Rising Against Fate

The work of the student council was mainly divided into two categories: Trust & safety, and Clubs & events management.

The trust & safety part mainly involved dealing with bullying and harassment issues. Normally, students were only allowed phone-like MMs designed to prevent any spells above general class. And because of that, the magical accidents were rare. But that didn't mean they could take it easy. Because of the difference in ranks and classes, there were several other forms of abuse that existed.

In the past, they had come across several cases that could even make an impact on someone's private life. For those cases, they either reported them to the school administration or the local police. And after the cases are dealt with, they took care of ensuring the victim's safety inside the school.

Because of this heavy responsibility, 9 members out of the 15-membered student council were allocated for this task. The rest of the members were in charge of the Clubs & events management.

"Damn those first-years!"

Vice president Akane Hoshu was in a bad mood since this morning. Her open red hair was swinging left and right as she was hastily walking towards the student council room.

Managing all the existing clubs was a hard job in itself. But now, out of nowhere, there was an application for a new one. If the application was from a third-year or even a second-year student, her mood wouldn't have been this bad. But the application was from a first-year who had been here for less than a week.

"Akane, calm down, and just look at it. Everything from the panning to wording is done flawlessly. I couldn't think of any reason to deny it."

Treasurer Asami Mokuzai, who was barely keeping up with her, was trying to show her the details in her trans pad. But Akane was too furious to listen.

When she reached the student council room, the door automatically slid open when it detected her presence. And sitting inside at the desk was a tall muscular brown-haired man.

Akane walked straight without reducing her pace, but Asami slowed down. She couldn't help but feel nervous in the dignified atmosphere around him.

"Kenji, look at this. Can you believe it?"

When they reached in front of his desk, Akane grabbed the pad that Asami was holding, and showed it to Kenji Monku, the Eastern Academy President.

"Akane, calm down. I already know about it."

Instead of looking at the pad, he started piling up the papers on the table.

"Asami"—Asami was startled when she heard her name—"your hair looks different today."

Normally, those were the words used while flirting. But he wasn't even looking at her as he was saying that.

"O-oh, you noticed"—Asami brought her green hair forward—"I had a haircut this weekend."

After he finished piling the paper, he looked towards them.

"Now, before we discuss this, why don't the two of you take a seat."

Akane took a long breath as she handed Asami her pad back. Both of them then sat on the sofa in front of the table.

"I looked into the application, but I am not familiar with the ones making the request. Asami, can you brief on them."

"Y-yes President."

Asami quickly took out the details of the students from the school's private server. As the most important student body, the student council could access this server. This was why every member of the student council needed to sign a non-disclosure agreement before joining.

"As you know, at least two people are needed to complete the application. The two people applying are Kat F. Nerdy and Razak Grace."

Asami walked to Kenji and showed him the details of the two in her pad. Though she looked very nervous, she was trying to act as calm as possible. She was the most recent addition to the student council but that wasn't the only reason for her lack of confidence.

The fact is that she had always admired Kenji from far, and now that he was so close, she couldn't help it. But despite those internal struggles, she mustered all the courage she could and continued.

"Kat is ranked 8th in the first-year ranking, and he is also a member of the Fectum clan. So, he must be the one doing the planning."

"Thank you Asami"—Kenji looked towards Akane— "What do you think about this Akane?"

Listening to everyone's opinion before giving his own was somewhat of a habit of his. This had several merits on its own, but this was also his way of testing people.

"Well, I am with what she said. The other guy looks completely normal."

"But isn't it strange that he is with Kat?"

"Well, a member of the Fectum clan is here. Don't you think that is stranger?"

Kenji smiled when he heard such a casual reply. He had always thought of Akane as simple and straightforward person, and her reply was as he expected.

"You have a point but—"

He stood from his chair and looked through the window. Strangely, there were two people in the hallway of the general lab building. He found it strange because the lunch break had just started, and there should be no one there at this time of the day. But then he realized that the position for the apprentice laboratory assistant was open.

"Did you watch the interview of Marcus Nerdy last month?"

"In the one where he refused to become an Elder? Yeah."

"He refused such a position and all he said in response was, 'I am not interested'."

Kenji smiled again when he saw the confused look on Akane's face.

"What are you getting at?"

"It's simple. The Fectum clan has never been interested in politics. In fact, they have always tried running away from their responsibilities. So, the other guy is the main character in all this. But the question is, why?"

There was a moment of silence as he walked to the window and looked down. Everything was on the table, and now, he had to come up with the decision.

"Mana research club was it? Call them for the meeting. But tell them that the meeting will be done publicly in the hall."

"But president…"

When Kenji looked towards her, Asami nervously looked down and lowered her voice.

"Won't it be strange to change the custom for no reason?"

Kenji smiled as he came back and sat on his chair.

"The reason is simple. Just say, 'It's for transparency'."