Chapter 26: Mental illness.

Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one’s older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

This chapter lmaooo

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“W-W-Wait a minute!” He yelled colorfully to stop the announcement. Ayaka and the other members turned to look at him.

“What’s wrong, Yuya-kun?” Ayaka asked, puzzled.

“Ah, big sis Ayaka. It’s just, I just had an auditory hallucination just now.”

“An auditory hallucination?”

“Yeah. Somehow, I heard Iwaki would become the new student council member. Crazy, right?”

He just couldn’t, for the life of him, accept I had been chosen. Instead, he treated it like some sort of illusion.

“Akito-kun being chosen is a real thing, y’know?”

“Lies!!!” His yell was shrill and knifed at the walls of the council office. All of us, including the members, flinched in response. Then, with the same response, Matsuyama confronted Ayaka. “T-There’s just no way I’d lose twice to him! First, the tests, and now this?! We’re talking about me here!”

“Pfft!” Came a cacophony of people trying not to laugh.

The entirety of the student council board thoroughly enjoyed Matsuyama’s embarrassing tantrum from behind Ayaka.

“‘We’re talking about me here,’ he says! Hahaha!” Kishida Rin crumbled.

“Don’t die laughing, Rinrin.”

“Speaking of which, even Karen is trying to hold back her laughter, right?”

“And Yuki’s trying sooo hard to be stoic, but I can see her little twitching! Hahaha!”

“And Saki—Saki’s just the worst out of everyone, huh? Look, she’s almost dying!”

While Matsuyama got relentlessly ridiculed by everyone around, Saki’s laughter was by far the loudest and most unhinged. She didn’t try to hold back in the slightest.

“Well, it’s the truth after all,” Ayaka shot a glance behind her before looking at Matsuyama again.

“Th-There’s no way it’s ‘the truth’!” He wouldn’t back down.

“Geez, you’re yapping like a little kid.”

He continued to throw his childish tantrum. Meanwhile, Ayaka looked like a mother dealing with her misbehaving child.

“Yuya-kun, you said it best. You’d use the feedback of the experience as a springboard, right? We have the elections for the council happening in the second semester, so you can win there, yeah?”

“Shut up! There’s no value in losing, is there?!” His façade fell to the ground, shattered.

“My…”

He completely disregarded his own words.

Not that he ever thought he’d lose.

“Then, what will make you understand?” Ayaka didn’t bother hiding her exasperation anymore. In fact, she seemed quite fed up with dealing with Matsuyama, but no one else was willing to step in to help.

“I won’t stop until I win!”

What a guy…

Honestly, I started to fear him a little. Dude is on a whole other level.

“Everyone, Iwaki has put us under an illusion! Or maybe he’s brainwashing us! Wake up!” He started looking at everyone, one by one, desperate to be heard.

“What are you on about?!” Oh no.

I accidentally let out that retort, which further added fuel to the fire. Unsurprisingly, he boiled like an overcooked octopus, condemning me as a response.

“You brainwashed Saki, and now you did the same to big sis Ayaka and the others, right?!”

It wasn’t just stunned silence; it felt like the four who’d been bursting at the seams, laughing moments ago, were now looking at something disturbing. It felt like he was an alien.

“Enough, Yuya-kun. Just go home…” Ayaka heaved the heaviest sigh I’d ever seen.

“No way! I won’t give up until I’ve broken the brainwashing on you and the others!” His words were filled with the spirit of a damn protagonist. He believed in it so much, that I felt I’d become some sort of third-rate villain all of a sudden. If I could commit to the role, maybe I should become an actor.

“Besides, I can’t just abandon you, big sis Ayaka. You started to like me, so it’s a no-deal for me.”

“Huh?” Ayaka raised an eyebrow, completely floored.

“Eh?” We all couldn’t contain our sheer disbelief.

Matsuyama had dropped one hell of a bombshell. No one but him could believe what they were seeing.

“U-Uh, Yuya-kun… Have I ever said that I like you?”

“No, but your actions spoke volumes. I can sense that I’m different from the average Joe in your eyes. But, you see, I have someone I like. Sorry, ‘kay?” Uttering crazy after crazy, he even had the guts to throw a wink at Saki.

Rightfully bewildered, the victims exclaimed:

“It’s hopeless~! Rin-chan, help me! My childhood friend is just too much to haaandle!” Ayaka couldn’t handle it anymore.

“Hey, Ayaka?!” Rin took the brunt of her desolate friend.

“Akito, my eyeeeees! They buuuuurn!” Saki also couldn’t look at the cringy mess.

“Huh, Saki?!” I took the brunt as well.

The two weren’t just incapacitated. They were downright paralyzed.

“Hey, Iwaki! Let your grubby fingers off of Saki!”

“Don’t you dare talk to my Akito, you jerk!” While she used my body as a shield against Matsuyama’s pitiful state, she still fought back.

“You hurt not just my Saki, but big sis Ayaka too!”

“It’s all on you, Yuya-kun!”

Matsuyama continued to wreak havoc on the student council members. I wasn’t sure how to respond when Japanese seemed to be as dead as goddamn Latin.

“Yuki, Rinrin, don’t we have to take control of the situation…?”

“I agree… It’s a hassle, but if we stay here any longer with that guy, our sanity won’t hold.”

“We have no choice…”

The three who had thrown Matsuyama and me into this ordeal whispered among themselves.

“Matsuyama-kun.”

“What is it, Kurita-san?”

She spoke with a business-like smile. While trying to contain her nausea, Kurita-san informed Matsuyama of the cold, hard truth.

“I chose Akito. The reason is his almost supernatural memory, as well as the dedication and humility needed for the secretary’s role.”

