Vol 2 Chapter 39 – President Tsuboka, the Middle Manager

“They say a great detective gathers everyone together before revealing the truth. Well, I suppose I’m the cornered culprit, but I’ll confess everything.”

President Tsuboka sighs as if to say, You just can’t get away with doing bad things in the end.

“I knew you wouldn’t just nod and agree to such a one-sided proposal. But the Student Council had its own reputation to maintain. Please, forgive us. Iwatsutsumi-kun, especially, wasn’t being rude because she wanted to. She did it for my sake. I am truly sorry.”

He bows his head deeply, though he remains seated.

Whether we forgive him or not depends on his story.

Thinking that, I glance over at Chihiro’s troubled face.

Her well-shaped lips parted.

“Whether we accept your apology will depend on what you have to say. We can’t make sense of this otherwise.”

“Yes, of course. Well. To put it simply, you, Takahashi-kun, rejected the membership applications from students in your own year and from upperclassmen in our year, correct?”

“I certainly did. There was no reason to accept them.”

“That’s understandable. But they couldn’t accept that, so they went somewhere else. To us.”

So they didn’t give up even after being rejected.

With a fed-up expression, much like Chihiro’s during the picnic, President Tsuboka furrowed his brow.

“They’d corner one of us from the Student Council and say, ‘Isn’t it strange that you’re allowing them to remain a society when they already meet the requirements for promotion to a club?'”

Vice President Iwatsutsumi, sitting next to him, looks pained.

She reluctantly added her own words.

“Of course, we know their real motive. They want to force your promotion to a club to eliminate the excuse that you can reject members because you’re just a society. And we know they have no interest in the society’s actual activities, only in Kajiwara-kun.”

“If you understood all that, then—”

I start to speak.

Her attitude changed from before, and Vice President Iwatsutsumi spoke with a slightly apologetic tone.

“We refused. All of us on the Student Council properly refused them. We told them there was no way the Student Council would approve a scheme with such a transparent motive. I practically chewed them out and sent them packing. Don’t misunderstand that part, at least—we really did try to protect you at first!”

“And yet they didn’t give up.”

“That’s right. In fact, they started complaining to their parents and the teachers.”

Ugh.

I can’t help but stick out my tongue, feeling a sense of pity even for Iwatsutsumi, who until moments ago was my enemy.

As she said, the Student Council is ultimately just a body of student representatives.

They’re nothing more than middle management, meant to keep the school’s internal operations running smoothly.

“Since our school uses student ID cards now, you’ve probably just got your student handbooks tucked away at home somewhere. You might not know the finer points of the school rules, but… it’s true that there are no grounds in this high school’s regulations to refuse your society’s promotion to a club.”

“But we have no intention of doing that. We have no desire to become a club.”

“I know. But this is where things get vague. They twisted it around on us, saying, ‘If there’s no rule preventing their promotion, then isn’t it strange for them not to become a club?'”

The Student Council was weak.

It’s true they hold the status of elected representatives of the student body.

But.

“The teachers and parents started making a fuss, going right over our heads. You probably don’t know, but it was an absolute uproar. Not all of them are rotten, of course. There were teachers and parents who understood your society’s intentions and tried to side with you. In the first place, Kajiwara-kun joined your society of his own free will. We in the Student Council wanted to protect that, but…”

“—You couldn’t.”

“In the end, yes. Like the British Parliament, thrown into turmoil over whether to truly declare the Opium War, the vote was split right down the middle. But in the end, just as the side that wanted to protect the wicked profits of the opium smugglers won… we in the Student Council were defeated.”

Vice President Iwatsutsumi spoke up again.

“What I really don’t want you to misunderstand is that the Student Council—at least, President Tsuboka—really did do his job! He sided with you!!”

“…”

Chihiro is listening in silence.

As for me, I’m thinking about how Iwatsutsumi tried to force the notice on us earlier.

Basically, she was embarrassed. Embarrassed that it had been proven they were powerless to do anything.

She probably tried to play the villain to protect President Tsuboka’s honor.

That’s likely the whole truth of it.

—I’m starting to feel sorry for her.

I mean, if I were the Vice President and Chihiro were the President, I’d desperately try to protect her honor, too.

Even if it meant becoming the villain myself.

“…Were you able to call us to that meeting?”

Chihiro voices her question.

It’s true, we, the concerned parties, were completely ignored.

That’s what I think, but.

