He hated being in the Student Council Room so early in the morning.

Sure, the place was comfortable and air-conditioned and all, but the stack of paperwork that greeted him there every day made the pros stand out a lot less.

It was like working in an office, except he didn't get paid and there wasn't much he could gain from his role except for credit. He had no idea what he was doing, and most of the other members of the council refused to do his paperwork.

Because he had resigned himself to his fate, he was shivering inside with the air-conditioner on at full blast—because the remote had broken when he had tried to lower the temperature—and trying to concentrate on the sheets of paper in front of him when his eyes threatened to close.

Haruki was miserable. There was still an hour before school began, and he could have been using the time to sleep.

The other members of the student council wouldn't come this early. Maybe Kawarau would, since he and Carin came to school at ungodly hours to practice, but the rest would only come to collect their paperwork a few minutes before class started.

He sighed and turned back to his work.

He hadn't even finished his homework yet.

—

"Oh, good morning, Evi."

Jhorna shot her classmate a warm smile as she took a seat. "You seem rather tired. Is everything alright with you?"

The other girl sighed, trying to fix her messy braid somewhat before giving up on the notion. "I just stayed up late finishing the debut song for my unit. Honestly, there's a lot of mistakes, and I'm not even sure if the choreography and lyrics are ready yet, but I can't give any more shits."

"Well, it's good that you're working on something." Jhorna smiled. "You're with the Student Council President, right? Is he in charge of doing everything else?"

"He's doing the choreography," Evi confirmed, before turning to glare at the plum-haired girl two rows left. "We don't have anyone to do the costumes, though, and someone said she would do the lyrics."

Seiun seemed blissfully oblivious of the conversation they were having, and she continued to focus on her laptop screen, the brightness only high enough for her to know what she was typing.

"You and Haruki seem to get along, at least." Jhorna turned her gaze to the window as she spoke. "At least you have enough people to form a unit. I haven't been able to persuade anyone to form one with me, so I can't participate in lives."

Evi blinked. "Wait, really? You seem like the type to be popular."

"Thanks?" She responded with an awkward smile. "I mean, I'm friends with a lot of the second-years here, but I'm not close enough for any of them to want to join. Besides, I don't want to join a unit—I'm not keen on some of the concepts."

"You're really friendly, though!" Her friend stretched, as if the conversation had eased her out of her exhaustion. "And you're responsible, so I'm sure you'll find someone!"

Jhorna smiled at that. "Thanks again. Good luck for your unit too—I'm sure you'll both do well."

The bell rung after that, and they both turned back to the board with smiles on their faces.

—

"Mm. Kazura, is that you?"

The third-year peered into the Student Council Room—well, technically, only Haruki used it since the rest of them had their own offices—and saw the student trying to sleep on top of a stack of paperwork that he hadn't filled out yet.

"Yep!" He made his way to the opposite side of the desk, peering at the President's collapsed form as he spoke. "Wake up, Haruharu! You'll never get your work done if you sleep now! Sleeping is for the night, OK?"

"Yet you never agree to do my paperwork," Haruki grumbled sadly, raising his head with great reluctance and facing the vice-president. "There are so many things to take care of..."

Kazura attempted to pat his fellow third-year's head out of sympathy, but it only resulted in his hand being slapped away. "There's no helping it. You know there's bound to be a lot of things to fill in when school starts. The whole student council is busy."

"I have so many regrets," the shorter boy complained. "In the first place, what are you doing here?

"Oh! Right." Kazura took a moment to recall why he'd strolled in. "I've filled in the paperwork and authorised all the new units that applied. I just came here to submit them."

Haruki glanced at the papers in the vice-president's arms before using his magic to float them over to his desk. "I'll take a look at them when I have time. Do you have anything else to do or are you free enough to help me take care of more things?"

"Well..." The boy thought for a few seconds. "I don't have unit practice today, and it looks like you won't be able to finish everything before it gets dark, so I can help with some of your stuff."