Hearing someone praise you like that, in person, can be surprisingly awkward. Still, it made me extremely happy to hear it from Yuki herself.

“Me next. Akki just delivered solid results in all I assigned him. It’s also the first time I’ve seen Ms. Mochizuki so happy when interacting with someone like that. Just in terms of considering others, Akki is overwhelmingly better,” Karen explained her own reason for choosing me while using a new nickname. I still felt that mixture of awkwardness and happiness.

I see… So Ms. Mochizuki was happy, too. I’m glad.

“Finally, it’s my turn. I believe the task I’d assigned was the most challenging of the bunch. ‘What does it take to be the student council vice president?’ Thinking about such an abstract topic was truly a difficult thing to do. However, for me, what’s needed in a good vice president is a spirit of criticism as the only stopper to the council, all so that Ayaka and the others don’t go in a weird direction. That’s my take… And Akito read every bit of that from my actions and put it into practice himself. That’s why I chose him.”

Rin blushed as she explained why I was her choice, and I felt myself getting embarrassed too. Being on the giving end sure was awkward, too.

“Akito… She just means you’re the right person for the general affairs position, okay? There’s no other strange meaning in what she said! You get that, right?”

“Y-Yeah, it’s all good.”

Saki drove that point home. I maintained my composure, ignoring her piercing gaze. Still, what bothered me more was that Matsuyama remained completely silent. His lack of response was the most unsettling thing of all.

“Yuya-kun, you understand now, right? Just, please, give up. Okay?” Ayaka addressed him with kindness.

“…” He remained in silence for a moment before bowing as he mumbled something under his breath. “…me.”

“‘Me’?” She repeated the only word he’d said.

Before anyone could ask, he lifted his head with an uncanny smile. I felt uneasy just looking at him.

“Isn’t it different, everyone? I mean, don’t all of what you guys said point to me?”

“Huh?” We all looked at him as if his brain had been deep-fried.

“Well, compared to Iwaki, I’m more dedicated, humble, capable of consideration, and I can quickly provide what the other person desires. Also, didn’t I take a critical stance toward big sis Ayaka just then?”

His hole-filled logic left us flabbergasted. Everyone in the room was hit by a blizzard of disbelief.

“Seriously, Iwaki… You’re low for this. Lay off with the brainwashing, okay?”

I was also left speechless, unsure of what to say.

“Geez, wanting to join the student council is one thing, but you’re taking it way too far with these methods. You’re done…”

For some reason, I was met with pitying glances.

“We’ll forgive you now, so just quit it—”

“Hey, Matsuyama.”

I spoke over Matsuyama’s words. I felt the need to say something myself.

“…What?”

I mulled over what to say. I didn’t want my next words to have a shred of nuance to them so that he didn’t misunderstand, and I honestly didn’t want to hurt him—what he himself had done to me.

“How about visiting a neurologist? I mean, your conversation skills and language comprehension just seem to be seriously malfunctioning right now. It’s worrying, y’know…?”

“Huh…?”

“I mean, you used to be really smart, man. But now you can’t seem to understand anything Saki and the others are saying, right?”

“W—”

Matsuyama’s face turned a scorching beet red. In the background, the other student council members had their own reactions to what I said.

“Akito-kun… Are you for real?”

“He is… Pfft!”

“Saki, don’t laugh! Hahaha!”

“But you’re laughing too, Yuki! Pfft! Hehehe!”

“—!”

I felt a bit guilty for provoking Matsuyama. Meanwhile, Rin was trying her damn hardest to stifle her laughter but ended up pounding her desk desperately instead.

“A-Ah, sorry. Maybe I went too far with the mental illness comment. Um, are your ears okay then? Maybe you should go to an ENT specialist?”

“Hey, now…”

“Still, I really think you need to get your brain checked. Because, y’know, brainwashing and hallucinations only happen in fiction. They ain’t real.”

“Y-You…!”

“Maybe you’re watching too much anime, dude.”

I was trying to lighten the mood after teasing him, but it seemed I had gone too far again. Matsuyama was clearly not pleased with my comments.

Still, I continued to list all the possible illnesses Matsuyama might have come down with. He seemed to be trembling as he listened to me, and I was relieved that he was at least taking my words seriously. Then, I remembered the most likely cause of Matsuyama’s bizarre behavior. There might be no other explanation.

“Oh, right. Matsuyama, your head goes haywire when Saki is involved. If you tell that to a doctor, they might find a treatment for it, don’t you think?”

While I said that with the most genuine of smiles, his reaction came wholly unexpected.

“Iwakiiiiiii—!”

“Whoa!”

He suddenly charged toward me, but…

“Oh, whoops! My leg got in the way!”

“Huh?”

Matsuyama tripped over the leg Saki had extended.

“Ugh—!”

In the process of falling, Matsuyama’s head accidentally struck a guest table, and he began to twitch.

“…” A moment of dead silence.

I feel like I’ve seen this before…? Have you ever had that feeling of déjà vu?

A few seconds passed until Ayaka cleared her throat and put on her usual smile.

“This can be considered an accident, right?”

We all nodded in unison without saying a word. Even Rin didn’t criticize this incident, as unlikely as that sounds.

“Let’s also call the school nurse. Can I count on you for that, Karen?”

“Sure thing!”

In response to Ayaka’s words, Karen left the student council room and headed to the infirmary.

“…Anyway, congratulations on becoming our general affairs officer, Akito-kun!”

“Congratulations~” Everyone else smiled at me.

“Th-Thank you guys.”

And so, my introduction ceremony as a new member of the council ended. It surely felt weird after all that, though.

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