THE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S GRADUATION
The frequent hot blasts of volcanic air from the ground meant that it never got very cold in the red dragons’ home of Mount Rokko. But it was still colder than normal in the winter.
The red dragons were a people who did not much like the cold, so it was during this time of year that many families would go together to the hot spring village inside the volcano to enjoy themselves.
Similarly, since I was on winter vacation, my family and I leisurely spent our time at the inn run by our relatives. We could get home straightaway if we flew in our dragon forms, so it felt a bit like a second home.
Once winter vacation came around, the whole family would go to the hot springs; this was our familial routine, and barring anything serious, there would be no change in plans. I knew the hot spring village intimately, down to what lay at the end of every winding alleyway.
But that year, my heart was in a different place, even though the hot springs themselves had not changed; I spent most of my days staring into space in my room at the inn.
Even when my family went out for walks, I remained by myself, occasionally poking at my academy homework.
“Aw, Laika? You’ve been in your room this whole time?”
My sister came back just before lunch. She had apparently gone to get snacks; she held several skewers of meat in her hands. Though we were away from the campus, there was still a good chance that other students from the academy were at the springs, so it was best we remained on good behavior. I was not going to admonish her for every transgression, though.
“I’ve been doing homework all day today. I can concentrate better here than I can at home.”
“That’s only half true. I know you are capable of finishing all the homework you get right at the start of break, and you do most years. You purposefully left work to distract yourself from unnecessary thoughts, right?”
Leila came to that conclusion after peering at my notes. I always knew it was impossible to hide things from her. It wasn’t so much that she was especially insightful, but that I was too easy to read.
“Yes, that’s right. Because you’ll be graduating soon.”
“Aww, you’re sad I’m graduating? You love your big sister, don’t you?!” Leila forcibly pulled me into a hug.
I let her rock me around like a doll, my head lolling back and forth. I knew she wouldn’t stop even if I fought back. If I reacted, that would only encourage her to keep going. The best strategy was to let her hug me until she was satisfied.
She smelled slightly of soap, perhaps because she had been in and out of the baths so many times.
“I won’t miss you. You’ll be there when I come home. I rarely see you at school anyway, since we are in different years.”
“Even if it’s true, that hurts, Laika!” Leila puffed up her cheek and pressed it against my own.
She knew everything, and yet she was still making me spell it out.
“I am worried that something will happen at school after you graduate. Perhaps it’s none of your concern, since you will be gone, but it weighs on my mind as a part of the student council.”
Leila was in her tenth year of sixth year.
It was finally time for her to graduate.
I had a feeling she would take a leisurely flight around the world once she left. Well, after her long reign as student council president, she could do anything she wanted, so I was not particularly worried about her future. If I did worry about her, she would only viciously tease me.
“Whaaat? But I’ve already given up my presidential duties. You already saw me pass the position on to the Vice President of the East, Rubiaflash Sadie.”
It seemed I needed to keep explaining, even though she already knew all this.
“Yes, I know you are no longer the president in name, and only a regular sixth-year. In name, that is. But you ruled over the academy as its dictator for a long time, so you still have some influence.”
“I don’t like you calling me a dictator,” she said, starting to grind her fist into my head. As a dragon, it dealt me an insignificant amount of damage, but it would certainly have caused a human’s skull to cave in.
“You may not like it, but it’s true! You’re the one who made me say all this! The VP of the West, Airshock Temiyainu, is in the same grade as you, and she will graduate as well, which will mess up the power dynamic for next year!”
My sister had long held the seat of student council president at the Red-Dragon Academy for Girls.
She was unanimously celebrated as the strongest student, and under her iron fist, the academy had run smoothly without too much chaos.
But when she left, I had no doubt in my mind that there would be several others who would step forward and try to become the new president. Perhaps even more people would run in the council elections.
If that were to happen, then a fierce fight would break out.
After all, the current president, Rubiaflash Sadie, had been given the position.
The students of the academy did not necessarily recognize her as the strongest.
That did not preclude other students from claiming that they were the strongest dragon and thus deserved to be council president.
If that individual was indeed the most powerful, then everything would settle down again.
But if they were merely more powerful by a small margin, then that would just invite someone else to try for the presidency, restarting the cycle!
Once the monolith of Leila was gone, the academy would descend into chaos. An era of war and upheaval would be upon us.
And yet here was my sister, who must know all this already, irresponsibly living her life and showing no strong feelings one way or the other as her time of graduation drew ever closer.