He looked through Haruki's share of the paperwork and grabbed a portion of it, frowning when he thumbed through it and saw one of the suggestion forms that hardly anyone even used. "Did someone actually submit a suggestion to install tea dispensers in the school? I wonder who that is."

"It's not a bad idea," the President hummed. "Tea is pretty healthy and it could help to calm the students in the middle of stressful periods and all..."

"It almost seems like you submitted that idea, Haruharu." Kazura let out a laugh. "I'll take care of these by tomorrow, then. See you!"

With that, the room was empty again, and Haruki picked up his pen again.

If he was lucky, he could finish in the next two hours. If he felt motivated enough, perhaps he would even have time to start on the choreography that Evi had been pestering him for.

The second-year had sent him the instrumental and the basic melody at two a.m, and he was starting to question her sleep schedule, but it wasn't like he could argue much without sounding like a hypocrite. He just felt tired all the time.

He wrote down a quick reminder to work on the dance and search for someone to help them with costumes before turning back to his work.

—

"So you're not interested after all...?" Haruki walked into the room just as Trevor was taking a call. "I guess I can't force you, then. Thanks for calling."

The treasurer hung up and turned to face the President, greeting him with a sheepish nod and a small smile. "Hey, Haruki. Is there anything you need from me?"

"Just forgot to pick up a few of the forms," he replied, flipping through the neat stack on the boy's table until he found what he was looking for. "Who were you calling? It sounded like it was about your unit. Milky Way, wasn't it?"

"It technically is Milky Way, but I'm the only one in it so far." Trevor looked disappointed at the prospect. "I messaged some second years I knew, but none of them want to join."

Haruki grabbed a chocolate bar from the snacks the other student had bought earlier in the day. "I know how that feels. It sucks."

"I know, right?" Trevor glanced at his phone once again, as if hoping for a more positive reply than the last. "Perhaps I should try asking some first years or something. The second-years are more established, after all; they wouldn't join some rookie unit."

Kawarau looked up from the next desk. "Aren't there some unitless second-years too, though? I know Jhorna and Seiun from the other second-year class don't have a unit."

"Jhorna seems to want to start her own unit," Trevor muttered. "Seiun was the one who turned me down just now. I'd thought she would at least consider it, since Milky Way's theme was similar to that of her old unit, but..."

"Ah, my unitmate talks to her during club meetings," the second-year said. "She liked her old unit for a different reason."

"Is that so? Well, maybe I'll have to message Jhorna and hope that both of us can agree on a new theme," he sighed.

"Second-years are hard to figure out," Haruki mumbled, and Trevor made a quiet noise of agreement. "They all of some amount of potential, but none of them wants to join our units. Is there something wrong with the student council?"

Kawarau tilted his head. "Well, me and Kazura have units, but they're either with our classmates or with first-years."

"I knew it." Haruki floated the empty chocolate wrapper to the nearby bin. "Second-years hate us."

"Isn't Evi in your unit, though?"

The President sighed. "Evi is a gift sent from Heaven; she joins anything she finds fun."

Trevor smiled and finished the message he had been typing. "I guess I'll ask Jhorna. I was in art club with her last year, so it's not like I'm asking a complete stranger."

"Good luck." Haruki blinked as he snatched another piece of candy. "I guess I should go back to the room."

—

"Hey, I got a message from Trevor."

Jhorna held up her phone with one hand while the other continued to paint, and the two people next to her leant over to see it.

"I just turned him down," Seiun yawned, giving up on the sketch next to her as she opened up her laptop. "He's been going around asking practically every second-year to join his unit. Interesting, but he hasn't gotten anyone yet."

"It seems our ideas are pretty different, but maybe we could come to some sort of agreement if we tried." Jhorna frowned as she typed out a message. "I could meet him during recess tomorrow; that's the only day the second and third years have the same break time. And Seiun, this is art club."

The taller girl ignored her warning. "I have things I need to do."

