The Neighboring Aarya-san who Sometimes Acts Affectionate and Murmuring in Russian - Volume 6 - Chapter 7.2

“H-hey, wait?! We’re not looking for a fight! We—gah?!”

“Th-this wasn’t what I—mmmff?!”

“Weapons are for cowards—bffuh?!”

Not even a minute went by before they were overwhelmed and restrained, without a single soul even willing to hear them out.

“Maria! We received a call about more people causing trouble!”

“Where?”

“Um… By the gym… Three guys are apparently trying to pick up two girls, and they’re being really aggressive.”

“We got a call just like that a few minutes ago. President, let’s have security go check it out.”

“Hmm? Excuse me, but I think someone already took care of that. A few guests, who just happened to be around, apparently apprehended the troublemakers…”

“‘Guests’? Did anybody get hurt?”

“Not from what I heard. I still haven’t been able to get any details, but when they checked their tickets, they seemed to be related to Chisaki Sarashina…”

“Oh, Chisaki’s family…”

The school festival committee’s headquarters was set up in the main conference room where Maria worked with the president and the vice president to get a grasp on and to remedy the situation. Calls were coming in one after another about troublesome visitors, violence, and the like, so every single member was flushed and stressed, since nobody could have ever predicted that this was going to happen. But despite everything, they managed to deal with it all, thanks to the calm direction of these three individuals.

“President! There’s apparently a man trying to force his way onstage in the gym!”

“Relax. There are already a few teachers at the gym. More importantly, are we still waiting for them to close the gate? Is the school PA system ready to go?”

“The gate has been closed! Inoue is currently explaining things to the guests at the gate as well.”

“Perfect. Then—”

“Guys!”

The door to the main conference room opened, revealing Touya and Chisaki—an unexpected visit that both shocked and relieved all.

“Touya… What happened to the First Light Committee?”

“We called for their bodyguards, who were on standby outside, and now they’re all waiting in the student council room. There was no way we were going to be able to show them around with all of this going on.”

“Hmm…”

The president of the school festival committee seemed concerned for a few moments, but he eventually nodded.

“All right. Touya, you stay here to help us. Chisaki—”

“I know. You want me to snap every last troublemaker in two, right?”

The president’s expression twitched uncomfortably at the violent, murderous flames glowing in Chisaki’s eyes.

“Don’t go overboard, okay? And make sure nobody innocent gets hurt. We have a few people looking over security footage, and the paper being used for these intruders’ invitation tickets seems to be different from the paper we used to make them, so if you see anyone who seems suspicious, make sure to first check their—”

“Got it. Oh, but I can’t promise I won’t go overboard. These people ruined the school festival we have been working so hard on… I’m not going to let them get away with this,” she interjected, her voice seething with anger as she stormed from the room without even waiting for a reply. The committee president’s eyes pursued her with both relief and worry that she might overdo it…when a single male student, who was wearing glasses, suddenly stood up.

“I’ll go help.”

“Kaji?”

“You don’t need me now that Touya’s here. Plus, there has been something that I’ve been wanting to ask the teachers about security.”

I guess it would be kind of awkward to have him work with Touya, thought the festival committee president before agreeing.

“All right. You’re free to go.”

“Thanks.”

“President! The situation involving Year One Class D has been dealt with!”

“Really? Great.”

Although multiple acts of terror were happening all at once, the school festival committee and disciplinary committee were promptly taking action, gradually bringing an end to the chaos.

“What nonsense,” muttered Yuki while checking the middle-aged man’s invitation ticket. Only a few moments ago, he was screaming nonsensical complaints, such as “My life is ruined, thanks to you people” and “You people destroyed my company” until Yuki restrained him. Although the names of both the guest and the one who invited him were written on the invitation, the student’s name didn’t ring any bells. Basically, the name was fake.

“There is no way anyone would let him in with an invitation like this.”

The disciplinary committee was performing name checks at the school gate, so there was no way anyone could use a fake student’s name to get inside.

“Young lady, where would you like me to take this man?”

“Oh, my apologies. Do you think you could take him to the disciplinary committee’s room? Do you know where that is?”

“But of course. I used to go to this school, you know?”

“Wonderful. Thank you.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

After leaving the middle-aged troublemaker in a nearby adult’s hands, Yuki turned to face Ayano and shrugged.

“Not only did somebody send out numerous fake invitations, but it seems someone from the inside is helping these people sneak in. I guess it could be the same person, but…”

“I see.”

“…Anyway, tuck your weapons away for now. We wouldn’t want anyone seeing you with those.”

“Ah… My apologies.”

Ayano slipped what appeared to be mechanical pencils, which she’d used to help Yuki restrain the man, somewhere up her sleeves.

“…The student council room,” she suddenly muttered.

“Hmm?”

“I believe if Master Masachika were here, that would be where he would go.”

“…Interesting. So they’re after the First Light Committee…”

After Yuki’s quiet soliloquy, they promptly began to make their way to the student council room together.

Inside the student council room sat the members of the First Light Committee, since a school-wide disturbance happened to take place the day a group of alumni came to visit. Whoever was supposed to be supervising the event was going to be both responsible and liable for this scandal, so it would be no surprise if the members of the FLC were upset…but they weren’t.

“Now… I wonder how they plan on getting this mess under control?”

“More importantly, I want to know who was behind all of this. I feel like it would have to be someone who wants to sully the current student council’s reputation…or perhaps their targets are the previous student council president and vice president.”

If anything, the FLC seemed to be enjoying this disaster. Their eyes looking down over the schoolyard conveyed more curiosity than concern. They were like spectators observing a show from a safe distance. Of course, they would send their bodyguards to help get the situation under control if people continued to get injured, but for now, they wanted to quietly watch over the younger generation to see how they worked under pressure. After all, in their eyes, this was nothing unusual during the election season.

