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yansimstorythatiwillnotworkon · 3 months

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Friday

Info-Chan: If you managed to poison Raibaru’s food with a headache or emetic poison, she would be weak enough to eliminate.

Yan-Chan: If that was really the case, then why couldn’t I have done that any other time?

Info-Chan: I give you helpful tips daily. This is just your helpful tip of the day.

Yan-Chan: A helpful tip that amounted to nothing in the end.

Info-Chan: Don’t worry, this one is probably the most helpful one! :)

Yan-Chan: Why are you stalling?

Yan-Chan: I only have so much of the day left before everything is ruined

Info-Chan: Don’t worry ^^

Info-Chan: I wouldn’t unintentionally allow my client to fail. :3

That, of course, hinted that she would allow her to fail intentionally if she so pleased. Ayano sighs as she gets one last text from her crappy informant.

Info-Chan: Toga Tabara seems to need a little help. :)

Ayano frowns, but pockets her phone and searches the halls for Toga.

“Oh, Ayano.” Toga’s eyes widen in slight surprise at Ayano approaching him. He puts a hand on his hip with a curious frown. “I’m surprised you’re asking. I admit, I didn’t entirely see you as the ‘favor-doing’ type.” He shakes his head with a hand on his hip. “Before I answer, though, can I ask why you want to do a favor for me?”

Ayano didn’t know any more about Toga than he knew about her, but from what Info-Chan had told her, he wasn’t exactly as impressionable as other students. Regardless, the less Toga was able to say for certain about her, the safer she was from being doubted based on her actions.

With that thought in mind, Ayano subtly began swaying back and forth in a girly manner. She smiled in faux confusion. “Well, I can’t say that I help others because I want sunshine and rainbows raining on Academi, but I can say for certain that doing favors makes me feel helpful.” Shrugging, she claims, “Maybe it just feeds my ego, hehe..”

Toga raises his eyebrows briefly, his gaze and overall posture hinting that she had didn’t quite believe her. He simply shrugged and continued, though. “Well, to each their own. Not like I can say what you do and why you do it.” He claims, folding his arms. “As for my favor…” He hums in thought. “Well, I’m sure you know I’m quite notorious for not being able to pick a club. It would help me if you asked each club leader their thoughts of me- regarding my performance, of course.”

Ayano nods with a bright smile, “I can do that! No problem!” She says, and begins walking to speak to the first club leader on her list.

“One moment.” Toga calls out again. He hesitates as Ayano turns back to him but eventually gets his statement out. “Could you also ask Kuroko what she thinks would be best for me?” He asks, “I value her opinion a lot, and I’m sure she could give me great advice.”

After pondering for a moment, Ayano eventually nods. Kuroko seemed to be the more… normal of the student council. Akane always seemed to be breathing down her neck, awaiting Ayano’s eventual screw up. Aoi spent more time accusing her of things instead of actually catching her doing anything. And Shiromi was just… weird.

Unlike her fellow student council members, Kuroko was more humble and respectful to everyone while still knowing how to use her authority. If Toga hadn’t asked for Kuroko specifically, Ayano likely would have gone for her herself.

“Ah, Ayano.” Shoku smiles at her, although his awkward expression hinted that he hadn’t forgotten their previous encounter.

“Shoku.” Ayano nods, “Toga’s having trouble picking a club… as per usual. He asked me to ask you and the other club leaders what your thoughts on his performance in this club was.” She explained briefly, continuing her petite body movements, but keeping her face normal. When she first interacted with Shoku, she showed no changes in her persona or facial expressions, so perhaps changing how she presented herself slowly wouldn’t stand out to him as much.

Shoku raises his eyebrows in slight shock. “Oh, really?” He lifts a hand up to his chin in thought. “Well, he certainly was talented. He was an incredible learner, and apparently often had to cook for himself at home. He didn’t know everything, of course, but knew a lot despite being a novice.” He hesistates for a moment, however, before saying. “I guess if I had to complain it would be his lack of…enthusiasm? He claimed several times that he wouldn’t want to ‘waste time’ cooking for others, or even himself. I guess after spending so much time cooking for himself, it got kind of boring?”

Ayano hummed in silent thought, but nodded. “Right. Is that all? Did any of your clubmates have anything to say about him?”

“Well, Aija didn’t really like him. Thought he was lazy, which he really wasn’t.” Shoku explained. He turned to his tray, grabbing a bag of powdered sugar and sprinkling some on top of his brownies. “Honestly Aija… doesn’t like a lot of people. At all. I think what she didn’t like about him was the fact that Toga saw cooking as more of a hobby instead of anything he would consider ‘important’.”

Once again, Shoku turned to Ayano with a brownie on a napkin. “Do you still not like brownies?” He asks, smiling hopefully at Ayano.