At last, she stopped grinding her fist into my head.
“All I can say is good luck to you. I didn’t try to run or hide while I was president. That just goes to show what level the other students are at. And what do I care if the academy falls into chaos after I graduate? The rest of them can scrabble for power all they want.”
Her words were cold, but that was the kind of person she was.
She had never acted like this openly at school.
“I’ve heard the academy used to have eras of violence. By the time I joined, it’d already become a haven for proper young ladies, and it was easy for me to keep that going, so I did. No one knows if it’ll be like that in the future. But it’ll be the future students who have to decide.”
“I know… You never broke any rules. In fact, it was more unusual that the same person remained president for decades…”
Even if Rubiaflash Sadie fulfilled her job as president, she was still a fifth-year. She would immediately become a sixth-year and graduate within the decade. After her, they would have to carry out an election to determine the next president.
The council president acted as the leader for all the students in the school, so it was natural for an upperclassman to take that spot. That meant a new person had to assume the role quite often.
“That’s—too—bad!” Leila whispered into my ear, spacing out her words.
I jumped in surprise.
“What are you doing?!”
But my sister looked angrier than me as I protested.
“I’ve been listening to you, Laika, and you’re thinking too small. Why is the future of the student council and the academy all you can think about? When did you get so petty? I’m so sad that I could almost cry.”
“But I’m a member of the student council! Of course I’m concerned about its future and the future of the academy!”
It didn’t make any sense for her to get angry at me for such a reason!
“Laika, you didn’t even want to join the student council when you first entered the school.”
At Leila’s words, I suddenly saw the light, as if a curtain of darkness had been pulled away.
She was right.
What I was originally aiming for was—
“You wanted to surpass me, to become the strongest dragon in the academy. To be the strongest red dragon, the strongest dragon, the strongest being. That’s what you wanted, right? You’re simple, Laika, so of course I understood that much.”
A terrifying look crossed her face, and she pointed at me.
“In the third semester, before I graduate, we’ll fight. I’ll give it my best, so you better come at me with all you have.”
This wasn’t a declaration of war from my sister, but from the former student council president!
She then stuck out her tongue, and her expression relaxed.
“And if you beat me, then everyone will think you’re the strongest, and the academy should stay in line, right?”
I see—this was my sister’s last gift to me, as I lamented the future of the academy.
If I were to defeat her, then everyone would acknowledge me as the most powerful in school.
And perhaps, that would keep the chaos at bay.
But a gift was not always given for free.
“And if I win, then that’s that. People will probably assume that the present student council members aren’t that big of a deal. I won’t go easy on you, either. That would be unfair. I swear that to you on my pride as the former student council president.”
She had given me a tremendous assignment.
When winter vacation came to an end and life at the academy resumed—
“Former president, for many years, you have been celebrated as the strongest individual in school. Now I wish to challenge you to a fight.”
I took the initiative and issued a challenge to Leila.
I stood right at the flame pillar in the garden in front of the school.
When I did, Leila grasped her stomach in laughter. “I knew it, Laika! I knew you’d be the one to challenge me!”
“You have achieved more than I. It’s only logical that the one of lower standing request the battle.”
It went without saying that my sister agreed.
Our battle surpassed the sixth-years’ graduation to become the talk of the school.
There were all sorts of reactions—some casually enjoyed the prospect of two sisters fighting each other, while there were some student council members and teachers who were worried that it might negatively influence how the student council was run.
But no one ever blamed me for it.
They knew that no matter who had challenged my sister to a fight, she would surely have taken them up on it.
If anyone had the courage to prove that they were the strongest, they simply needed to battle her before graduation. There was no reason for it to be me alone.
The only reason no other student had stepped forward was because Leila was just that much of a presence. No other student believed they could defeat her.
But I would do what I could.
Class ended an hour early that day, giving us time for the fight. Perhaps the teachers had planned it that way since they knew this would be the former president’s retirement match.
The fight would be taking place in the auditorium. No matter what happened, the entire school would be watching.
There were so many people still cheering for my sister.
She had ruled as the face of the school for many years, after all. I would say that 20 percent of the entire student body fervently idolized her.
Leila had been the academy’s model student: She had mastered both battle and the arts and was beautiful, kind, and strict. Students at the academy made it their goal to live like her, and that was what the teachers looked for in their students as well.
I was one of them, of course.
No—it was precisely because she was my elder sister that I had always aimed to be like her.
