After that, Gentarō and I returned home, where we celebrated our victory with my mom and dad. The two of them couldn't be happier for me and Gentarō, and I couldn't be happier to have such a strong and amazing friend. However, I keep that to myself, since I don't want him to tease me nor do I want his ego to get any bigger.
I'm thankful for the rest and relaxation we're given over the next four days, however, the Monday we go back to school is our first day of council duty, and we have to be there early for a council meeting. Despite that fact, Gentarō had the bright idea to train all night the day before, and what wakes me the next morning isn't the sound of my alarm, but Gentarō shaking me awake. "Hurry up and get ready Genta! We're about to be late!"
I immediately jump out of my bed as he says that. "W-What?! But I set an alarm!" I check the time and, sure enough, we've got about 45 minutes until we need to be at the school for that meeting.
"We slept through it!" He yells before rushing into the bathroom to get ready.
"You moron! This is why I said I didn't wanna help you train!" I groan and start getting dressed quickly.
"I know! I'm sorry!" Needless to say, the rest of the morning is pretty chaotic, and we have to run like mad men to make it to school on time. Even if we wanted to take the bus, it was already way too late and we missed it anyway, so I ended up having to boost Gentarō and he carried me to school. All I'll say is that being carried over his shoulder with my body flinging about as he ran at top speed was not one of my finest moments...
As we slam open the door to the student council room, panting quite heavily, the seven other council members turn to look at us. "You made it just on time...but in my book, that makes you late!" Itsumi lightly shouts. "You should always be early to important events, especially ones as important as the first student council meeting!"
"S-Sorry..! We're sorry!" I press my palms together and bow.
"W-We were...phew! We were training all night last night and slept through our alarm!" Gentarō says with a chuckle and a grin on his face.
"Why would you tell her that?!" I yell internally and narrow my eyes up at him in annoyance.
"It's good to be hard working, but why on Earth would you wear yourselves out so much so that you sleep through your own alarm..?" Kochizuki asked with a nervous chuckle. I lightly chop the back of Gentarō's head and he grunts a little, but snickers all the same.
"Stop fooling around and take your seats. We have a meeting to get started." Sana scolds the two of us.
"Yeah yeah, sorry sorry." Gentarō rolls his eyes at Sana's remark and takes his seat, right beside mine. The only ones in the room are us student council members. The school faculty relies on us to figure out how to do our jobs in our own way with little guidance, since we were already given the details of what each job entails several times over the course of the last year and we've been repeatedly told during the tournament in those announcements. The only time the faculty comes here is when they have work for us to do that isn't something we already do on a daily basis.
The nine of us sit around an oval shaped, white table, with computer chairs surrounding it, and name plates where each of us are supposed to sit, in order of our positions from top to bottom. There's a window behind where Itsumi sits; at the head of the table, showing a beautiful view of the city and the outside school grounds. To the right of the table, there's a projector screen, the projector above our table, connected to an advanced looking laptop that sits in front of Izumi on the table. To the left of the table is an empty, glass case, empty for now, but soon to be filled with dozens of rewards for a variety of things throughout our school years. Each student council has their own reward case based on their grade as well, that moves up the grade along with them to become filled with even more rewards.
"Before we officially start this meeting, let me get one thing straight." Itsumi speaks up, softly, but sternly, and everyone turns to look at her. "I know we all started in a tournament to fight for the student council president, but I'm not going to just sit back idly by and let you all start fights with each other. I expect everyone to treat our fellow council members with respect and dignity, and I do mean everyone when I say fellow student council members. If anyone has a problem with that, they can speak to me personally." She smiles innocently, yet an intimidating aura radiates off of her nonetheless.
"Don't worry, I plan to keep all personal business out of my council work. That's a promise." Nakawara says in a serious manner, yet yawns and leans back.
"Likewise. There's a fine line between work and play. I plan on taking my position seriously." Hiri states with a serious expression before leaning his head on his fist.
"Yeah, if anyone wants to fight, just say so and we'll have the arena set up for you! But keep your fights outside of our work!" Natsuri exclaims with a serious expression, though I personally find it hard to take such an adorable face seriously.
"So, since we all got off on the wrong foot, let us all introduce ourselves to one another, giving our names, acolyte titles, and student council positions. I am the president, so I'm not going to take no for an answer on this." Itsumi says with a smile. "Since I proposed the idea, I'll introduce myself first. I am Itsumi Nagako, an Emanator Class Fire Acolyte, and I'm the student council president."
Sana crosses his arms and shakes his head lightly before speaking up himself. "Sana Kei. Fabricator Class Cube Acolyte, and I'm the vice president." He pushes up his glasses.
"He's as grumpy as ever it seems..." I think to myself before hesitantly speaking. "U-Um...i-if we're going in order..." I mumble, but speak up a bit more clearly so everyone can hear me. "I-I'm Genta Tsukioka... I-I'm a Fabricator Class Boost Acolyte, a-and I'm the student body secretary..."
Gentarō lightly slaps me on the back. "There's no need to be so nervous buddy." He chuckles. "I'm Gentarō by the way everyone, an Emanator Class Boost Acolyte! If anyone wants to fight for Genta's position, I'm essentially his stand in." He says with a confident grin.
"Why can't I sit next to Genta and Gentarō?" Natsuri huffs, crossing her arms.
"These are just our stand in seats for meetings and the like. While we do our work, feel free to sit wherever you like." Itsumi smiles softly.
"Really? Yay!" Natsuri cheers and I giggle nervously. After our fight, it was kind of hard to get her off of me. She told me she vowed to protect me just like Gentarō does, and while the performance did tuck at my heartstrings a bit, I still find it odd how she's taken such a strong liking to me so quickly. "Anywaysssss, I'm Natsuri Oshihara! I'm an Emanator Class Laser Acolyte and I'm the student body treasurer! It's nice to officially meet you all." She says with an adorable smile on her face that makes me, Hiri, and Nakawara grab at our hearts.
Kochizuki shakes her head and smiles nervously before introducing herself. "Hello, my name is Kochizuki Okawa. I am a Fabricator Class Force Acolyte and from today onward I will be the student council's historian. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances." She lightly bows her head. She's definitely very dignified and polite. You'd think she was from a noble household.
"That means I'm next right?" Nakawara pulls his beanie up a little bit so it's not covering his eyes. "I'm Nakawara Masake, Emanator Class Cube Acolyte, and I'm the Parliamentarian. I hope I do a good job for you all." He smiles lightheartedly. He definitely seems to be the most casual and laid back out of all of us, but from what I've heard via rumors, he takes everything he does pretty seriously, hence why he was a candidate.
"My turn then?~" Usana clears her throat and gives everyone a smile, but oddly enough, I feel like she's specifically looking at me and Gentarō as she speaks. "My name is Usana Sakura, a Fabricator Class Spike Acolyte and the student body reporter. I hope to change my ways here and make some of you a bit more fond of me than you are now." She gives a light smile, and I don't know why, but I can feel she really means that. Maybe it's because she dropped the usual teasing tone she normally speaks with.
"And I'm last, but most certainly not least in everyone's eyes I hope." Hiri says with a chuckle. "The name's Hiri Kahisa, a Fabricator Class Hover Acolyte and the student body's committee chairperson. I hope we can all be friends rather than enemies here."