After a moment of thought, Ayano takes the brownie. “Thanks.” She said briefly, taking a bite of it. She then nods, “It’s good, but a little cakey. And I’m not a fan of powdered sugar.”

“Not everyone is.” Shoku says with a casual smile. “I appreciate your feedback, though!” He says, picking up the serving tray. “If other students say the same then maybe I’ll use a little less flour and more butter?” He says, although more so to himself. He nods to Ayano as a goodbye and goes on about his usual routine.

“Hi, Yan-Chan!” Kokona waves happily at Ayano as she enters the gymnasium. Ayano waves briefly, not quite knowing if Kokona knew that the “Yan” nickname was meant to be a joke name or not.

Kokona and her club were on the stage, all holding their own script. Tokuko was clearing her throat and excersizing her voice as she was often the singer or vocalizer during performances. Shozo was comparing the script to a book he was holding on the “History of American Tragedies”. Tsuruzo usually got the main role, only second to their leader. Kokona was usually the narrator due to her passion and overall joy of being dramatic, and Riku was usually everything else. Technician, stage set-up, back-up, and so on and so forth. Basically a jack-of-all-trades.

“Ayano! There’s my favorite drama-club-to-be!” Tsuruzo claims, flipping his curled ponytail over his shoulder. He smiles brightly as Kokona walks over to Ayano as well.

“Look! I’ve got the narrator role again!” Kokona cheered to her, jumping a bit in excitement. “Isn’t it so cool?!” She asked excitedly, looking down to Ayano.

Ayano nods. “That’s nice.” She says calmly.

“Did you come to beg me to join, yet?” Tsuruzo asks with a hopeful grin. It immediately fell, however as Ayano shook her head. “Well, we can’t all be bursting with potential, I suppose.” He huffs, but smiles once again. “So, what brings you here, darling?”

Folding her hands behind her back, Ayano responds, “I came to ask you about Toga.” She claims. “He wanted to know about what you thought of his performance during his time here.”

Tsuruzo immediately scoffs, looking offended at the mere mention of Toga. “Performance?! I think you mean lack thereof!” He snapped, placing a hand on his hip with a scowl.

Ayano raises her eyebrows in surprise. “Really? What did he do?”

“What he didn’t do is put in an effort!” Tsuruzo grumbled, before sighing and deciding to calm down. “He had all the time in the world to learn scripts or help with setups or run errands, but all he did was ask questions!” He looks to his hand, counting on his fingers, “‘Why this play?’, ‘Is there any meaning behind it?’, ‘Why is Kizana even the leader?’, ‘Why does anyone listen to her?’, ‘Shouldn’t we do something more unique?’, ‘What’s the point of this line?’, ‘Does this have anything to do with-’ and nothing else!”

“He’s just mad that Toga was honest about disliking Kizana.” Tokuko chuckles, although her voice was a little weaker that usual.

Riku spoke up, tilting his head to the side in thought. “Well, he was pretty talkative.” He commented, “It was only a matter of time before his questions switched from what the play was to asking if it was related to some…obscene murder case or something or other.”

Kokona hesitantly agrees, folding her hands together awkwardly. “Yeah… he did ask some weird questions. Which wasn’t exactly the problem, it was more so that he asked us these questions while we worked in front of him.”

“He wasn’t really an actor. All of us have our own… amount of talent when it comes to acting, but he either didn’t bother or just… couldn’t.” Shozo added. “Honestly, I just don’t think that he joined the drama club to act at all. Of course, I don’t know what he joined for, but my point still stands.”

“He left before I could kick him out.” Tsuruzo smacks his teeth, his arms folded in pure irritation. “He didn’t bother going to a single club activity. It was Monday through Thursday, and he left Friday morning.”

Ayano frowned in thought. She wondered a bit about what exactly Toga’s goal was if not to actually act, but brushed it off. In the end, that wasn’t entirely her business. If he ended up being as weird as the Drama Club saw him then Info-Chan would have provided her with that information. Or maybe “might have” is more accurate.

“I…see.” Ayano nods in understanding. “So, in general?” She asked, turning to Kokona this time for a more fair judgement.

Kokona smiles wrly. “He just, ah… didn’t seem very interested in the first place. I’m sure he could have performed well if he actually wanted to, but he… didn’t.”

Ayano nods. “I see. Thank you for the information.” She says.

“If we were so helpful don’t you think it’s only fair that you help uuus?” Tsuruzo hums, walking behind Ayano and placing his hands on her shoulders.

“...not today. But what do you need help with?” Ayano asks him, taking a step away and turning to face him.

Kokona bounces up next to respond instead. “With setting up the play in a couple of weeks!” She says, peering down at Ayano with an excited smile. “Our leader, Kizana, is coming back to Academi next week, so we want to put in as much work as possible!”