There was no other student here who knew her as well as I did.
And that was why I had to surpass her!
My life would be easier if I always followed in her footsteps, but I could not stay this way.
I think I was smiling when I came to stand before her.
I thought back and realized I had never earnestly fought with her. She was always gentle with me, and we never got into fights. Meanwhile, I had naturally sensed how great she was and felt both admiration and fear toward her.
But now, in this moment, I was going to fight with everything I had.
There was a strange atmosphere in the auditorium. I had heard that some students even felt sick before the match and had to go to the infirmary.
But I kind of liked this feeling.
Perhaps this is what I had been looking for this whole time.
At this point, there was not much left for me to do or think about.
If I were to accurately describe all the actions I wanted to take during battle, it would take me a very long time. But precise movements and theories lived in my body and mind, so all I had to do was follow them.
The rules were that we were to fight with our own limbs—no magic—so it was a surprisingly simple match for the academy.
If I won, I won; if I lost, I lost.
And wanting to win, fighting to keep from losing, was the very nature of a match.
Relaxed, I faced my sister, and she faced me.
“I’m not going easy on you because you’re my little sister—but I don’t need to tell you that!”
My sister leaned forward and rushed at me.
Her attack was simple—its aim was to beat the opponent with as much force as possible. There was nothing artistic about it. There were plenty of other students in the school who were far better than her in technique.
But all of her blows were terrifyingly heavy!
I could hear each dull thud resonating in my bones!
“They called me the Queen of Destruction when I first came to school, because no matter how hard you guarded, I’d destroy it with a blow from above. But at some point, they just started calling me the strongest. Then they called me president.”
This was my sister’s----Leila’s----strength!
There were no textbook moves, no correct strategies in her playbook.
She was not thinking about how to effectively take down an opponent or how to withstand another’s attacks.
Her technique was almost childish; anyone would be hesitant to imitate her.
But the sheer force in her blows was second to none! She pulverized her opponents with sheer power!
Despite how sloppy her method was, she was still this powerful without any need to train for years and years. This was her natural talent—her inborn gift!
The heavens had granted her great power!
“I see why…so many people look up to you…”
There was no logic to why no one could defeat my sister. And that was why they acknowledged her as someone born to rule, their only choice to follow her.
Before them was someone beloved by the gods. It would be impossible for them to surpass her.
“The only one who ever challenged me to a fight was Flatorte, the blue dragon. It’s hard to get a handle on idiots like her. I think I hate her because she’s so much like me,” Leila said.
“Indeed… You are very similar; you both ignore technique.”
“Unlike her, though, I don’t ignore techniques for daily life! And that makes me superior!” Leila kneed me in the leg.
It was not so much painful as it felt like a shock wave creeping through my bones.
I was on the verge of giving up resisting her power. Every attack threatened to paralyze the senses in my body. Even when I blocked correctly, the sheer brutality of her attacks seemed to mock my petty wisdom.
But at the same time, I felt something.
I felt I had the power to overcome this.
Even if she was far, far more talented than me, all I had ever done was strive to better myself. Challenge, Victory, Growth: I had lived according to the academy’s motto, simply repeating these three ideas over and over.
I could close the gap between us!
Though she was indeed chipping away at my strength, I was still standing!
I threw a punch at my sister.
She was not very good at dodging, so I hit her with ease. She had never needed to dodge, so it was likely she had never practiced.
“Nice hit. Here’s one back!”
She immediately countered with a harsh kick. I flew back and slammed against the auditorium wall, denting the structure.
Yet I had still dealt damage to Leila.
I just needed to deal a little more!
Brick by brick, I was going to build a tower. And that tower would reach the heavens.
If the foundation crumbled, then I would simply have to build an even stronger one and start again.
Prodigies had their own way of fighting, and so did fools!
No matter how much Leila struck me, I never forgot to deal a hit back to her.
“You’re still not going down…? You sure have a lot of energy.” Leila’s face was scrunched up.
“I’m not a quitter!” I shouted back.
“I’d rather not see a new side of my little sister here of all places!”
“If you think you know everything about me, you’re sorely mistaken!”
After that, our fight became—no, our fight had been mudslinging right from the beginning.
I blocked just as much as I needed to while attacking, thinking only of tiring my opponent out. I would keep this up until I reached my limit.
Right after Leila struck me, I would always have the chance to deal her damage in return.
An eye for an eye. If I could only hold out, I could keep wearing her down.