“The previous student council president takes the role of school festival committee president, while the current president manages the Autumn Heights Festival. So back in our day, students tried to use this opportunity to overthrow the current student council all the time.”

“If anything, safely overcoming whatever the Autumn Heights Festival threw at you was what earned you the right to join the First Light Committee back in the day…but times change, I suppose.”

“This is pathetic, if you ask me… Oh, my apologies. I wasn’t trying to insult your granddaughter, Mr. Suou.”

“No. The fact of the matter is that my granddaughter failed to prevent this from happening.”

Back when they were students—back when physical punishment was still the norm in schools across the country—Seirei Academy was a wonderful social arena for students, and the elections were respectable rivalries between factions, where each student running would be representing their family. Once a place for influential alumni to gather, the First Light Committee eventually implemented a voting system around seventy years ago to concentrate power and cultivate the elite. Ever since then, the academy’s students had been utilizing anything it took to win these two positions, whether it be authority, wealth, or sometimes violence. In other words, anything goes during the elections, so it wasn’t all that uncommon to see students get hurt or even drop out of school.

However, that was simply a testament to how special the positions of president and vice president of the student council were. Whoever defeated their rival faction and rose to power would become a ruler of their generation, and the First Light Committee was a place for these rulers to gather. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they had the power to steer the nation. In fact, there was perhaps nothing they couldn’t do within Japan with their network and connections, and that was why this generation’s presidential races looked like child’s play in their eyes.

The development of social media and reinforcing the notion of following the rules took this generation by storm, which softened the once-fierce presidential races where nearly anything was tolerated. Therefore, while there were still ruthless debates and speeches by the student council members, which could eliminate rivals from the presidential race, it essentially boiled down to merely winning the popular vote from their peers. That was how the current president and vice president were selected, and that was why the alumni didn’t respect them. In fact, they weren’t even considering welcoming them into the First Light Committee.

“There does seem to be one student who stands out a bit this year, though. I heard that this student also plans on making their rivals join the student council as well, if elected,” a man announced suddenly, trying to clear the slight awkwardness in the air. Gensei’s eyebrow twitched, but other than that, he hardly even reacted, and it was a completely unrelated man who ended up expressing interest.

“Oh? A willingness to work with past rivals, you say? Hmm… That is interesting. It sounds like that student understands the true nature of the presidential race.”

Networking was the true nature of the race. Students could make connections that would benefit them in their future, create inner circles and political factions, and grant highly ranked positions within their faction when elected. That was how they truly ruled over the students of the academy and their generation, and this was what the presidential race really was about in their eyes.

“I’m now marginally more excited for the upcoming presidential race. There seems to be a student somewhere among us with the guts to strike during the school festival as well.”

“Chuckle. And it appears everything is going exactly as they planned. Now, let’s see how the others are going to deal with this mess.”

Perhaps nobody would have batted an eye a few decades ago if something like this had happened, but there was no way this was going to go unpunished anymore. Then again, there was one way the perpetrator could get away with it all, and everyone in this room knew that was why they decided to wait. They decided to wait until someone walked through the door of the student council room.

“Oh…”

“Oh, my…”

When Masachika stepped into the hallway that led to the student council room, he saw Yuki and Ayano coming from the exact opposite direction, making him freeze briefly. The other two, however, continued to approach the room, so he silently proceeded ahead as well until the rivals were facing each other in front of the student council room.

“…”

Masachika and Yuki silently exchanged gazes for a few moments before they almost simultaneously directed their gazes at the two bodyguards on each side of the door.

“Excuse me. Hey, I’m Masachika Kuze. I handle general affairs for the student council, and the student council president, Touya Kenzaki, sent me here to check up on the First Light Committee.”

“He sent me, Yuki Suou—student council publicist, as well.”

“Ayano Kimishima. General affairs.”

After introducing themselves and showing their student IDs, Masachika spoke on behalf of the group and asked:

“Did anyone else stop by before we got here? I’m sure the First Light Committee is safe with bodyguards such as yourselves here, but I must make sure that no wrongdoers know they’re here.”

The bodyguards quickly exchanged glances before briefly replying:

“No, nobody else has been here.”

“…Really? Thanks.”

Masachika and Yuki were inwardly overcome with relief. We made it in time, they thought.

“Now, Masachika, what are you planning on doing next?” asked Yuki after they walked down the hallway away from the student council room.

“…”

She then gazed into her brother’s eyes and let out a snort.

“Then how about we both keep watch? We will keep an eye on the way we came while you keep an eye on the way you came. That should be fair, right?”

“Yeah,” Masachika agreed, then nodded before smoothly turning on his heel. Yuki and Ayano turned around as well, then began to trek back to the area from which they came. Right after Masachika turned the corner of the hallway, he leaned against the wall, then waited a few minutes until someone suddenly showed up. The much-expected encounter, however, made him smirk as he pushed off the wall and proceeded to stand in the middle of the hall.

“Yo, Kiryuuin. What brings you here?”

“…Hey, Kuze. I was just about to ask you the same question,” replied Yuushou with a grin just as chilling as Masachika’s joyless smile.

“…You were behind this?”

Meanwhile, another male student suddenly appeared before Yuki on the opposite side of the hallway in front of the stairs. The male student narrowed his gaze while he looked up at her from the staircase landing.

“I am truly disappointed. This is not the behavior I expected from a student council president,” she said in a matter-of-fact way, making the male student grimace.

“I’m not the student council president anymore, Yuki Suou.”

“Yes… But you are still the president of the disciplinary committee, Taiki Kaji.”

The sixty-seventh president and sixty-eighth president of the student council in middle school locked eyes.