Ayano ponders that and hears Tokuko mutter something like “unfortunately” under her breath. Ayano didn’t particularly care about this Kizana character, but it might do her reputation good if she helps out. Even more so without being in the club. “I’d be happy to help, but like I said I’m pretty occupied today.” She responded.

“Well, whenever you’re ready, we’ll be waiting!” Kokona chirps, waving Ayano goodbye cheerily.

“Toga?” Shin seemed to frown at the thought of him. Well, he was already frowning, but it seemed more so out of disdain than being generally gloomy. “Well, he was… very interested in our studies.” He said, quietly. “He asked a lot of questions, but in the end, um…”

Shin looks around the club briefly, as if trying to collect his thoughts, before Supana spoke up. “He debunked all of our studies with ‘science’, and whatever.” She grumbles, clearly not holding a very fond memory of Toga.

“I recall that Chojo was quite fond of him.” Shin said, moving his tall figure from in front of Ayano to reveal the lankier boy sitting in a chair.

Chojo peeked up from his upside-down book, but immediately looked away from Ayano. He mumbled something that Ayano couldn’t quite here, and after noticing that he spoke up. “He listened to me a lot!” He said, much louder.

“Be quiet!” Supana hissed, making Chojo recoil back into his chair.

“Sorry..” He mumbled.

Shin turns back to Ayano. “Chojo is quite talkative if you’re patient enough. Toga was very patient, and listened to everything that he had to say. Though..” The taller boy paused in thought, but slowly continued, “..I feel like he was looking for something whenever he listened to Chojo. And perhaps that was the same reason he spoke to us and asked us questions so often?”

“I heard something similar.” Ayano said, averting her gaze in thought. She didn’t particularly think that Toga was suspicious or meant any harm. If anything, he just seemed like he sat with a club for a week and left if it wasn’t up to his standards, regardless of how high those standards might be.

“I could be imagining things.” Shin claimed, shaking his head, “He did seem to be a very positive influence on the club. He never bothered listening to rumours and didn’t judge any of us via how we appeared. If anything, he seemed to have joined for knowledge rather that drama, which can be respected.”

Ayano nods, “I think so, too.” She agrees, folding her arms behind her back and taking a step back. “Thank you for the information, I’m going to continue asking around.”

“I hope what we’ve said was helpful to you.” Shin says, bowing his head as Ayano takes her leave.

“I guess he was alright.” Gema shrugged, immediately straightening his back when Ayano came in. “He was interested in every aspect of every game. Hell, he asked me so many questions even I started questioning what I was playing. I didn’t like it!” He sighed, sitting in one of the chairs at the desk. “If a game I’m playing has secret contreversial lore I’d honestly rather ignore it and keep playing. But then Toga had to keep, like, doing background checks on the developers and stuff?”

Mai spoke up. “Toga looked into a favorite developer of mine and learned that he was… well, a freak to be honest. I still play the game, sometimes, but… it doesn’t feel the same anymore.” She sighs, “I’m at least thaknful that he told me the difference of a good and bad developer. I see why so many of my friends hate that game now. It really hasn't grown much in the last… what, ten years?”

“He was suuuuuper smart!” Midori said, cheerily, trotting over to Ayano. “He sorta did that thing that your mom would do! Like, he would watch us play and then point everything that didn’t make sense! Do you remember that?”

Ayano nods. When she was a kid, Midori would bring over her game system and all of her games. She recalled Kuu saying that if she won against Midori than they all would have a book night. That alone probably made Midori better at video games.

“How’s your mom, anyway, Ayano?” Midori asks, but is interrupted by Gema.

“Don’t get distracted, Midori, you still have grinding to do!” He says, sitting her back down. “Anyway, Toga left pretty quickly. He finished all of our games in two days and then left! I guess he didn’t feel like farming XP for me anymore.” Gema shrugs, once again having to straighten his posture, clearly not yet used to standing up straight just yet.

Gema seems to remember something and smiles at Ayano. Quietly, he says, “Thanks again for those tips, Ayano. Musume and I are on, like, talking terms right now! Girls don’t usually talk to me! You know, unless they’re..” He looks at Midori, and then back to Ayano and shrugs, “..a loser.”

“I’m happy to have helped.” Ayano says, “And thank you for the info. Toga will be happy to have heard your opinion. I think.” She says. “I’m going to continue asking around now.”

“Sure, sure. Tell him that if he feels like grinding more XP he’s totally welcome!” Gema calls, although Ayano didn’t think that she would bother telling him that.

“Ayano! We’ve been seeing more of you, haven’t we?” Budo says, thankfully remembering to keep his voice quiet this time. “What can I do for you?”

