Meeting with Class 2-B

(Shin's PoV)

—

And then, Sora and I kept walking for a bit towards class 2-B. I was really curious to see who the crazy girl who was dating Daiki was.

"So... how long is this meeting gonna be, Fujimoto-san?" I asked, trying to break the silence.

"I don't know, to be honest..." She sighed. "It depends on how many problems they are gonna give me. That class is somehow... particular."

"What do you mean by 'particular'?" 

"That kind of particular that is usually connected to the word 'problems'. Most of the disciplinary problems that I had to deal with came directly from that class." Sora said while keeping her gaze forward and not slowing at all.

"I won't ask any further questions, I promise," I replied.

"Ishikawa-kun..." Sora said, still not looking at me.

"Yes? What is it?" 

"Thank you..." Sora said, her voice softening. "I mean... for everything you've done until now. Akane is very lucky, you know?" She added.

I couldn't help but smile after her words tickled my heart.

"You're too kind, President. Really." I said.

Sora remained silent for a few moments before speaking again. "Trust me... I'm not." 

"Okay..." 

And then, we kept walking until we had finally arrived at the destination.

As soon as we arrived at the door leading to Class-2B, I finally realized why Sora had described that class as 'particular'. 

I could literally hear students shouting from outside, muttering about random things and occasionally insulting themselves.

The strangest thing was that at this time of the morning, the teacher should be inside.

"Fujimoto-san..." As I shifted my gaze to her, I noticed the aura of someone about to walk into a cage full of lions. "So... this is the 'famous' class."

"Yeah." She replied. "They asked for an extraordinary meeting with me today. That's why they aren't following their lesson..."

And after her words, Sora knocked at the door three times with her usual delicacy.

'...' 

No answer from the inside. The only thing we heard were their screams. 

After a minute, Sora knocked again, harder this time.

*Knock, Knock, Knock.*

Only after that did the shouting suddenly stop... but not for long.

'Oh! Guys! It's President Fujimoto...! Shit!' 

'Get to your fuckin' seat, idiot!!" 

'Shhhh! She'll hear us! What if she writes a bad report about this class?'

'You're useless!! This is the exact reason why we won't do anything for the festival...!"

I saw Sora staring at the floor for a few moments before she lifted her gaze to me, giving me a small smile that surely wasn't friendly.

"Get ready, Shin." She said before opening the door. 

"After you, President." 

And then, we finally stepped inside, and I saw something that I'd never expected at this hour of the morning.

The class was a total mess. 

Every kind of paper sheet was scattered all over the floor; the school desks were united together to form a bigger one, and almost no one of the students was sitting in their place.

Every single gaze was locked on Sora, and as soon as she walked behind the teacher's desk, every single student stood totally silent.

"Good morning, everyone," the flawless President said. 

In that moment, every single student immediately bowed their head. 

"Good morning, President Fujimoto!" They said in unison.

Meanwhile, I stood at Sora's right with the paperwork she'd given me and took another look around the classroom.

Crumpled paper lay under at least four desks, and someone had even drawn a samurai cat on the whiteboard in permanent marker.

Other than that, an open bag of chips sat on a stack of textbooks, looking as though it had been there since first period.

With a small sigh, Sora looked from the mess to the students and then cleared her throat.

"Before we begin," she said in her president tone, "I expect this classroom to be completely cleaned and reorganized before lunch break. Put the desks back where they belong, pick up the paper, and clean that whiteboard." She paused. "If a teacher walked in right now, nothing would save you from a disciplinary sanction," her voice sharpened a little. "I'm choosing not to do that today. Don't make me regret it."

After her words, everyone suddenly found a reason to look down at their desk.

"Good." Sora rested her hands on the teacher's desk. "This guy on my right is Shin Ishikawa, my assistant. After today's meeting, you can bring your festival-related issues to him. Ishikawa-kun, please."

I stepped forward and gave a small bow. "I'm Shin Ishikawa from class 3-C. Second-year representatives can reach me through the student council office or directly after class. I'll do my best to help."

As I straightened, I heard someone in the middle rows whisper something to the person beside them, loudly enough for me to hear.

"Isn't that the guy who's dating that lesbian?"

"Yeah, the one who got humiliated in front of everyone... It's really him..." That came from the row behind, with even less effort to keep it down.

For some reason, it stung.

I tried to keep my expression flat and ignore it, but Sora suddenly cut off the whispers with two sharp slaps of her paperwork against the desk.

"Attention, please." She'd lowered her voice. "We're here to discuss the food stalls. Nothing else."

Once she had their attention again, she continued. "I don't have time to hear from everyone individually, so I'll speak to your class representatives. I trust you've passed your concerns on to them." She looked at the students in front of her. "Representatives, come forward."

Then, a tall, lean boy slouched up from the back row, his undercut pushing the limits of the dress code and his jacket one button too far undone. A small girl with short brown hair and green eyes followed from the third row, holding a sketchbook against her chest. She approached cautiously but seemed more at ease once she was beside him.

"Masaru Fujiwara," the boy said, with an upward jerk of his chin that technically counted as a greeting.

"I-Izumi Yamashiro," the girl said, bowing.

Yamashiro. Now I recognized her. She was the school's famous mangaka, whose short comic had gone viral among the students and also... Daiki's girlfriend... right?

Even with her standing in front of me, I had trouble imagining someone so reserved next to Daiki Sakurai.

As soon as the two students stood in front of Sora, she sat down with her pen ready. "Go ahead. What's the problem?"

"First of all, the stall signs." Masaru crossed his arms. "We need artwork for the banners and menu boards, and Izumi here keeps saying she won't do it."

