The Gift That Keeps on Giving [Slice of Life]

Could someone say there was magic in Hiro’s simplicity? Definitely not by itself. But when it combined to Elsie laid-back attitude, it helped things to go really smooth between them, which was ultimately a good thing, considering how hard it was for the male teenager to actually get along with people. Slowly, his eyes widened at what the one who would forever be Sleepy Twin to him said. “You can bring those, or…” What was the proper way to react to something like this? “… exchanging phone numbers would be okay too, yes.” He corrected the train wreck that his words were along the way.

Was this proposition weird? A little bit. Did he actually enjoy getting out once he actually got home? No. But, honestly, he could also not think of a reason why it wouldn’t be okay to hang out with Elsie to try some new food. She was nice. She was simple. Was this a blooming friendship, or was he just a test subject? So far, he was surprisingly not against any of those, which was a bit surprising, even for him.

“I’ll give you my phone number, and you can send me a message so I can save yours.” He suggested while he spelled his number to the girl. If he was the guy, should this be done the other way around? Who cared? Certainly, not Elsie. Sacred simplicity.

Once she actually texted him, the number of girls’ phone numbers that were stored in Hiro's phone and didn't belong to his mom or his sister had ascended to the magnificent number of 2. That was quite an achievement! Even if he really didn’t care much about meeting girls. Or people, in general. This was a nice change of pace.

Yes. This girl definitely didn’t strike Hiro like the type who would join a cooking club. He had seen those girls. They didn’t sleep and drooled in class. They definitely didn’t. That was fine. It meant Elsie was not trying to forcefully fit where she didn’t belong.

… Maybe that was more than what could be said about him joining the Student Council. But hey, he had no choice!

But that was then. The classrooms dedicated to these types of groups seemed to be in the lower floor of the school, east wing, so they only had to go down a set of stairs and walk for a bit before actually reaching their destination.

Now, Hiro was standing last among the group that had arrived and entered the very much empty classroom that was supposed to hold the reunions for the Student Council, being immediately harassed by this girl with short, dark hair. The same she had thought he knew before when he saw her. Now that he was seeing her from up close, Hiro actually recognized her!

“Funabashi.” He muttered, almost without actually wanting to do it.

He knew this girl! She was actually the other girl whose phone number he had stored in his cellphone. The reason? She was the older sister of Funabashi Yuna, who happened to be Hitomi’s best friend. He had stored the phone number of Yama on his cellphone to let her know when he was picking up his sister from the playdates she and Yuna shared, or when Yama was actually picking her own 6-years old sister from his house. So... this girl was actually part of the student’s council? He knew they went to the same school but didn't know much more about her.

Why did she look… annoyed? She was actually extremely nice when her little sister was around, even to the point of her courtesy being taxing for Hiro. Couldn’t say he liked her all that much with this attitude, though. “H-Hi…” He greeted the girl, still a bit impressed at her way of acting.

Who was part of the council, then? Were they only Evie and Yama here before? They looked like they could use some new members. So why did Yama seem kind of against the idea?

In any case, it was definitely Evie who should do the talking. Hiro’s eyes went to Elsie, wondering if she was going to say something about this girl’s attitude. Hopefully, she wouldn’t. Otherwise, they were probably bound to get involved in some sort of quarrel.

To this thought, he only let out a sigh. Not now, please.

    Somebody not believing in the concept of fun was a pretty dicey proposition. Being on a permanent state of taking things way too seriously should be pretty draining; at least, it would be for Yuuya. Was Yama even able to feel it? Those, and many other useless questions passed by the boy's mind before he decided that the better option was to just discard them.

    Despite the fact that they would be together in the student council, it didn't mean they had to get along perfectly, after all. Just by the look of it, it seemed like her relationship with Evie was rocky, and that was to say the least! He could predict that the dynamic between the two girls was very interesting... but Yuuya wasn't sure if that was in a good way or not.

    But, that was something he'd ponder about later, if at all. Right now, he was devoting most of the meager amount of attention he could muster towards adapting to his new situation as a member of the council. How would the place be? Would there be a lot of people, or would there be a lot of people?

    Apparently, the only thing that would be found in that classroom would be a fair amount of disappointment! Or... not really? This situation either meant that work would be way more lax than usual or a lot a harder. Hopefully, it'd be the first case! Otherwise, this might be more annoying than initially thought.

    Back with the two girls who currently were discussing the council's current situation! Yama couldn't help but elongate her sigh once Evie confirmed her suspicions. Truth to be told, her intervention was necessary, considering that the council couldn't remain as a two-person affair, and, at least in her opinion, anyone was better than the whole thing ending.