Ayano pulls her hands in front of herself, intertwining her fingers. “Toga asked me to do a favor for him. He wanted to hear what the club leaders thought of him. Apparently, it will help him decide which one to stay in for good. Or something or other.”

Budo gives a wry smile. “Toga, huh?” He crosses his arms, thinking. “Well, he certainly put in an effort. But.. you know, he’s a pretty thin guy. He only stayed with us for the week and eventually left us for the light music club.”

“Did he do a lot of research on martial arts?” Ayano guesses, causing Budo to smile in surprise.

“How’d you know?” He asks, “I honestly think that Toga just used being in our club as an excuse to do research about martial arts.”

Ayano nods. From what she’s hearing, Toga was just the type to research anything he could.

“He’s a pretty smart guy, though. Some stuff he told me even I didn’t know about.” Budo laughs, “Not that anyone taught me anything. But anyway, if Toga worked out, he could probably properly get into Martial Arts, but I don’t think it’s his strong suit at the moment.”

Ayano nods. “I understand. That’s all I needed.” She bows lightly, “Thank you.”

“Of course!” Budo beams as Ayano moves onto the Light Music Club.

“Oh, he was an absolute riot!” Miyuji says, pumping her fist with a big grin. Her smile immediately falls into something more sheepish as she thinks about it more, though. “Well… his skills were. Despite how absolutely a-MAZ-ing he was with instruments… his skills didn’t exactly match his energy.”

Tilting her head to the side, Ayano asks, “What do you mean by that?” She got the general idea, but maybe Miyuji could provide an example.

“Well..” Miyuji flopped back down on her seat, casual picking at some strings of her guitar. “...he stayed here literally from Monday to Wednesday. We did a performance on Tuesday, and he honestly rocked the whole time! But, during the performance, he was, like… completely still! It’s like he only moved the necessary parts of his body to perform the song well, but didn’t enjoy the song at all!”

Myuji lowers her voice and continues. “Between you and me, he was sort of a drag. He was super serious about everything. Hell, the most expression he showed the whole time he was here was when Kiba let him dissect and fix up her keyboard!”

“Sounds like he preferred learning about the instruments more than playing them.” Ayano says, and Myuji shrugs.

“Maybe. I mean- he was only here for three days. I don’t really have much else to say about him.” She says, looking down to her guitar. “Except that he was pretty good-looking. Would’ve been our hottest member if he let me dye his hair.” She chuckles.

Ayano bows her head briefly. “Got it. Thanks for the information.”

“Anytime! Except next time I’m gonna make you play with us!” Myuji called as Ayano left.

“Hm.” Geiju hummed briefly, turning his head away from Ayano to paint as he thought. “Very inquisitive.”

Ayano folds her hands together in front of her. “So I’ve heard. Were there any pros or cons with working with him?” She asked, realizing that she would probably have to do most of the talking.

“Very smart.” Geiju said, nodding, but then shook his head as he said, “Not active.”

Ayano pauses in thought, slowly putting Geiju’s words together. It would be helpful if he could provide some examples, but Geiju was strictly a two-word-sentence speaker. As if hearing their conversation, Enpitsu walks in and leans on the doorway.

“He was kind of a drag, I won’t lie.” The orange-haired fellow claimed, although him saying something like that wasn’t too surprising when it came to most people. “He said he never painted in his life, but aced every beginner and intermediate-level training on his first day here. And then he left.”

Geiju speaks up, “Studied plenty.”

“Yeah, that too, I guess.” Enpitsu shrugs, “He came to all of the members of the club and studied our individual tastes to the T. But he still left the very next day.”

Ayano looked to Geiju. “Did he happen to join on Thursday?” She asked, to which he nodded to. Maybe he was following a schedule or had some sort of goal? “I see…”

Enpitsu spoke again, “I think he enjoyed painting, and he was really good at it, but when he left, he just said that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay.”

“He might have been testing out each club, then. Most of the other club leaders say the same.” Ayano said before turning to Geiju again. “Thank you for answering.”

Scoffing, Enpitsu mumbles, “To the best of his abilities.”

Geiju didn’t react to Enpitsu’s remark and nodded to Ayano as she exited the room.

“Well, he was definitely a good photographer.” Furredo claims, leaning back in his chair. “He didn’t seem too bothered when he learned that we only really photograph for fun.”

Dafuni smiles sheepishly and comments, “I do think it’s worth mentioning that he didn’t let us see the photos he took.”

Furredo nods, snapping his fingers, “Right, right!” He looks back up to Ayano, “He even brought his own camera. Probably so we wouldn’t have a right to look at the pictures he took.”

“Certainly didn’t help those ‘pervert’ allegations.” Beruma comments. As she does, Rojasu flinches and leans up. He sniffs, looking half-asleep.

