“It says, ‘Student council, we want reach enlightenment, so increase our budget.’”
At my words, Chizuru-san laughed exhaustedly as she looked at all the other pet.i.tions.
“I’m pretty sure reaching enlightenment has nothing to do with money.”
“How’s the pet.i.tion you’re looking at, Chizuru-san?”
“Ah, this one’s the men’s basketball club. It’s just one sentence though, ‘Anzai-sensei…… I just want…… to play basketball.’” (1)
“Then just do it already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Suddenly the president cut in.
She s.n.a.t.c.hed the pet.i.tion from Chizuru-san’s hands and tore it into tiny pieces…… It was an act that would become a problem if she were seen (the disposal of a pet.i.tion), but for now, none of the members admonished her.
As the sound of the president tearing up the men’s basketball club’s pet.i.tion like a child defying her parents echoed, the two s.h.i.+na sisters who had been silently looking over pet.i.tions till now simultaneously sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
I asked Minatsu and Mafuyu-chan. The two of them listlessly shook their heads.
As she ma.s.saged the back of her neck, Minatsu faced me.
“They’re all the same d.a.m.n thing. As usual, it’s all selfish stuff. And yet, they treat us, the ones who compile their budgets, as the evil boss……”
At those words, Mafuyu-chan followed up.
“The budgets are decided at the beginning of the year and the clubs all agree to them at that time …… Wh, why do they say things like this? Mafuyu…… thinks it’s sad…”
After seeing all the selfish opinions, Mafuyu-chan looked completely crestfallen.
I cut in, saying “By the way……”
“What kind of demands are they making?”
At my question, Minatsu was the first to answer.
“I looked over the athletic club pet.i.tions, but……”
“Yeah?”
“For the baseball club… they said, ‘We want to take Minami to Kous.h.i.+en…… So please give us money.’” (2)
“You should take her with your own skills!”
“For the soccer club… ‘We want to go find Nakata. Please give us travel funds.’” (3)
“What will you do if you find him?! Just leave him alone!”
“From the girl’s badminton club… ‘Please give us wings.’” (4)
“You can’t be satisfied with just shuttlec.o.c.k feathers?!”
“And then the track and field club said something like, ‘The drugs for doping have gotten expensive, so we can’t afford them.’”
“Why the h.e.l.l would the track and field club think such a pet.i.tion would be accepted?!”
“Haaa……”
Minatsu exhaustedly hung her head.
Mafuyu-chan continued, whispering, “I looked at the culture club pet.i.tions, but……”
“Even the culture clubs made pet.i.tions?”
“Yes…… unlike the athletic clubs, it doesn’t seem like the irregular problems stem from a pileup of club expenses……”
“So, what are the requests like? The culture clubs should have some pretty direct pet.i.tions, shouldn’t they?”
“Th, that’s……”
Mafuyu-chan took a breath, and then with a bitter smile began speaking.
“First, as usual is the Newspaper club. “They just said ‘We’re going to do some research at NASA.’ Just said it… didn’t even ask for anything…”
“I can’t understand why the school newspaper would need to venture into the territory of s.p.a.ce……”
“Continuing on, the Manga Research Society has the request ‘We want to go to NatsuComi!♪’” (5)
“Reply with ‘We’ll kill you! ♪’”
“The Mystery Research Society asks, ‘We’ve thought of tricks to achieve the perfect crime, but it takes three hundred million yen. Can’t you do something about this?”
“We need to suspend their activities at this moment. For the sake of j.a.pan. For the sake of the world.”
“Ah, then the Game Club complains ‘give us a next-gen system!’”
“In the first place, isn’t it weird that the Game Club exists?! It shouldn’t have been possible for them to slip under the school’s radar!”
“Ah…… well…. You see, Mafuyu is also a club member……”
“Are you a double agent?! Are you infiltrating the student council?!”
“N, no, well, Ma, Mafuyu…… is just the treasurer…”
“Aren’t you in charge of our budgettttttttttttttttt?!”
“U, um…… well, that’s true but, never mind that……”
“She just let it slide!”
“We also received a pet.i.tion from the ‘Tanaka Club.’”
“…? The Tanaka Club? What’s that?”
“Um…… it seems like it’s ‘a club to gather everyone with the last name Tanaka and talk with them.’”
“Alright, for now we’ll take back all the funds that club has spent till now.”
“Um, there’s also the ‘Suzuki Club……’”
“Just how lenient is this school’s club screening process?!”
“In addition, there’s the ‘Celeb Club’ that extravagantly wastes its funds, the ‘Leaders.h.i.+p Club’ with its oddly self-important members, the ‘Fly in the Sky Club’ with who chase after their dreams, and so on……” (6)
“Alright, I see. Our school’s clubs are withering in their final years.”
It was a disastrous scene resembling a microcosm of the j.a.panese government.
Though, the student council itself is also pretty easygoing in its activities. It shouldn’t really matter as long as we’re not using the school’s money.
She must have heard our conversation, because I suddenly noticed the president shaking in terror. Even the long table was clattering in resonance with her trembling.
And then……
“If that’s how it is, with the student council’s authority, I declare all the clubs with unusual activities abolished as of this moment!”
The president declared this as if she were spoiled child. Well, it’s not like I don’t understand, but……
I exchanged glances with the s.h.i.+na sisters and Chizuru-san scolded the president as she usually did.
“Aka-chan. I am also at a loss about this situation. However, Aka-chan. Shouldn’t we try looking for more solutions before resorting to forceful means? We wouldn’t want to incite any more animosity now would we?”
“Ooh…… th, that’s true.”
