(Riku POV)
***
Excitement.
That was the only feeling coursing through me at this moment.
With how much I had prepared, I couldn't wait for classes to finish so that I'd be able to head over to the Student Council for the supervised study.
I even skipped out on the shitty awards ceremony so that I could iron out any mistakes in my plan and familiarize myself with the techniques I had researched.
There was no merit in my going to the Assembly Hall just to be the butt-end of the humiliating stares that would surely have come my way because of my failed marks.
Of course, I got into trouble because of that.
"Kazama! Why weren't you at the ceremony?" Kahawara Sensei yelled after roll-call.
His pig-like eyes made me feel like puking, but I held it in, like the champion I am.
"I'm sorry, I overslept."
"Overslept? Or was it because you were ashamed of yourself?"
My brows furrowed in obvious anger, enraged at his unfair accusation.
No matter how accurate it was, he couldn't just say that in front of the entire class, could he?
".....No, I just overslept," I replied with clenched teeth.
"Hmph, I'll mark you down for it."
If it was before, I'd have punched him already, but now I had to be careful with how I conduct myself.
One impulsive action, and my favorabilities would crash even further.
Two of them were already in the negatives, and I couldn't afford to be myself anymore.
'Spice, bring up my status screen.'
[DING]
Name: Kazama Riku
Age: 16
Height: 169 cm
[Favorability Panel]
• Sakuraba Hina: 10
• Yuzuki Haruna: -19 (+2)
• Fujikawa Noa: -3 (+6)
[Status: Incompetent Jerk]
***
'.....Huh?'
The numbers had changed a little, but I wasn't sure why.
'Could it be that my charm has an automatic favorability recovery function??'
The more I thought about it, the more plausible it felt, and that made me feel a little better about the hurtful comment from Spice at the end.
[DING]
[Humans generally tend to move on and live their lives]
[It is more likely that they simply aren't thinking about you]
'.....Can you not be a fucking spoilsport?' I hissed internally.
[I value reality, Host]
"Fuck!"
".....Kazama! What's wrong with you!?"
I snapped out of my daze and looked up with bewilderment, only to see everyone staring at me, and Sensei frowning with a furious face.
".....Did I say that out loud?" I mumbled.
"That's another mark on your record," Kahawara Sensei sneered, writing down something in his file.
"....Ugh."
***
*DING-A-LING-RIIIIING*
The bell finally rang, freeing me from this hellhole and opening the doors to paradise.
I shoved my books into my bag, not caring about the fact that they were crumpled up due to the rough handling, and swung my bag over my shoulder.
Normally, I'd talk with Hina or chat with my other friends, but the only thing on my mind right now was completing that Quest and receiving my glorious rewards.
I raced to the door, a wide smile on my face.
But I was yanked back like a dog on a leash.
"ACK!!"
"What hell, dude? You forgot about your bestie-westie?"
I rubbed my aching shoulders and glared at Tooro, just now remembering that he'd be joining me at the supervised study.
"You almost killed me! Why would you grab me by the bag like that?"
"What else was I supposed to do?" Tooro sniffled, with zero visible tears. "My dearest friend was going to abandon me and go all by himself, wouldn't that make me a despairing, lonely little boy?"
I rolled my eyes and kicked his shin.
"Stop with this bullshit act, let's go. We can't be late on the first day. Who knows, they might increase our 'sentence' otherwise!"
Tooro chuckled and threw his arm over my shoulder.
"This is the first time I've ever seen you so excited about studying. What's gotten into you?" he asked.
"Nothing, I just want to improve my grades."
"...Now it's your turn to cut the bullshit, tell me the real reason."
"Seriously! I'm not lying!" I defended myself with a righteous snort.
"Hmm.....Ohhhhhh! Ahaaaaaa! I get it now!"
".....What?"
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at Tooro's smug face.
"You have the hots for the President! There's no other explanation, not when I factor in how horny you always are!" he declared, grinning with an upturned chin.
"Sh-Shut it! It's not that at all!" I stammered.
"Haha, it's impossible to lie to someone who helped change your diapers!"
"What the fuck are you talking about? We're the same age, so you were a baby back then as well!"
"Don't you remember last week? Who helped you fix your.....accident?"
"THAT WAS MUD!!" I roared.
"Sure, sure."
We bickered back and forth on the way to the Student Council, and eventually arrived in front of the large set of doors.