“He’s a pervert?” He asks, blinking slowly, before slowly laying his head back on the table.

Furredo chuckles awkwardly and raises his hands to his club. “Let’s not encourage those rumors, you guys. Those are only rumors that really stemmed from nothing. I don’t know why he kept his pictures private, though. He could just be a private guy. Or maybe he was embarrassed.”

“Toga?” Sukubi asked, slipping Rojasu’s bento out of his bag. “He didn’t seem like the embarrassed type. He was super confident and, like, straightforward and stuff.”

Beruma snatches Rojasu’s bento away from Sukubi, but not in agreement. “Right, I think his candid personality shocked people into listening to him.” She says, putting the bento into her own bag for safe keeping. “I say that, of course, because other students hate it when we take pictures of them if it isn’t some happy celebration or event. But they did the opposite for him.”

“So he approached the people he was taking a picture of?” Ayano asked, to which the club agreed to, whether that be a murmured ‘yeah, pretty much’ or a simple nod.

Dafuni giggles, “Maybe you were right about the embarrassed bit, then. Pictures taken face-to-camera probably don’t look too good anyway.”

Rojasu sits up again suddenly with a gasp. “Like that one cat meme!” He said, causing a wave of laughter amongst the group.

Not only was Ayano not a meme person, but she recalls there being several different cat memes. Whatever it was Rojasu was talking about before he went back to sleep was somehow something that the whole club recalled. Or maybe it was completely different, who knows? They didn’t seem like the smartest bunch anyway.

“Well, thank you for the information.” Ayano says, bowing her head politely.

“No need to be so polite, Yan-Chan! Ayano!” Furredo quickly corrects himself and smiles, “Drop by anytime!”

“Oh, Toga! Yes, yes.. Very smart, that one, very smart.” Kaga nods his head. “Or, uh… obedient, at the very least. You don’t meet many people willing to sacrifice their lives for science. I would know. I wouldn’t either. Not when there are other people around!”

Ayano pulls her mouth into a straight line before speaking up. “Right… so, is there anything significant that he did during his time here?”

“Uh, no. Er- yes, maybe. I don’t know, you should ask Homu. Toga seemed incredibly interested in her.” The scientist claimed, walking over and peeking underneath the tarp in the corner of the room before walking back to his usual spot and typing something. “A-As a matter of fact, the two of them seemed incredibly close throughout his time here! Ate lunch together, spoke on the roof, and… whatever friends do, I suppose.”

“He was pretty smart, though.” Horo spoke up, messing with a small device that lit up pictures of random students occassionally. He smacks his teeth, tapping on it with a sigh. “Toga, right? He really did his research. He looked into everyone in the club and helped us with all of our separate projects. If anything, he was just an assistant to everyone.”

Nodding, Ayano joins Horo’s side as he works. “And what about Homu?” She asked, watching as Maka’s picture came up on the hologram device. It stayed there for a moment before Horo finished putting a couple of pieces together and pocketed the device.

“Right, um… I’m pretty sure they spoke the most outside of the clubroom.” Horo lifts a hand to his chin in thought. “I wouldn’t call them friends. I don’t think Homu would consider anyone a friend, but I do know that she talks to people who have something she needs. I think.” Horo shrugs a bit, “In fact, I think that was all. They had some common objective and extracted as much as they could before he left for the next club.”

“Do you know what that objective is?” Ayano asks, but Horo shakes his head.

“I don’t. Homu doesn’t really talk about private stuff to any of us. Or anyone, for that matter. I guess Toga was just something special.” Horo said, “I wouldn’t recommend asking Homu, either. She talks to people less the less she knows them. Meka says she doesn’t even bother responding to people on the street.”

Ayano frowns in thought and steps back. Bowing her head, she says, “Right. Thank you for the information.”

“Sure.” Horo said, waving briefly as Ayano left.

“Didn’t stay here long.” Itachi shook his head. “I won’t say he easily gave up, I just think he easily lost interest.”

Ayano tilts her head to the side, “You say that as if he was looking for something.”

Itachi nods. “If not a reason to stay then something else. That something is probably why he worked out with each of us for a period of time.” He says briefly. “Whatever the reason, he surely won’t be welcomed back if he pulls that ‘losing interest’ bit on me again.”

“What did he talk to you about?” Ayano asks, tailing him as he walked back into the gymnasium to stretch.

“The club leader, past members. And I think how we interact.” Itachi said, pausing between each example to thoroughly stretch his muscles. “Like I said, nothing much.”

Ayano hums quietly in thought. It was just Uekiya and Kuroko that she had left to ask. “Right, thank you.”

Itachi merely hums, running back out of the gymnasium to return to the track.

