Part 1

“Unacceptable!”

The girl stood from her mahogany chair, walking around the wooden desk to further reprimand the boy who’d delivered to her a stack of papers thick with financial information.

“Double over budget with all of it going to frivolities! Where’s the distribution for maintenance? Repairs? Modernizing the school’s classrooms and dormitories!? How have you been balancing this budge? Where have you people gotten the money from?!”

She said all this while waving the stack in front of the boy’s unamused, possibly annoyed, face.

“We’ve always been fine going a little over; why fix something that isn’t broken?”

“It’s all broken, that’s why I’m here in the first place!” exasperated the girl. “This is worse than I thought, I knew this system would be abused.”

“Not even a week in and you’re already talking like you own us, freak; that’s probably why every other council member quit!” Wrinkles appeared around the boy’s face as he barked. “And you know what? I only joined cause it makes my graduation papers look good, but this is straight abuse! I’m going home, I quit.”

The boy stormed out without another word, leaving the pale girl alone with her thoughts.

“‘Straight abuse,’” she scoffed. “Said the person who called me a freak.”

She circled back to her chair and nearly sat back down, but opted instead for staring through the window just behind her. Reaching for her blazer’s breast pocket, she unfolded a cloud white handkerchief— the gold embroidered name inscribed below the trim always got her attention.

“Someone who doesn't care for that……someone like him has to still exist………”

She held it gingerly against her palm before turning around to glare at the door. She was almost certain there was a knock, but it was so faint there was a good chance she imagined it. Tenderly returning the cloth to its rightful place, she opened the door, prepared for another council member, but was greeted with an odd sight.

Directly in front of her was a girl with long, wavy red hair. A lily white hand was frozen in place, just a few inches away from where the door would have been had she not opened it. The strangest part, however, was how hard she stared at the floor tile— like she was having a staring contest with it. She wasn’t hyperventilating, per se, but if she truly was having a contest, then the breakneck pace of her breathing made it clear she was losing.

“Are you……alright?”

The girl lifted her head at a speed that made her neck muscles uncomfortable. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sounds came out; she held that position for quite some time before furiously rummaging through the bag at her side until finding, and removing, a dark metal object.

“A camera?”

The girl vigorously nodded her head, pointing to the camera’s screen while gesturing inside the room.

“You want to come inside?”

The girl answered with a firm nod.

“O…kay, come on in.”

The girl gave an awkward bow before hesitantly stepping into the room, though her pace would’ve made a sloth jealous. Reaching the mahogany centerpiece, she stood by a small wooden chair, across from the pale girl, who’d filed away an intimidatingly thick stack of papers.

The light from the window allowed the pale girl to see the redhead’s features better— freckles dotted the bridge of her nose and cheeks; her eyebrows were thick, expressing the discomfort she clearly felt. In fact, she was examining the room around her with a sense of wonder and tentative awe. It was doubtful she missed anything, since the girl wore glasses that had red trim around them, except at the very top of the lens.

“So, I imagine you have something to show me?”

At this point, she expected the hesitation; the girl clicked the camera a few times while stretching her face into a grimace. In an odd twist, the girl straightened her posture, finding a kind of resolve after viewing whatever was in her camera. Flipping it around, she stretched her arm to offer the image.

And the pale girl smiled.

The image in the camera was as clear as day. A girl, whose night black hair held a distinctive blue ribbon, confronted three delinquents who seemed to be bullying a blonde student beneath a balcony. And there, overlooking the scene from three stories above ground, was a girl with an indifferent expression, whose long white hair, ivory skin, and pale amethyst eyes resembled something from a childhood story book.

“Ara,” she said, playfully putting a guilty hand to her bowtie. “Who’d have thought someone would be observing the observer. I must admit, I never saw the blonde boy being assaulted so violently, but that’s natural given the balcony underneath me.”

She returned the camera to its rightful owner, placing both elbows on the desk while gesturing for the still-standing girl to take a seat.

Which, of course, she did with hesitation.

“I see you’re also a first year— may I ask your name?”

The redhead shuffled awkwardly in her seat, leading to a prolonged silence so clear one could hear a heart’s rhythmic beating from across the room. It wasn’t until the girl’s eyelids opened in realization that her expression changed from anxious stalling, to more desperate rummaging.

A few seconds later, she was typing away at the keypad on her phone with speeds that would’ve impressed a seasoned social butterfly. She turned the device around, bold text popping out due to it’s print size.

「My name is Terra Innes, but is it okay if you call me ‘Hana’ instead?」

“Hana? Like ‘flower’?” She blinked back her confusion as she accommodated her tone. “Well, if that’s what you prefer. Now then, Hana, would you mind answering another question for me?”

The girl gave a small nod.

“What were you doing photographing the students? Surely you noticed the cameras around the buildings— why bother?”

Hana began tapping on the hardwood floor with nervous rhythm. She opened her mouth, closed it, eyed the room, and shuffled through her camera before finally deciding on staring at the phone beneath her.

「Will I get in trouble?」

She hesitantly showed the text before the girl sighed and reclined in her chair.

“If anything, those delinquents should be the ones getting expelled. And to answer your question, no. Even if it borders on violating school rules, I see no reason as to why you should get in trouble. Regardless, you have my word as council president.”