As usual, the president was crestfallen at being admonished by Chizuru-san. However, this time she continued to pout.
“But…… Chizuru. You say that, but is there even room for argument in this discussion?
“Oh, why is that?”
“I mean…… club activities are basically things that people do because they like it right? They’re like extentions of their hobbies… well, maybe that’s going too far. These pet.i.tions are the same way, but people… their concern with immersing themselves just end up as extremely selfish.”
“Isn’t it the same with how you immerse yourself into the role of student council president?”
“Ooh…… A, ahem. A, anyways! Us giving in, or even compromising with this sort of situation would actually be for the worse, wouldn’t it?! I think they’d take advantage of us even more!”
For the president, it was a pretty well thought out speech. The rest of us hummed in thought.
There was truth in her speech. Well, the easy clubs……clubs outside of things like the Baseball Club and Newspaper Club …… clubs like that “Game Club” or “Tanaka Club” just give the impression of being hobby groups. For those, it really wasn’t clear if we should give them a budget or not… Not to mention the supplementary budget and other things……
However, Hekiyou Academy’s selling point is “Student independence and a tradition of freedom.” The student council’s election system also came from this idea, and even the current student council’s authoritative power as well (It’s hard to come up with a simple comparison, but let’s say that each member has approximately the influence a single teacher has).
As a result, in this school, if I recall correctly…… it’s structured so that as long as you have five or more members and submit at least one activity report every month, your club budget won’t be decreased. By the way, there’s clubs with “research society” or “a.s.sociation” in their names everywhere in this school. In truth, the names were chosen just because of how they sounded, and their funding accurately reflects this.
Be that as it may……
“But Prez. It’s clear that these clubs aren’t related to studies or personal growth, and I believe even their funds are lowered accordingly. Also, they haven’t been properly doing their activity reports, so their funds have already been cut……”
That’s exactly why even though we’ve had such weird clubs till now, there haven’t been any problems. If they don’t seriously do club activities, then their funds will get lowered accordingly.
At my words, the president said, “Well yeah, but……” and continued to look dissatisfied.
“It may just be a small amount of money, but even if it’s ‘reduced funds’ I still don’t like it.”
“Ah…… well, it’s not like I don’t understand.”
“The amount of money isn’t the problem. A school filled with students who only want to play around….. I have a huge problem with a school that consists of giving away school funds.”
“Yeah…… well, that’s how it is.”
For me, I see it as a “compromise.” The president’s standards seem to be a bit strict…… As usual, she was a president who was strict on others and soft on herself.
At the president’s words, Minatsu joined in saying, “That’s true.”
“Even the major clubs have some problems, don’t they? For me, I usually show up to help out the athletic clubs. It’s especially terrible with the girl’s athletic clubs. Well, when they ask for an amateur like me, you can easily guess their level.
“Even before that, most don’t join because they enjoy the sports. I hear a ton of reasons like ‘because my friend joined’ or ‘just because I’m free…… Aside from the serious students, they just chat in the corner of the gymnasium or grounds…… and there’s a lot of them.”
“Minatsu, you tell them off about that, don’t you?”
“No. Sorry Prez-san. It’s not the kind of thing you can just tell them off about. They’ll just say ‘so annoying,’ then up and quit. But it’s also not the kind of thing you can just let go either. I help out and I’m a student council member, but I’m not a club member or one of their friends. At the same time, I didn’t want them to think that I was b.u.t.ting into their business and raising a fuss for no reason.”
Minatsu said this, but she had a complicated look on her face the whole time…… I might be mistaken about this, but Minatsu seemed pretty sensitive to interpersonal relations. Her reasons may have been different from mine, but she must also have been thinking that “It would be better if everyone were happy.” That’s why it actually ends up getting more and more difficult for me to make a move.
The president seemed to understand Minatsu’s side of the argument, seeing as she didn’t say anything like “You should always tell them off! You’re the vice president!” But even so…… a dreary air floated through the student council room.
Mafuyu-chan and Chizuru-san both desperately made eye contact with me, giving the message “Do something about this atmosphere Key-kun /Senpai.” And so without a choice, I diverted the conversation.
“B, by the way, did you have any particular club that you were interested in, Prez? If I recall, you weren’t affiliated with any clubs were you?”
“Hm, yeah, that’s right. I’m the student council president after all.”
“But there’s no rule that says a member can’t be a part of another club, right? Even now, Mafuyu-chan is part of the ‘Game Club.’”
“Well yes…… But for some reason no clubs ever seemed to stick out for me. And Sugisaki, you’re also not in any clubs.”
“Ah, well in my case I don’t really have time for it…… Between studying, part time jobs, and the student council……”
“Ah, sorry.”
Somehow the atmosphere became awkward.
“U, umm…… See for me, this harem is the most comfortable place! My s.e.xual desire can thrive here!”
“…… Well, whatever. That reminds me, Minatsu and Chizuru, you two haven’t joined any specific clubs either, right?”
As the president gave up on me, the two nodded their heads in unison.
“I don’t really have any particular favorite sport…… rather than be tied down by one sport, without exception, I want to play what I want when I want to.”
“In my case, my reason is like Aka-chan’s. There just isn’t a club that strikes me as interesting.”
Upon hearing that, I suddenly wondered what the eternally cool Chizuru-san would find interesting. Without thinking, I asked her.
“So then Chizuru-san, what would be interesting to you? For example, what type of club would you want to join?”
“Eh? I wonder…… Yes, I would probably like to join an ‘S&M Club.’” (7)
“It seems like there’s a club room for that in Susukino!” (8)