“Ah, well, he was certainly a great worker!” Uekiya smiles fondly at the memory of Toga. “We really needed a guy like him here. He was sort of the muscle we needed to deal with tougher plants and weeds. Himari couldn’t do all of it herself, haha..” She brushes off a bit of dirt and stands up from her plant to properly face Ayano. “I think the girls just liked having a guy around, hehe.”

Toga seemed to have made an overall positive mark on this club, but that was probably because Ayano only asked Uekiya one question. Anything negative at all she feared would cause rumours to spread. “So you don’t have any complaints? That would be a first.”

Uekiya hesitates, but sheepishly twirls a piece of her hair around between her fingers. “W-Well, uh… He was a great worker whenever I asked, but he and Sakura would usually run off together to go talk about… well… something?” She gasps and quickly says, “Oh! But they aren’t dating! Please, don’t take that out of context. Sakura’s already in a relationship, so she’s not interested in Toga. Plus, it’s been quite a while since the two spoke.”

“I understand, Uekiya.” Ayano nods reassuringly. She didn’t doubt that Sakura wasn’t interested in Toga, as before classed she often blabbed about her boyfriend to her friends. Although they still have yet to meet him.

“Thank goodness..” Uekiya sighs, but smiles again and returns to the topic at hand. “I’m not sure what those two spoke about, but I do know that they went to the Occult Club to grab books sometimes. Toga spoke to all of us individually often, but with Sakura I just assumed they had a similar interest.”

That was strange. Near the end, Ayano’s interests are steered back to the Occult Club. Shin didn’t tell her much except that Toga spoke with Chojo often. “Did she speak with Chojo at all?” Ayano asks.

Uekiya hums, shrugging, “I’m not too sure. I’m sure I’ve seen them talk at some point, but not for any significant reason. Sakura talks to her peers often so it’s not exactly strange to me. Why do you ask?”

“No reason, really. I was just… wondering.” Ayano bows her head briefly. “But thank you for answering my questions.”

Smiling, Uekiya waves cheerfully at Ayano. “Of course! Don’t you worry about it!”

It was 7:49 now. Ayano had wasted all of her time doing the task that Info-Chan had given her, that she’d completely forgotten that the whole reason she might lose Taro is because of Info-Chan’s unreliability. She didn’t even know what Osana was doing right now. Hell, she could’ve decided to confess early and she and Taro could’ve been on their merry way to a honeymoon or something.

As Ayano blindly stormed towards the student council room, Kuroko, who was walking out, suddenly bumped into her and instinctively shoved her back with one hand. “Ah. I apologize, Ayano. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Ayano stiffens up, which she learned was a habit of hers whenever she’s confronted by the Student Council. Or more precisely shoved by them. “..neither was I. Sorry.” She says, taking a generous step back. “I wanted to ask you something, Kuroko.”

Kuroko pulls up her sleeve, looking at the time briefly on a watch Ayano hadn’t noticed she had before. “Alright, we have about ten minutes before we should head to class.” She says, nodding at Ayano as a way of hinting to her to continue.

Ayano folds her hands in front of her, almost subtly copying Kuroko’s movements as she continued. “Toga asked me to go to each club leader and question what their opinions on his performance was during his time there, and I’ve finished that. He also asked me to come to you and ask you the same thing.” She pauses for a second. “You two are in the same class, right? Maybe he wants you to give his opinion on his performance durring class, then?”

“I know what he means.” Kuroko says, nodding briefly. “He often runs errands for me and includes himself in the work I do as the leader of the student council president. He’s a fine worker and has his head in the right place. Even more so than that, he’s a very efficient worker.”

Somewhat like the others, Kuroko pauses in thought. Slowly, she continues. “If he wants criticism, then his only issue is socializing. Or perhaps a better way to word that is… he needs to learn about what the people he interacts with wants. His goal is to finish the objective he’s given, but his swiftness is often misinterpreted as indifference or him having an unfeeling personality.”

Ayano nods. That certainly sounded like Toga. According to the majority of his past club leaders, that was something he struggled with. “So I’ve heard. I’m sure that if he hears that the majority of his peers think that, then he’ll consider acting otherwise.”

“I hope so. I fear he may become disliked simply because of his own habits.” Kuroko agrees, folding her arms back behind her back. “If that’s all, I’d like to continue my routine before classes.”

“Right.” Ayano, for the last time, hopefully, bows her head politely and parts ways with Kuroko.

Ayano couldn’t find where Toga was for a while, and considered just going to classes and forgetting the task for today, but finally found him outside of the faculty room window. When she walked over, he noticed that he was reading a book, and had the famous stray kitten perched on his shoulder. “Ayano.” He looks up to her. “I’m glad you found me.”

“It took some time. What are you doing out here?” Ayano asks, kneeling down next to him. The cat subtly switches from Toga’s left shoulder to his right as Ayano approaches, seemingly avoiding her.