“Our duty as the Student Council is, first and foremost, to avoid troubling you. It’s our job to protect the students’ sound school life. We couldn’t do something so shameful, and—”

President Tsuboka looks truly sad.

“I’m sure we would have been treated as a nuisance, and the teachers and parents would have interfered. Saying it had nothing to do with you, since you were still just a society.”

He shook his head.

This is so irritating, damn it.

Not at the pitiful Student Council, of course.

But at the faceless teachers and parents who would allow such villainous tactics.

“I’ve given you all the details, but that’s the sequence of events. To state the conclusion, the Student Council is in a position where we have no choice but to unilaterally inform the ‘Modern Culture Research Society’ of its promotion to a club.”

“We understand the situation.”

Now, what to do.

We know too much to just say, “Not our problem,” kick over a chair, and walk out.

At the very least, since the Student Council showed their sincerity and confessed everything, we need to at least talk things through.

“…In one of my favorite manga, there’s a line that goes, ‘Let’s all find happiness together.'”

Chihiro quoted a certain Razor Inspector.

“Hmm, and the meaning of that is?”

“It’s used when you can’t worry about anyone else. When you decide, ‘Let’s just make sure our own people are happy.'”

Chihiro and President Tsuboka’s eyes meet.

“If we’ve been made fools of to this extent, there’s no need to be considerate of others anymore. Why don’t we do things our own way?”

“I see.”

Chihiro is a smart woman.

And President Tsuboka, while he may have been defeated this time, is without a doubt an elected representative chosen by the students.

Heh heh heh, the two of them chuckled as if plotting something wicked.

“An excellent idea. As I’ve said from the beginning, I’m not pleased with this matter at all. So, if you have a good idea, Takahashi-kun, you have my permission to do as you like. The Student Council will support you.”

“Do you have any good ideas, President Tsuboka?”

“Unfortunately, no. There’s the option of officially disbanding the society to make the promotion a moot point, but in that case, we’d have to confiscate your current clubroom. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

President Tsuboka’s side must have tried a few things already.

But nothing worked.

And that’s likely what led to the present situation.

“And of course, I assume you wouldn’t want to expel Kajiwara-kun, the cause of all this, from the society. Reducing your member count by one is also nonsensical.”

“Of course not.”

The two of them are talking it over.

I’m thinking about various things myself, but in a situation like this, I’m no match for the two before me.

Iwatsutsumi seems to be in the same boat, and her eyes meet mine.

“It’s a bit late for this, but if this is going to be a long discussion, shall I serve some tea and snacks?”

“I’d appreciate that.”

I respond lightly to Iwatsutsumi’s offer.

A message that I don’t hold a grudge against you anymore.

Iwatsutsumi stands with a relieved expression and walks over to a cupboard to prepare snacks for the four of us.

“All we have is youkan, and unfortunately, we don’t have any proper plates.”

“It’s fine, we’ll have some. Thank you.”

You need sugar for thinking.

As if to say just that, they’re probably consuming the emergency rations stored by the Student Council.

I take the hand-delivered package of youkan, which has a five-year shelf life, as Chihiro pops a piece into her mouth.

“Hmm.”

“Hmmmm.”

Chewing on the youkan, getting the blood flowing to the meat of our brains.

The four of us think.

Is there some way to leave those wicked people speechless?

We are justice.

We have to find a way to crush them.

At any rate, Chihiro put forward an idea.

“Are there no clubs at this school that have membership restrictions?”

“…If we were a sports powerhouse, or even had a top-tier concert band, they might turn people away who don’t have the fundamentals. Something like that. But we don’t have anything like that at our high school.”

Unfortunately, ours is just a normal high school, is what he’s saying.

Who would start a fuss about membership restrictions at a perfectly ordinary high school!

Unfortunately—

“No, let’s do it. Why not? At this point, let’s just do it!”

Iwatsutsumi raised her voice.

It was loud.

“If there’s no rule, we’ll make one. From the beginning, you’ve been rejecting them on the grounds that you’re a hobby-based society, and that’s not a lie! You should just establish membership restrictions!!”

Her voice was fit to burst.

“Let’s show those rotten people that they can’t have everything their way!!”

It was a cry of fury, for the insult dealt to her friend, President Tsuboka.

Becoming a club is unavoidable.

If that’s the case, then.

“Shall we do that?”

“Let’s.”

And so it was decided.

As soon as they become a club, the Student Council and the Modern Culture Research Society will team up.

And establish membership restrictions.

Chihiro and President Tsuboka shook hands firmly.