"I didn't say I wouldn't, Masaru." Her voice was steady, but also a little tight. "I said I don't have the time or the materials. There's a diff—"

"What?! You draw every single lunch break! Always! Forty-five minutes with your little pen and your little notebook, and you can't do four signs?" He snapped.

"Those are my drawings, stupid! Personal projects! I have deadlines too. And what am I supposed to draw the signs on? The school doesn't have the right paper or markers. I'd need proper poster board and at least three different brush pens. I've already asked the art club. They don't have extras, and they won't let me borrow their stuff if I'm not part of them."

"So buy them or use everything you have at home!!" He slightly raised his voice.

"With what budget, genius? Did the class collect some money I don't know about? Plus, I can't use my personal stuff for that. I need another type of material!"

Masaru looked at us, desperate. "See? That's the reason why we won't do anything!"

After his words, they kept arguing like they were the only two people in the class, and I saw that familiarity. 

They were on first-name terms, and neither seemed to need a moment to come up with a reply.

I wondered how many times they'd had this argument.

Then, after a few minutes, Sora and I exchanged a look. They weren't stopping.

"I can talk with the art club," I said before Masaru could answer. "If they can't spare anything, the student council has a small budget for festival supplies, so we should be able to cover poster board and brush pens. Yamashiro-san, if I get them to you by next Friday, would you have time to finish the four signs?"

Izumi blinked at me. "I... yes, probably. With the right materials, they'd take me only two afternoons."

"Then I'll have them for you by Friday."

Masaru uncrossed his arms, still looking faintly annoyed. "Fine," he muttered. "But there's more."

"Of course there is," Sora muttered.

Izumi raised her hand a little. "We requested two portable gas burners for the yakisoba stall almost two weeks ago, and we still haven't had confirmation."

After her words, Sora flipped through her paperwork until she finally found the request. "They're approved, but the safety inspection hasn't been scheduled. I'll push that through this week, and you'll have confirmation by Monday."

"And there's another thing regarding the allergy labels," Izumi added, sounding more confident. "Half the class wants to sell food with common allergens, but nobody's checked the ingredient disclosure rules. If someone reacts because we haven't labeled something properly, Mas—Fujiwara and I will be responsible for that."

Masaru turned to her. "Since when do you know about liability?"

"Since I spent last weekend reading the festival handbook instead of sleeping. Someone had to." She replied.

Sora was already writing. "Section four of the handbook covers the allergen disclosure policy. I'll print you a copy and the forms. Every item needs a label identifying any of the eight listed allergens it contains. No exceptions." She looked up. "Anything else from the representatives?"

And then, the rest of the class apparently took Sora's last question as their invitation.

"President, can we sell drinks too?"

"What about the earnings? Who's gonna get the money?"

"Takeda said he'd bring his own grill, but I'm pretty sure we're not allowed to use it..."

"Can we play music at the stall? My brother has speakers."

"Izumi's banner was so good last year! Can't she just do it again?"

The meeting was supposed to be as short as possible, but it took nearly two hours, most of which I spent answering questions at Sora's side.

Occasionally I had to step between students arguing about whether to serve mochi with or without kinako. I suggested a rotation for the cooking shifts and cutting the menu from seven items to four so they wouldn't need so much equipment.

One boy took considerably more persuading to give up his plan for a full-size cardboard ramen cart. He kept insisting for a while.

By the time we'd dealt with the last question, my voice was tired, and Sora had filled another three pages.

Then, she stood up and squared her folders against the desk.

"You'll have everything you need by next week. Is there anything else?"

Izumi and Masaru glanced at each other.

"I don't think so," Izumi said.

"Nah, we're good," Masaru confirmed, crossing his arms.

"Then thank you for your time. And remember, I expect this classroom clean before lunch. If I hear any complaint about all of you, I won't be so kind."

Sora then tucked her pen into her jacket pocket and headed for the door. I was following her when a small voice caught me a few steps from the exit.

"I-Ishikawa-senpai?"

I turned around.

Izumi stood behind me with her sketchbook pressed tightly against her chest again. "C-Can I ask you a question?" 

I stared at her for a few moments and noticed how tightly her fingers gripped the sketchbook, much like Sora with her paperwork.

"Yes, sure," I said.

"Uhm..." she looked away for an instant. "You're friends with Daiki Sakurai, right?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "Unfortunately, yeah. Why?"

She looked down, her fingers tightening even more around the sketchbook. "If you see him... could you tell him not to wait for me outside school this afternoon? I'm very busy..."

Her words and behavior made me remember something that Daiki had told me when he delivered food to Akane and me. "Well, I have the strange feeling that she's not being sincere, to be honest. Even though we spent a lot of time together, I still feel that something is off..." With Izumi avoiding my eyes, it was hard to put his worry out of my head.

Still, I wasn't about to get between them just because she wouldn't look at me, but I understood why Daiki had said those words to me.

"Sure," I said. "I'll message him later."

I saw her body soften as if a string had been cut from her as she let out a breath. "Thank you, Ishikawa-senpai."

Her relief as she bowed left me wondering why she couldn't tell him herself.

"No problem, Yamashiro-san. Take care."

She nodded and returned to her desk, and I went out to find Sora leaning against the corridor wall with her folders held to her chest.

From her expression, I suspected she'd heard us, but before either of us could speak, the lunch bell rang, and doors opened up and down the hallway.

Sora pushed off the wall and smiled softly. "Roof?"

"Roof. I don't want to deal with a hungry Akane."

And then, we headed for the stairwell together.

After that meeting, the only thing I needed was to see her beautiful face again...