Her eyes flickered from the president, to her phone before finally showing her the text on the tiny screen.

「That camera was a fake.」

The girl’s pale crystal eyes went wide.

“How…do you know that?”

Hana became skittish seeing the president’s reaction, in fact, her breathing was becoming much faster compared to when she was about to open the door.

“H-Hey, calm down!” she said, waving her hands. “You’re not in any kind of trouble, seriously! I just…I didn’t even know it was possible to tell a real one from a fake, let alone when it comes to a security camera.”

The words seemed to soothe her skittish dance, but the adrenaline from the scare now coursed through her fingers. Like a machine, she typed a response within seconds.

「It was mostly the wire that gave it away…but I’ve spent a long time using cameras, that’s how I could tell.」

“‘A long time,’ huh? Even so, why take the picture?”

It was a simple question, the answer to which she’d already begun typing— but for some reason her fingers stopped, and her trembling returned.

“I would’ve been more worried about the girl,” sighed the president, recognizing the situation wasn’t going to go anywhere. “Honestly, young people are so reckless.”

「President………couldn’t you…….have stopped the situation?」

She stared at the screen with unmoving eyes before *fuah* exhaling.

“I couldn’t have stopped it from three stories above ground. Besides, those delinquents are the type to get their scholarship rescinded early, especially if I choose to testify against them.”

「You……won’t?」

“Sorry, I know that’s what you came here for, but I have more important things to worry about than some punks who’ll get caught sooner rather than later.”

「But then…why were you on the roof?」

“……even though you don’t talk much, you ask a lot of questions.”

「…sorry……」

The girl returned her sight down to the hardwood below, to which the president sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Don’t be,” she breathed. “Forgive me, that was rude. I’m actually grateful you told me about the camera, now I know that things are worse than I imagined.”

With solemn movements, her hand was no longer positioned over her nose, rather it slid down until it covered the entirety of her mouth. She stared at the wooden floor beneath the bookshelf, unaware of how long she stayed that way. It was only when text on a screen slid into her view that she broke from her train of thought.

「Are……you alright?」

Part 2

“On the first day, papa! The first day— absent at a school designed specifically to help them with their future! That’s not to mention some other students showing up late, and that the council consistently goes over budget; they don’t care about the future otherwise they’d properly distribute! I guarantee they spend the budget on themselves, can you think of anything more selfish?!”

“Now little rabbit, I—”

“None of them care about the future papa, theirs or others’! They’re only thinking of right now, all while taking advantage of what you built!”

“Little rabbit—”

“Yet— and yet— they still have the audacity to call us the greedy ones!?”

“Fuyumi!”

She stopped her pacing when her father called her name. Recomposing herself, she shifted the phone to her other ear.

“Sorry papa…”

She heard a deep, gruff sigh from the other end of the line. “It’s okay, but Fuyumi please remember that you must learn restraint. I hope no one heard you.”

“Of course not, I’m on the roof. I’m not careless, you know.”

“I know. You’re mother and I raised you, after all.”

Fuyumi leaned against the wall, letting the weight under her legs pull her down until she was sitting on the concrete.

“Speaking of, did you put on your sunscreen? You know you sunburn easily.”

“Papa,” bemoaned the girl.

“Sorry…old habits.”

“It’s okay. Sorry for yelling, I just get frustrated with them; they curse you as the bad guy while using something you built to help them.”

“Hahaha,” howled the hardy voice. “Ideals will always be attacked, little rabbit. Remember that, and you’ll always know the right thing to do.”

“Papa, adages have never helped anyone.”

“Nepotism, or rather cronyism, isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Fuyumi.”

“……huh?”

“Take out your handkerchief.”

She did as she was instructed, careful not to dirty the snow white fabric.

“Where are you going with this?”

“I have a feeling that you’ll find that ‘adages’ aren’t as useless as you think. I hope you’ll be able to meet.”

“Papa, I don’t have the faintest clue as to what you’re—”

“—tea’s ready!” she heard another distant voice call on the line. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Tell mama I said hello.”

“Will do. Take care of yourself, we’ll talk to you soon.”

“Love you papa.”

“Love you too, little rabbit.”

The faint click of the phone let her know she was alone, all over again. She stared up at the sky, figuring that somewhere in the clouds there must be an answer as to what she should do about the school, as well as her role as president.

“Excuse me.”

She heard a distant call, but ignored it. Soon, more and more voices pitched in until a rather distasteful scream softly reached her ears. She sighed.

“If I don’t look into the little things, I won’t be fit to look into the big ones.”

Walking towards the right side of the concrete wall, it was easy for her to prop herself up against it. Most schools had some sort of fencing around the roof, but since the area is off limits to students in the first place, one was never installed. She leaned against the concrete, taking in the picture of a girl standing over the spasming body of a boy with a foul look about him.

“What is she thinking, starting a fight like that?”

For the briefest moment, Fuyumi panicked for the girl, but her composure returned just as quickly.

“She seems completely calm……fuahh,” she sighed. “She basically crippled a student, she’ll be fine.”

She couldn’t help but feel a little bit of guilt in her stomach turning around, but it wasn’t her problem to resolve.

She touched the handkerchief in her pocket.

“It’s not…mine.”