I was holding out through willpower alone.
I could not hear those cheering for me anymore, even though I knew they were—Hialis, Ricuen, Noenalle, and everyone else in my class.
It was as though only my sister and I existed in this world.
I’d had a taste of something very similar when I fought with Noenalle.
Conversing with our fists—as violent as it seemed, it was a very honest form of communication.
Both of us took direct hits and were sent flying into the wall. Yet we both got up in order to send the other into the opposite wall. This went on seemingly forever. If the rules hadn’t forbidden us from using fire, the auditorium would have become a sea of flames.
“Just go down already!” Leila punched me again.
I would not!
But I was not standing here just to contend with my sister. I could not give in—I had to get stronger for my own sake!
“Why are you still standing?!” Her heavy blow collided with my chest.
My head spun; my legs quivered.
She must have thought that would be the end. I saw relief pass through her eyes.
“I can still go on! I can keep going!”
I used the momentum of my stagger…
And sent a fist flying into her cheek.
If you asked most people to dig a hole to the other side of a mountain using only a hoe, they would tell you it was impossible.
But was that necessarily the truth?
Maybe it was entirely possible to dig a hole to the other side.
Didn’t the existence of tunnels prove just that?
Now take this!
Just as I raised my arm, my sister lowered hers…
Thump.
And she collapsed to the ground.
“Aww, I lost~” Leila looked refreshed, as though she had been freed from everything. “The academy is your burden now.”
“I don’t plan on settling for being the academy’s strongest,” I quickly replied.
This place was important to me, but one day I would graduate and leave.
There was no point to it all if I did not find strength that proved valuable in the outside world.
“You’re right. Do as you please. That’s what I plan to do once I graduate.”
It was at that moment that I finally understood how Leila had been bound to the position of president, the academy’s strongest.
It must have been a lonely and isolating struggle to stand as the face of the school for so many decades. No one could do that without a will of iron.
But at the same time, it was unnatural. Even though we dragons lived long lives, it was still an oddity for a student council president to stay in power for so long.
That was why I had been tasked with ending it.
I got down on my knees beside my sister’s face and grasped her hand.
“That was a good fight.”
But in that moment, there came an earthshaking rumble.
The cracks and holes we had made in the walls when we slammed into them had spread all throughout the auditorium, and the entire building began to collapse.
There were screams, but no one was too alarmed. Dragons could survive a building collapse with minor injuries, after all.
“Sheesh. The builders must’ve cut corners if that’s enough to bring this place down,” Leila said, exasperated, as she looked up at the ceiling.
A bit of the ceiling cracked off and clattered to the floor.
Bright sunlight poured through the hole.
“Aww, look. The sun is blessing you.”
“I would much prefer it bless you,” I said to her.
She pulled my hand, and me, downward.
As I fell forward, she gave me a light kiss on the cheek.
“I hope my precious little sister stays happy and healthy.”
I felt tears pooling in my eyes. “I always will be, Sister.”
Spring was the season of beginnings.
I stood before the new students as student council secretary.
The current student council president asked me if I would like the seat of president, but I politely declined.
Though I had defeated my sister in a fluke, I still did not have the ability to call myself the academy’s strongest, and even if I did, the strongest student was not required to be council president. Excessive personnel changes would only bring unnecessary confusion. Secretary was the perfect position for me. I had Vice Secretary Ricuen’s support, too.
The nervousness on the new students’ faces reminded me of my past self.
I hoped that their worries would propel them forward to new challenges and victories. Losing was all right, too, but I hoped they would at least aim to win. And the more they challenged, the more chances they would have to do so.
Three days prior, Leila had said she was off to travel and flew away. Perhaps now she was soaring the skies somewhere, maybe exploring a market in a distant town.
Luckily, the weather was fair on the day of the opening ceremony, and there were no ominous hints of disastrous beginnings. The new auditorium to replace the one we had destroyed was still under construction, so we were holding the ceremony outside. It would have been terrible had it rained.
But if anything bad happened, we would deal with it when the time came.
I decided to take a page from my sister’s book and approach things with a carefree attitude.
If nerves made me weaker, I would shed my nervousness and grow my strength.
After student council president Rubiaflash Sadie finished her congratulatory speech, she said, “Next, we have a few pointers from our secretary, Laika.” Yes, that was part of my job.
I slowly stepped up to the podium.
“Welcome to the Red-Dragon Academy for Girls!”
The End
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login