    Pity the people Evie picked were far less than optimal. But it wasn't like she would voice that out loud, even if her disdain towards the new councilmen was rather obvious. Yama wasn't a person of subtleties, after all. Or was she, considering Hiro's thoughts on her? Who knew.

    "Welcome to the student council." She said, in a corteous yet curt way. Her gaze went immediately back to the blonde. "Take you've explained to them what the council is about, right? Have they picked a position they'd like to fill? Sides president and vice president, everything is pretty much vacant, as you can see. Once that's taken care of, we should get the first meeting going. There's a whole year to plan."

    Her tone managed to return to a semblance of neutrality as soon as their schedule was described. Guess that's the treatment everyone would receive from now on. Could it be considered good? That was probably up for debate!

    Knowing that her piece was over, the dark-haired girl returned to her desk; at plain sight, it seemed like she had been somewhat busy, considering the stack of papers currently resting there. What could she possibly be working on?

    Yuuya, on his side, just stared blankly at the girl as she went through her motions, then back at the group, and finally, at Evie. "I'll let you pick my position, president." For some reason, his voice was somewhat teasing as he said that. Why could that be.

    Where would everyone land? How much power did the council actually wield? What would the meeting be about? Asking himself that many questions was the most bothersome thing the teenager had done to himself in a long while.

    At least Evie picked a 'fight' that she knew she would win rather easily. But, were things ever actually difficult when it came to Yama? As long as it adhered to the rules, and kept the student council running, Evie suspected not. There was plenty of time to be proven wrong, however! And, one day, Evie almost hoped she'd see it.

    "Yes, I've already explained it. Yuuya even assisted a bit in the explanation!" And, by assisted, that meant less than a sentence worth of additional details on her list of 'things the student council does', but that was just a minor detail! The point was making at least one newbie sound like they had some idea of what was going on with their lives right now!

    Hearing Hiro's question, Elsie gave a nod. "I'm already ready for a nap," she mumbled. The concept of student council just sounded tiring! Let alone dealing with Yama's grumpy faces every time!

    But, now, Evie was being addressed as President. There was a blink of surprise, as if just processing this information. Something uncommon for the blonde, for sure! But, with Elsie not even bothering to comment on her own desire for rank among the council, it seemed that Evie was left with making all the decisions. Granted, first, she would assign something to her sister. After all, she knew her best out of everyone in the room! "Elsie will be the treasurer," she started, simply.

    "I sure hope that involves some actual treasure," the sibling uttered under her breath. It sort of did! But, not in the way the teen would prefer.

    From there, instead of giving any description of the job, she went on to Yuuya. There was an almost thoughtful look, while she tapped her cheek. "Yuuya, you should be the secretary." Really? Secretary Yuuya? "I think you'll be good at it!" Was that revenge for his teasing tone earlier? Or, was he just the best option out of the three for such a job? It was a mystery.

    Either way, that only left one person! And, the most obvious positions were filled! So, what would Hiro's fate be? "Finally," the blonde started, while brushing her hair behind one of her ears. "We need a Public Relations Director," oh no, that sounded like a lot of work. "And I think Hiro would make a good face for that." What did that mean? Were Elsie and Yuuya not good enough? Was Evie calling Hiro pretty? Or, was it actually all just some sort of subtle taunt? Regardless the reason, her tone remained chipper throughout the entire listing of everyone's new titles. "Those are the main positions needing filled, I feel. What do you think, Yama? Everyone?"

    Well, if anyone had any complaints, they had better voice them now. Otherwise, they would be trapped in the roles forever! Or, until they quit student council, at least!

Honestly? It took Hiro more than a second to actually comprehend what Evie was telling him. Not only because he did not understand what she meant by something like ‘Hiro would make a good face for that’, but because the whole concept was something he was unaware of. By running through the words in his head, very slowly, he managed to reach a conclusion: it sounded like something where he needed to talk to other people.

“The…” By the moment he reacted, the prim and proper twin had already issued her question. “… So talking to other people. Devastating.” Had she managed to pick exactly what he was worst at? He mused about that possibility for a couple of seconds, to finally conclude he was going to feel he sucked at whatever task she picked for him, so it really came as preposterous to complain.

What did he do during last year’s mid-year school festival? Considering he could not remember what he ate this morning, trying to think about that was a bit futile. Instead! Hiro tried to focus on more interesting stuff, like what Yuuya was saying.

