Chapter 387: Student Council x Memorial Ceremony √
Inside the Student Council room.
Many people had come today, only one person was missing.
"Kaguya-san hasn't come to school for several days now." Fujiwara Chika frowned as she sipped the coffee brewed by Sakurai, "If Kaguya-san doesn't come back, I'll have to keep drinking this bitter coffee, I'll die."
"Sorry, I guess the coffee doesn't really suit your taste." Sakurai Saki held the cup and poured her a second one.
As for Shinomiya Kaguya's safety, there was no need to worry for now — he had already arranged someone to protect her.
"It's not terrible… just not good."
A classic throwaway comment.
"There's sugar here, add a lot and it'll taste better."
After handing it to her, Sakurai brought another cup of coffee to Shirogane Miyuki.
Come to think of it, these coffee beans were actually brought by Shinomiya Kaguya.
"Thanks."
Shirogane Miyuki was reviewing documents as he accepted the cup.
"Shinomiya-senpai's been on leave for so long… is something wrong? She said yesterday that she was at the Shinomiya main house, but isn't that basically being detained? Illegal detention is a criminal offense!" Iino Miko was flipping through documents related to the disciplinary committee, but her mind wasn't focused on that at all.
When someone you're always around suddenly disappears, it's hard not to worry.
Especially since recently, news about the Shinomiya and Shijo families had been appearing on TV all the time.
"If something really did happen, we couldn't interfere anyway. What, are we supposed to rush to Kyoto to rescue her?" Ishigami Yuu sighed as he spoke, "We're just high school students, even anime wouldn't dare write a plot like that. If a story had students fighting against a financial conglomerate, that work would definitely be trash!"
In summary, what he meant was: wait and hope.
That was also the best approach for now.
"Everyone…" Fujiwara Chika looked around and saw that all the members were silent.
Only Sakurai Saki was still drinking his coffee.
'Saki-kun looks calm on the outside, but he must be really worried inside, right? Normally he and Kaguya-san are quite close…'
What could he be thinking right now?
'Should I let the Shijo family die, or the Shinomiya family die? Or maybe make it a gacha…?' Sakurai was thinking about how to balance the power between both sides.
Listen, Shinomiya Kaguya and he had quite a good relationship.
But Shijo Maki was also someone very close to him!
How was he supposed to decide what was the "right" thing to do here?
Fujiwara Chika lowered her head — even someone as lively as her couldn't help but feel gloomy at this moment.
"Everyone, do you want to play a game?"
"Shinomiya-senpai isn't here. Let's just skip it." Ishigami Yuu, though he often called Shinomiya Kaguya a devil and all that, actually respected her deeply inside.
Playing games while Kaguya was losing her freedom? He couldn't bring himself to do that.
"Let's play Joker Draw."
Sakurai Saki, on the other hand, could.
"Saki-kun…" Fujiwara Chika looked at his expression, thinking he had already given up on thinking about the situation.
It made sense. No matter what the Student Council members did, they couldn't possibly rescue Kaguya.
"Umu, let's play."
Fujiwara Chika rubbed her reddened eyes, sniffled, and took out the deck of cards.
'Kaguya-san, I'm sorry. We're truly powerless.'
After all, this was the Shinomiya family we're talking about.
The Shinomiya clan — the very heart of the entire country — wasn't something a group of high school students could go up against.
A few minutes later, as Fujiwara Chika's face gained yet another turtle doodle marking her loss, Shirogane Miyuki spoke to comfort everyone:
"Let's not worry too much, everyone. Shinomiya can still make phone calls right now, so she probably hasn't been treated as badly as being imprisoned or anything."
Listening to everyone's conversation just now, an outsider might think that Shinomiya Kaguya had already become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
But things weren't that serious.
"The Shinomiya family, huh. I've heard my dad talk about them before. Back when they were just starting out, quite a few concrete barrels at the bottom of Tokyo Bay were dropped there by them. Recently, a lot of scandals about them have surfaced online too. When a wall collapses, everyone pushes it — those dirty rumors are all over anonymous forums, even normal social media. Imprisoning their own daughter — maybe they haven't done it yet, but that doesn't mean they won't tomorrow."
Ishigami Yuu maintained a pessimistic attitude.
"Shinomiya-senpai is the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, it shouldn't come to that, right? Shirogane-senpai has a point — Shinomiya-senpai will probably be back in a few days."
Iino Miko held an optimistic view.
"Chika, you lost again."
"Uwu~ Don't draw on my face!!"
Fujiwara Chika and Sakurai Saki were still playing Joker Draw.
Sakurai Saki didn't take any of this to heart at all.
Fujiwara Chika, feeling powerless, decided to just let things be.
"Iino, do you even believe what you just said?"
Ishigami Yuu sighed.
A feudal-style family like the Shinomiyas — imprisoning their daughter to protect their own weaknesses was as easy as turning over a hand.
"That's right." Iino Miko put her pen down and didn't argue with him: "As the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, if something happens to Shinomiya-senpai, it will definitely affect the family's balance of power. In a situation like this, for the main family to call her back — or even detain her to prevent her from acting on her own — is quite a normal measure."
"That kind of approach could actually be seen as a form of protection." Shirogane Miyuki also added a line.
"Hehe, I won~ I'm gonna draw a turtle on your face!"
Fujiwara Chika grabbed the black marker, raising her sinful little hand.
"Fujiwara-senpai, we're having a serious conversation here, can you please be quiet for a bit?" Ishigami Yuu suddenly snapped at her.
Goddammit, you've been playing Joker Draw this whole time, not caring about Shinomiya-senpai at all — and now you're being this noisy? You afraid we won't hear you or what!?
"I…"
Being spoken to like that, Fujiwara Chika's eyes moistened again, and she said in frustration: "I also want Kaguya-san to come to school! But we're high school students — what can we possibly do!?"
"The person I like the most is Kaguya-san, do you think I can be happy!?"
"..."
Ishigami Yuu clenched his fists.
A few seconds later he helplessly let go.
That's right, even if they gathered all the students in the school it might not help.
What's the point of saying more?
Can they rescue Shinomiya-senpai?
The answer, of course, was no.
"Don't worry. This isn't as bad as you all think." Sakurai Saki reassured them.
Keep going like this.
The Student Council would just turn into a memorial for Kaguya's loss.
He really couldn't help but want to laugh.
But still, what is Kaguya doing now?
...
Kyoto.
The Shinomiya main house, in the small residence belonging to Kaguya.
Shinomiya Kaguya was taking selfies with her phone.
"This seems like that special-effect photo app that secretary Fujiwara used last time…"
In the frame, a pair of cat ears appeared on her head.
Looks pretty cute, actually.
"I can't go outside, how boring."
Shinomiya Kaguya muttered to herself.
She had returned a few days ago, yet no one paid attention to her; her eldest brother Shinomiya Oko hadn't invited her over.
Shinomiya Un'yo hadn't come to visit either.
On the other hand, Sakurai Saki's mother had come once, and she even brought a maid to take care of Kaguya.
"Kaguya-sama, if you want to go out, I can take you."
A girl with silvery-white hair, wearing a white kimono, slowly stepped out from the corner and approached her.
The girl's name was Shirley.
The last time Kaguya had met her was a few months ago.
At the hot spring area during the snowstorm.
...