Arc 2 – Episode 7: A Pointless Duel

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Three days had passed since the new student council had been formed. During that time, the only notable incident was when Yoshida-san's ex-boyfriend cornered her during our rounds of club greetings. I stepped in, pulled her away, and had a firm talk with the guy. Tanaka hurled insults at me, but I stayed calm and gave him a serious lecture. To my surprise, he actually listened and seemed to reflect. Hopefully, that meant he wouldn't bother Yoshida-san again.

But another problem had been brewing—Nagaoka.

He kept showing up at the student council room every day, timing his visits perfectly so that they coincided with the end of our activities. His excuse was always the same: he was there to pick up his childhood friend, Saito-san. But once he stepped inside, he'd ignore her completely and head straight for Aria-san.

“Kakyoin-san, isn't it tough without a general affairs officer? I'm on a scholarship, and I'm confident I can handle the job well.”

He kept pushing himself forward.

“Hey, did you hear, Kakyoin-san? Kuzuha hit on a girl who already has a boyfriend. He's dangerous, you know.”

And when he wasn't offering his services, he was working hard to smear my name. The atmosphere in the student council room grew heavier with each passing day.

“…I see. But that's just a rumor, isn't it? I know Kyoichi-san well enough to trust his character, so you don't need to worry. Also, we don't need a general affairs officer.”

Aria-san held her composure, brushing aside his interference and defending me every time. Ichigo, always the quiet one, didn't say much, but I could tell she was clearly annoyed. Kato-senpai and Matsuura-senpai kept their stance neutral, but their glares said enough whenever Nagaoka raised his voice too loud.

“Hey, Shuuji! How long are you going to keep talking?! We're leaving!”

Eventually, Saito-san would lose her patience and drag him out, clearly fed up with being treated like an afterthought.

“…Tch.”

And without fail, she'd shoot one last glare toward Aria-san and me before leaving.

“I don't intend to give in to Nagaoka's demands, but… if this keeps up, I'm seriously considering quitting the student council.”

I let out a sigh, my patience wearing thin.

“Kyoichi-san, please don't. If a single student's opinion can overturn council decisions, the student council will be seen as weak.”

“Isn't it already seen that way, considering Nagaoka barges in whenever he feels like it?”

The room went quiet, the tension growing thick.

Aria-san, who carried herself with a kind of royalty in the council, didn't take kindly to the idea that others might see us as lacking authority.

“…You're right, Kyoichi-san. We need to reconsider how we handle Nagaoka.”

She stopped calling him by his first name. Just “Nagaoka.” That alone told me she was at her limit.

Whatever chance there was of pairing her off with Nagaoka, that door had slammed shut. I once thought it might be a convenient match—he was clearly interested—but it was clear now that wasn't going to happen.

The very next day, Nagaoka stormed in again.

“Kakyoin-san, look at this!”

He thrust a thick stack of papers toward her.

“…What is this?”

She flipped through them briefly, her gaze sharpening.

“It's a petition of no confidence against Kuzuha. I've got seventy signatures.”

So that's what he'd been doing—roaming around school, gathering support.

Yusho High had around 420 students total—28 per class, five classes per grade, three grades. Seventy signatures out of that wasn't a small feat. I had to admit, part of me was impressed by the effort.

But Aria-san, the one who appointed me to the council in the first place, didn't look even slightly moved.

“And what do you expect me to do with this?”

Her tone was flat, cool.

“W-well… I just thought with this many people unhappy about Kuzuha being vice president, maybe you should reconsider…”

“This discussion is over.”

She cut him off cleanly.

“If the student council overturned its decisions every time someone brought in a petition, there'd be no point in having one. We might as well let the entire student body vote on everything.”

That was a bold take. Of course, she wouldn't actually dissolve the council—especially not when she was the president and the chairman's granddaughter. Still, the statement was enough to shut the room down.

“B-but if you ignore this, the students' dissatisfaction—”

“They're fools, aren't they? Signing a petition just to declare opposition to my decision. Do they want to be suspended all at once?”

“What?!”

Nagaoka, Saito-san, even the usually composed upperclassmen looked stunned. This side of Aria-san was new to them.

“Kuzuha! This is all your fault, isn't it?!”

And just like that, the blame turned to me.

“…And what if it is?”

I met his glare head-on.

I didn't bother denying it. Instead, I decided to provoke him.

“Fight me, Kuzuha! If I win, you resign from the vice presidency!”

“And if I win?”

“Then I won't bring it up again.”

Not exactly a strong bargaining chip. Still, it gave me an idea—maybe I'd accept and throw the match. A loss would be the perfect excuse to walk away from the student council.

“This discussion is over.”

Aria stepped in, her tone firm and final.

“It's only natural to respect Kyoichi-san's position. Why should you get to challenge my decision without risking anything yourself?”

That caught Nagaoka off guard. He stumbled over his next words.

“O-okay then… what would make you agree?”

“You're a scholarship student, aren't you? If you lose, you forfeit your scholarship. And you'll stay far away from us—permanently.”

She didn't hold back. Everyone knew the Nagaoka family was struggling financially. That scholarship covered most of his tuition. And now that my family had taken Rina in, things were a little better on his end. But without that scholarship, they’d be right back where they started. There was no way he'd accept something that reckless.

“Fine. If I lose, I'll give up my scholarship!”

What? He accepted?

Had he lost his mind? If he lost, everything we did to help Rina would be for nothing. And he was gambling all of that on a whim? Did he really think he couldn't lose?

In that moment, my opinion of Nagaoka dropped significantly.

“As for the competition,” Aria continued, now completely in charge of the situation, “we'll settle this quickly with a sport. The next test is still a ways off.”

Tennis. That was her choice.

We left the upperclassmen in the council room and headed to the school's tennis courts. After borrowing the tennis club's changing room, we changed into standard tracksuits and picked up a couple of rackets. I still wasn't sure if I should play to win or not. Losing on purpose would mean I'd have a valid reason to quit the student council.

Just before I stepped onto the court, Aria called out.

“Kyoichi-san.”

She paused, looking me dead in the eyes.

“You'd better win. If you want to keep living a quiet school life with me… and Ichigo-san.”

She put a little extra weight on Ichigo's name. So this was the second time she used her as a threat.

I clicked my tongue in frustration and stepped onto the court. My view of Aria dropped even lower. At this point, I was seriously considering breaking things off the first chance I got.

“Kuzuha Kyoichi! I'm going to beat you, make Kakyoin-san see reason, and bring Rina back!”

Nagaoka shouted from the other side of the court, full of energy.

Ichigo had filled me in earlier—Nagaoka had gone to a tennis school back in middle school and had even won a junior tournament. So that confidence wasn't just for show.

As for me, I knew the basic rules and had hit the ball a few times in gym class. If I pushed myself, maybe I could win. Not that Rina had anything to do with this.

Still… I wasn't about to hand him the match either.