“If food was bad, then we might have that covered now.” His chin resting on the palm of his right hand, he glanced at Elsie, sitting not too far from him. “There’s some very good cook in the council now. She can probably make some delightful food this year.” Wasn’t ‘delightful’ a bit too much? He was actually trying to sound energetic. He lacked… energy, to do that. “So a new stand with Elsie’s food… That sounds profitable to me.”

“Maybe we could have a haunted house or something like that? I think they either didn’t do that last year or it was so lame no one talked about it. I’ve heard students like to buy tickets for that.”

Had he provided some type of help? Whether he did or not, this was the best he could do.

    Thus far? Things were going as well as they could, considering the less than savory company surrounding Yama. It wasn't like her mood was particularly pleasant on a good day, and this situation wasn't helping it any, but what else was there to be done? This would be her every day from now on; better get used to it, and most importantly... to Elsie's company.

    That, however, led the group to their first topic, and to a very obvious turn of the dark-haired girl's humor for the worse. In the wake of Hiro's suggestion, he scoffed. Of course, Evie would beat her to it; adding a witty comment just to get on her nerves was pretty much expected at this point. She exhaled, taking a couple of seconds to recompose herself before she started to speak.

    "Even if your obviously misplaced trust were fitting to the situation at hand." She said, her tone as even as it could be. Which meant, not much. "A single person taking care of feeding literally the whole school wouldn't be enough. We'd need at least four to five stands to take care of everything. You can get her to cook as much as you want, however. I've got zero problems with that."

    Yuuya had to admit; pretty squabbles aside, the girl was in the right. No way a single stand could handle the whole school. However... he kinda preferred to raise his arms in a conciliatory motion. "Girls... there's no need to fight. We all can get along just fine, right?" He wasn't doing this because he cared a lot about any of them, but mostly because having them throw caustic remarks at the other at every opportunity was getting old rather fast. What he got in exchange, at least from Yama, was a glare. Probably not the best result!

    Luckily, Evie would change topics right afterward. A spooky festival, huh? "Seems interesting enough, if you ask me. Most girls run away from me as soon as they see me, so I could be the spooky ghost of the haunted maze or something. Think that'd work?" It was funny how, despite how his tone sounded matter-of-factual, the guy seemed to be... actually pleased with the idea? What a weird person. "I doubt anyone is gonna eat bat meat, though. Remember why I said that the last festival failed? Don't make it worse."

    All in all, it seemed like the group had an idea. What about Yama? She just... shrugged at the proposals. "Guess it'll work, as long as there's enough food that doesn't include bats. What about the activities? Competitions? Fish scooping? Raffles? There's plenty of things on the table."

    Did anyone get any ideas? Were Elsie and/or Evie just gonna keep on antagonizing Yama and the other way around? Would Yuuya's attempt at being spooky work? Those were, indeed, a lot of questions.

    Hearing Yuuya try to stop a fight from breaking out, Elsie tilted her head to the side, and stared him dead in the eye. "Depends," she uttered, bluntly. And, unlike the norm where Elsie would probably go on a tangent, it just ended right there. Frankly, it depended on way too many things for her to really get into!

    But, after a little more talking, and a notable crumpling of her face, the wild-haired 'chef' had to speak up again. "Uh, did Eves pronounce it wrong?"

    Now, Evie, too, looked concerned. Pressing her lips tightly together, she folded her hands over her mouth. Usually, she was good with her Japanese! "Isn't Taiyaki the fish-shaped cakes with red bean paste or chocolate in them?" For once, it appeared that the green-eyed girl was actually second-guessing herself!

    Except, she was totally right on what she thought it was. Maybe, her accent had made it a little jumbled?

    "I was thinking bat-shaped cakes with chocolate or even red-dyed custards in them."

    Which, frankly, was a lot less horrific than cooking real bats!

    "Hiro can help me with food." Sorry Hiro, it sounds like you're learning to cook! Or, at least, to serve it without taking bites of everything. "We can ask cooking club to set up some stands, too."

    "Spooky food stands, a haunted house," Evie hummed, while pulling out a notepad to write down the suggestions. "I would think guys versus girls competitions tend to bring big turnouts. But, we'd need to find some that aren't all strength-based." Otherwise, people would cry unfairness, after all! "And every festival needs fish scooping!" Did they really? Evie was going to go with yes. Mostly because she wanted to do it herself!

    "For decorations, we could probably have each class decorate a section of the school?" That way everything would be split up easily! "What does everyone think?"