Then we spent a minute outside, discussing whether or not we should knock, but eventually decided to just open it and go in.
Since there were many offices inside, knocking on the main doors might not even be heard by anyone.
"U-Um Hello? We're here for the supervised study!" I called out once we entered.
On our left, a door opened, and a girl stepped out, whom we recognized to be the same student who'd guided us to the Council last week.
"You guys are pretty late," she said with dissatisfaction.
"It's his fault!" Tooro exclaimed, pointing at me. "He wanted to go to the washroom!"
"What the fu-! He's lying!"
"I don't care. Just go to the President's office and knock. She'll brief you on what you need to do," the Council member replied, shooing us away before stepping back into the room she came from.
When she left, I smacked the back of Tooro's head.
"Ow!"
"Dumbass!"
I knocked on the President's door while he rubbed his head with an aggrieved look, and we got a response a few seconds later.
"Come in."
I took a deep breath in, and entered the office.
'This is it, big guy. You got this!'
The beautiful and ice-cold President was sitting behind her desk, rummaging through a few stacks of paper and making some adjustments.
She paused when we entered, looking up with those deep purple eyes that made her seem somewhat unreachable, like an angel looking down on the masses.
But with Spice, I'd join her in heaven sooner or later.
"You're 5 minutes late. Since this is the first day, I'll let it slide. But for every day you're late from now on, it'll be an additional day of supervised study, is that clear?" she spoke, her voice stern but still pleasing to the ear.
"Y-Yes Ma'am!" Tooro stuttered, losing his previous cockiness in her presence like a dweeb.
"Cr-Crystal clear!" I added.
The President nodded and pointed to the corner, where there were two new desks a fair distance away from each other.
"You'll be studying there from now on. I've compiled a list of tests after referring with your teachers, which you'll have to take once every two weeks. The first set of tests will cover half of the topics you were asked to study for the midterms, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Each of you, take this study guide and start going over your textbooks right away. You're free to choose whichever subject you want to start with."
She handed a set of papers to both of us, which seemed quite hefty at first glance. Just shuffling through it made me quite impressed at how thorough it seemed.
"Go sit down and start studying," she ordered, and we shuffled to the desks with a sigh.
The part I was excited about was the Quest and hanging out with the President, not studying, so this was still a pain in the ass.
At the very least, we're going to be supervised by her personally, and not some other member or teacher.
'That would've been awful.....'
I pretended to rifle through the guide, calling up Spice instead.
'Spice, show me the quest details again.'
[DING]
[Mandatory Quest: The Accused President]
[Detail: Fujikawa Noa will encounter a problematic situation next week]
[Goal: Prevent or Solve her predicament]
[Reward: +2 Charm, +2 Physique, ???]
[Punishment: ???]
***
After drooling over the rewards for a minute, I refocused on the other details.
But like before, I was disappointed at the lack of information.
I didn't know when it was going to happen, how it would start, or who was behind it, so it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
If not for the plan I had drafted beforehand, I wouldn't know where to start.
I took out the book where my plan was written and looked at the first step.
'The Unfailable Plan to Completing The Quest!!'
Step 1: Infiltrate the Student Council like a Super Spy
Step 2: Detect Suspicious individuals around the Ice Queen
Step 3: Ask the Ice Queen if she has offended anyone lately
Ste....
***
'Hmmm.'
The first step was complete, and rather easily, I must say.
As for the second step, I had three individuals in mind.
First was the Vice-President.
He was quite mean to me, and since the President defended me from his harsh words, maybe he held a grudge.
The second was the female student who guided us here.
For no real reason. It's just because she seemed a little haughty.
Maybe she's jealous of the President's beauty?
But the third person was my biggest suspect.
Yagami Reiji.
Setting aside my differences with him and his snarky face, I heard he was sent to the office after Kahawara Sensei accused him of cheating.
Somehow, he managed to escape punishment, but that's exactly what makes him the main suspect.
He can get revenge on the President for being accused, while also using this as a distraction from his cheating being discovered.
'Yes...It has to be him.'
Just as I was planning on executing Step 3 and asking the President about him, there was a knock on the door.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
"Come in," the President said.
A man stepped into the room, with slicked back hair, rectangular glasses, and a firm stance. His dark eyes scanned the room, stopping briefly on us before moving on with a trace of disdain.
The Vice-President, Tadano Itsuki, entered the President's Office.
***
A/N
Tooro's image is now available for free; you know where to look.