“I like the cat.” Toga said, tilting his head to the right and urging the cat to sit in his lap instead. “He’s very quiet and polite. For a stray, that is.” He shrugs, looking back down to his book. “I take it you’re here because you finished my favor?”

Ayano suddenly remembers that she approached Toga with a polite and girly persona, and decides to smile in order to keep that much efficient. “That’s right! In general, everyone agreed that you were very talented. Albeit…” She puckers her lips in thought and hums, “...a bit distant. Aloof even. But a good listener, if that’s any consolation.”

Toga nods, his eyes raising from his book to the grass in front of him in thought. “Right, I expected that.” He mumbles. Despite his clear-spoken acceptance of that fact, he seemed conflicted now that it was confirmed. “And Kuroko said the same, I’m guessing?”

“That’s right.” Ayano says, noticing that Toga’s expression remained as still as it was previously despite her answer. “She also said that she thinks you’re a very efficient worker…. But, in addition to that, she’s also concerned that the way people percieve you might ruin your relationships in the future if not corrected.”

Humming, Toga nods briefly. He sat and thought for a moment, before sighing and standing up. “Right. I’ve been told all of this before.” The cat hops onto the grass and sits in its signature spot as it looks up to Toga. “I guess it’s just something I still need to work on.” He nodded again, more so telling this to himself than responding to Ayano.

Ayano stands up after him, but pauses when Toga speaks up again. “Perhaps like your expressions.”

“Huh?” Ayano blinks, a bit shocked at the sudden comment.

“You seem to not be very used to showing emotion, so I’ll say this. The more invested you get into a conversation, the more bored your expression looks.” Toga said. He continued when Ayano stayed silent, clearly not knowing how to respond. “I know that because I’ve seen you interact with others in many different ways. You pretty obviously switch from looking uninterested to some… flavor or a personality.”

Ayano presses her lips together and furrows her eyebrows, somehow feeling embarrassed and frustrated that someone pointed her out. “...I see.”

Toga stares at Ayano’s expression for a moment, but smiles. “Regardless of how your face look, I’m happy that there are helpful people like you in school.” He puts a hand on his hip, “Your ability to change how you appear is impressive, but I hope you don’t feel pressured to do so around me after this.” He pats her shoulder and walks past her to get to class.

Despite Toga’s kind words, Ayano only feels herself feeling more irritated. Was it that obvious to everyone? What could she change to make it less so?

God, this day was nothing but stress. After class it will be lunch time, which means it was way closer than needed to the end of the day. To 5:00 PM. To Ayano’s inevitable doom.

Once lunch time hit, Ayano slowly tailed Osana and Raibaru up to the rooftop. Osana was showing off some sort of playlist to Taro, and Raibaru- ever the obsessive friend- was watching, leaving her lunch pleasantly unattended. How is someone so unecessarily strong so sloppy with their food? Well, regardless of the reason, it certainly made Ayano’s job easier.

As Ayano discreetly slipped some of the stomach poison into her, she heard of how Taro seemed to apparently be a fan of whatever the hell Osana had showed him. Ayano steps back quietly, and steps aside to sit on a nearby bench that happened to be empty. She didn’t want to look as if she was doing nothing, as Toga and another student were sitting somewhere nearby. God knows Toga will notice if she’s being suspicious.

Ayano pulls out her phone as she waits for the stomach medicine to set in for Raibaru. At the same time, she coincidentally gets a message from Info-Chan.

Info-Chan: Are you sure this is going to work?

Yan-Chan: Don’t try to make me doubt myself now.

Info-Chan: I’m not ^^

Info-Chan: I’m just making sure you know the risks of what you’re doing.

Yan-Chan: What do you mean?

Info-Chan: Well, for starters, what do you plan to do exactly to elminate her?

Ayano pauses for a moment, realizing that she didn’t bring any sort of weapon with her. God, of course as soon as she forgets something like that Info-Chan has to call her out on it. No matter, Ayano could just drown her. Surely, she’ll be caught off guard by that.

Yan-Chan: Drowning.

Info-Chan: Right, of course.

Info-Chan: So, hypothetically- considering she’s such a strong student- what if she’s able to overpower you? I don’t recall you training your body this week.

Ayano pauses, balling her fists.

Yan-Chan: Can she then?

Info-Chan: I don’t know :)

Info-Chan: I’VE never tried to drown her.

Yan-Chan: Regardless, what good are you as an informant if you don’t KNOW anything?

Info-Chan: No need to be so rude, Yan-Chan :(

Info-Chan: I at least know that Raibaru’s already left.

Ayano stiffens, looking up to find that Raibaru was already on her way to the bathroom. Without another remark, Ayano rushes down to the nearest bathroom. Thankfully, she could hear the evidence that Raibaru was still occupying the stall.