"I mean, you did participate last time, so I guess I'll let you slide for now." Jhorna watched as the girl plugged in her earphones. "What are you doing? Is that poetry?"

"It's the lyrics for Evi's unit." Seiun's voice was absentminded. "Since the music is finished, I need to submit my part in time for them to actually practice."

"Let me see..." The girl peered over at her screen. "Woah, that's unexpectedly deep. Would that be alright for a debut song?"

Her friend shrugged. "I have no idea what their theme is, so I'm just writing down whatever vibes I get from the song. If it doesn't fit them, then too bad. It's not my unit."

"Concrete," Carin hummed. "Earth. Construction. Creation. I've gotten inspiration for a poem..."

Seiun glanced at him. "You're on to something. How about collaborating and submitting something to the Literature Club's newsletter?"

"How air-headed can the both of you be?" Jhorna asked. "Honestly, both of you are better suited for the Literature Club."

"Writing is art too," the girl answered. "Ooh, that could make a good poem too. I'll have to write that down before I forget."

Carin nodded in agreement, and the other second-year was about to reply when the door to their clubroom burst open.

"Sorry I'm late!" The boy exclaimed—from the colour of his tie, it looked like he was a first-year—and he registered the situation only after he'd spoken. "Wait, this isn't the shooting grounds."

"No, this is the Art Club's room." Jhorna blinked in confusion. "The shooting grounds are downstairs, so you must have gotten lost."

The student bowed his head in embarrassment. "Thanks for the directions, and sorry for interrupting you! While I'm here, is any one of you looking for a unit to join? I'd really love it if even one person agreed to join me!"

Next to her, she could see Seiun visibly slump and turn back to writing without a word.

"One of us has a unit already," Jhorna pointed out, gesturing to Carin as she spoke. The second-year waved and offered his junior a smile. "I'm starting one on my own, and the other one here isn't interested in joining units at the moment."

"Thanks anyway," the boy responded, before he perked up again. "Hey, I saw you before! You were in that unit last year, weren't you? I came to watch your live in the Dream Tournament!"

"What?" Seiun tilted her head. "Thanks, I guess? You're that first-year who broke a pistol on his first day of shooting, right?"

The red-haired boy rubbed his head sheepishly. "Yep! I'm Hayato from Class 1-A!"

"It's been nice to talk with you, Hayato." Jhorna tried to compensate for her classmate's tactless reply. "I hope you find someone soon. Shouldn't you get to your club practice before the captain comes and find you, though?"

Hayato yelped at that fact. "Shoot, I forgot! I'm off, then!"

The door slammed shut again, and Jhorna glanced at the girl next to her. "That wasn't very nice of you. Is this how you introduce yourself to everyone?"

"Huh?" The second-year doodled a panda on the corner of her paper. "I didn't know I was being mean. Sorry about that, I guess. I'll try to be more, er, polite next time or something."

"It's fine," the black-haired girl reassured. "Besides, you shouldn't be apologising to me. And before you ruin your sketch, how many pandas are you drawing?"

Seiun only replied by adding another panda to the growing mass.

—

i used spin the wheel to decide who would appear this chapter but then it didn't hit 2k words so i slapped in art club

but here are the results of the two polls!! please don't be mad if your character didn't win; it probably means i haven't done them properly or fleshed them out enough lol

[first half]

1. Aerien (7 votes)

2. Seiun (5 votes)

3. Evi/Haruki (4 votes)

[second half]

1. Kazura (5 votes)

2. Trevor/Sou (4 votes)

3. Hayato/Carin (2 votes)

congrats to those people whose characters won! and now to explain what they were for oof

since aerien and kazura won the two polls, i'll be drawing cards for them!! to those people who didn't win--it's alright because i plan for everyone to get at least 1 card lol

also, there's a poll with all the characters now! please vote for your favourite character, the top 2 will get something special ~ (link in comments)

also. someone save the student council.

(they were chosen with spin the wheel)