As her heart raced, Ayano quickly walked into the bathroom. But she paused.

“Jeez, Raibaru. What did you eat?” Amise asks, filling up a water bottle, presumably for Raibaru to drink from.

Ayano quickly ducks back out of the bathroom, her heart thumping, but likely for all the wrong reasons. Why was nothing going as planned? Why have all of these days been a failure? Why didn’t she have the strength, the plans, the knowledge to get any of this done? Even with whatever help Info-Chan was giving her, these past couple days have only been a failure for Ayano. What has she accomplished? Socializing??

Ayano turns her head as she hears Raibaru’s voice approaching the bathroom entrance. “I don’t… god… I don’t need your help, Amise.” She hisses, acting unnaturally rude to the girl.

Amise sighs, exiting the bathroom as Raibaru rushes downstairs, likely to go to the nurses office. “Oh, hey, Ayano.” She says, turning and smiling to the girl. “What are you doing out here?” She asks, folding her arms behind her back.

“...” Ayano hesitates, but manages to squeeze out, “...I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“Ah, well.. I was heading to class since I’d finished lunch, and then I saw Raibaru heading to the bathroom looking absolutely terrible!” Amise said, pulling a hand up to her chin with a concerned frown. “She doesn’t really like me that much, so she didn’t tell me what exactly caused such an upset stomach, unfortunately.”

Ayano falls silent again, looking away instead of responding. If she said anything else she might actually end up saying somthing she shouldn’t. Asmise stands there for a second, before smiling and walking off. “Well, enjoy the rest of you lunch!” She said, walking downstairs to her classroom.

Ayano waits to hear Amise’s footsteps get far enough before she pulls out her phone. Rather than texting Info-Chan, she just blankly stares at the blank screen, unsure of what exactly to do.

Ayano went to class, but found herself watching Osana intently afterwards. During cleaning time she stood outside of the door, still just… watching. What was she supposed to do? If she were to get caught or apprehended, it was over for her.

When Osana walked down to put the note in Taro’s locker, Ayano followed her then, too. Her heart beated fast- almost as fast as when she first ran into Taro.

It didn’t matter anymore. Taro would love Ayano regardless. All it took was some threatening, right? Better yet, why not hold Osana hostage, since she was just… so much better than Ayano could be? Right. Right… Not Raibaru or Taro or the student countil or the staff would dare come forward if that were the case, right? Since Osana was so important to everyone.

The running didn’t help Ayano’s beating heart, and she found herself panting and almost feeling lightheaded as she ran up to the base of the hill. Before she could put her�� plan into affect, however, someone suddenly grabbed her by the wrist.

In a poorly chosen split-second decision, Ayano swung the knife at whoever it was, but her wrist was caught.

Amise smiles at her. “Put that away, Ayano. There are people around, you know.” She hissed, her voice colder than the kind expression on her face. Slowly, she urges Ayano to slip the knife back into her pocket. “Now watch.” She says.

Maybe it was because Ayano felt so lightheaded and disoriented, but she stood there. She allowed Amise to grab her shoulders and turn her to the sakura tree. That’s when she noticed something. It wasn’t Osana up there waiting for Taro. It was Osana running up to meet Kyuji. “...huh?”

“I guess maybe you were too anxious to notice, hehe.” Amise chuckles.

Ayano struggles to calm down, but does eventually, and recalls the previous events in her head. No, Osana didn’t put a letter in a locker… she took a letter out of hers. That’s why she was running. Was she not planning on confessing after all? What had happened? “...what..?” Was all Ayano managed to mumble out before Amise continued.

“I’m sorry that Info-Chan was messing with you so much.” Amise hums, folding her arms behind her back. “It was only because I insisted on helping you.” She holds a hand up to Osana and Kyuji, who were certainly having a pleasant conversation. “While you were unfortunately struggling, I was able to get the two together. Or at least make Osana choose between someone who showed no interest in her and someone who did.”

Ayano furrows her eyebrows. Was it that easy? Wait, why did she do that? She knew Info-Chan? Insisted on helping??? “You… you work for Info-Chan?”

Amise makes a slightly offended face. “Meh. I’d call us business partners if we were on good terms, but somewhat.” She replied, shrugging. “I’m sorry again for the trouble. Info-Chan didn’t want your victory simply handed to you, so she insisted on giving you a hard time in exchange.”

“...and… and where’s Taro?” Ayano asks, bunching up her skirt in her hands anxiously.

“On his merry way home. He didn’t recieve a letter for him to stay, after all.” Amise said, putting a hand on her hip with a smile. “But anyway, congratulations, Ayano.”

Amise folds her hands behind her back. “You’ve… eliminated Osana-Chan. Taro is now free for the taking!”

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