43 Na?veté - Part 1 (1/2)

The school building is filled to the brim with excitement today.

If one didn't know any better, they'd think the school was in the middle of a morning evacuation drill.

There's large groups of antsy students congregating into small corners of the halls as far as the eye can see.

In particular, most of the traffic seems to be heading in the direction of the bulletin boards.

The majority of students in the halls seem to be swarming them and enthusiastically discussing the contents of whatever's pinned there among one another.

”…”

As much as I wish I was oblivious as to what they're so excited about, I think I have a pretty good idea of what's going on…

With a deep sigh, I resign myself to walking through the halls until I come across one of the more populated corners.

Let's see here… yep, I'm right.

By now, a healthy number of ”Vote for Jennifer Swift” campaign posters have already been pinned to all of the bulletin boards across the main building. Seems like Scarlet really was on the money with that.

Having someone leak the details of your campaigning must be a pretty huge downside. The fact that we knew she'd get those up exactly today meant that we could plan to get the leg up on her.

And actually, the fact that we knew in advance is exactly the source of all of this commotion.

After all, what's gathering this absurdly talkative crowd are the posters that have been hung up next to hers.

”THE HERO SUNCHESTER HIGH DESERVES. VOTE CHASE MASTERS FOR HOMEROOM 103 CLASS PRESIDENT!”

My face falls flat into the palm of my hand.

… After school yesterday, Sig and Nick dragged me all over the city to prepare this poster with them. First they brought me to a clothing store and bought me some uh, interesting clothing. For my own sake, I'll refrain from mentioning it. Just imagine that it was a bunch of edgy articles that I had no business wearing on a Wednesday afternoon.

Afterwards, they went straight to a graphic design shop to commission the poster.

Looks like they ended up green-screening a nighttime city-scape behind the picture that was taken of me. It really does look like I'm Chr*stian B*le with those clothes… Is that the theme they were going for here?

”Ahaha, please kill me.”

Embarrassment aside, it kinda looks like it's drawing everyone's attention if nothing else. Having someone so hated by the student body run for class president must be amusing to them.

As a matter of fact, the further into the halls I get, the more apparent it becomes that they're really only gathering near the posters to giggle at them.

At this point it's hard to tell if it's because my idiotic self decided to run against Jennifer or if the poster itself is just that bad.

Can't imagine why Scarlet thought it was a good idea to leave the design to these two, but I guess she's got other things to worry about. I'm just glad they didn't do anything anime related this time.

”Yo, Chase!”

”Ah-”

Speak of the devil…

The feeling of someone else's body suddenly weighs down on my shoulders.

Judging by the greeting, this is…

”Oh Nick. 'Morning.”

”'Oh Nick. 'Morning.' Yeesh man, lighten up. You're a celebrity now! Where's the confidence? You gotta act like you own this place! You're a symbol of peace now! 'You can be a hero', and all that. God, I'm getting nerd chills thinking about the election.”

”Uh, sure…”

”So? What do you think? Pretty cool poster, huh? Sig and I thought of it after Scarlet gave us the run down. He actually wanted to Photoshop anime girls on each side of you though so be glad I talked him out of that one.”

Yeah, that would have been a nightmare.

”To be honest, I'm actually not that sure why you went for something so… Like, isn't this just going to backfire in our faces if we lose?”

”Lose? We aren't gonna lose dude, what're you even talking about? The whole premise is that you're literally the B*tman. Everyone might think you're some vigilante bad guy who breaks the rules and contributes to the fall of the ”establishment” by encouraging bad behavior, but that's all fake news.”

”Dude, quit talking like Trump.”

”Think about it! Scarlet said your campaign is about changing the bad impression that people have of you, right? Then we've gotta focus on flipping your image completely. And for that we needed a slogan.”

”So you just plagiarized a line from a movie?”

”Listen man, don't get hung up on this small stuff. Just let us handle your marketing. All you need to do is focus on your campaign speech and it'll be fine.”

Well, if nothing else the poster is quite well made.

”Wait, huh? Campaign speech? That's the first I've heard of this.”

”Dude come on. That's like the best part. It's where you get to be like Phoenix Wright and knock the socks off of Thotifer's feet! Reel the crowd in with emotion, then bash her stupid head in with your logically sound policies!”

Huh, Scarlet never mentioned a campaign speech. Does this school really have those kinds of debates for something like a class president election?

”Either way, I'm sure your girlfriend will go over it with you guys after school, so don't worry about it too much.”

”She's not my girlfriend, remember? That was all an act.”

”Yeah yeah, my bad. God. For a normie, you sure are…”

His voice trails off.

It seems like he wanted to say something, but he ended up stopping himself.

That aside…

”What do you mean by 'you guys'? Did she already brief you?”

”Huh? Oh, nah dude. I've got some, uh, business to attend to after school so I won't be at club today.”

”Business?”

He quickly removes himself from my shoulders and backs up a bit.

”H-haha well, let's not worry about such trifling details! You should just focus on the campaign for now. This is a big step for the 'Fated Ones' after all!”

”? Uh, sure…”

That was… kinda suspicious.

Since when has Nick ever dodged a question like that?

He has to be up to something he doesn't want to talk about.

He adjusts his glasses as if to get back his bearings.

”Anyway, I'll see you later man. Remember though, confidence! You own this school, and the 'Fated Ones' owns this school too! We'll show them what being a 'nerd' is all about!”

”R-right…”

After leaving me with his parting words, he nods his head then walks off in the direction of his classroom.

”…”

Though we may be friends, that guy is still a complete enigma to me.

I'm not sure what kind of ”business” he'll be up to after school but I can't imagine it being anything good.

Oh well. Let's just get through today so we can get to this meeting.

.

..

…

…..

.....

School is out before I know it.

Shockingly enough, no one openly confronted me or asked about the elections.

Aside from the giggling in the morning and the fact that an embarrassing picture of me was plastered onto every bulletin board at school, it was a surprisingly normal day.

In fact, there's been no sign of Jennifer, even in our shared classes.

I wonder how she feels about all of this. It must have caught her completely off-guard to be met with opposition like that.

Especially since it's me of all people…

Ahaha…

Oh well, nothing I can do about that. I'm just going to have to focus on what's in front of me.

Currently, I'm seated patiently in the SF clubroom for the after school campaign meeting.

By the way, in case you're wondering…

I hid Jennifer's bra somewhere so that no one else will find out about it. It'd be a huge deal if people suddenly realized that it didn't actually belong to Reyna…

Speaking of which, aside from Nick who has already excused himself from the meeting today, in the room with me at the moment are Sig, Chris and Reyna. Scarlet still hasn't arrived so there's no way we can begin yet, so I took the opportunity to brief Chris and Reyna on the elections.

”Chase you are really cute! Good job! Work hard with this, ok?”

”Uh, thanks Reyna.”

”Reyna-chan, it's 'kawaii'. Kinda like Hawaii. And make sure to stress on the last syllable, okay? Now say it with me: 'Ka-wa-ii'.”

”Kawaiiiiii!”

”Oooh, that's good Reyna-chan! You're a natural!”

”Hehe! Arigatou, sensei!”

Sig and Reyna continue off into their own little anime world, muttering strange jargon that I can't understand.

Well, she seems to have accepted it easily enough, but what about this is 'kawaii', exactly?

Reyna Fernandez, Chris's girlfriend.

Since English isn't her first language, her accent is a bit different from everyone else's, but it's pretty endearing in its own way. Despite the bit of a language barrier though, she's still quite easy to get along with.

Even after everyone had gotten frustrated and quit the club because of Nick's antics, Reyna was surprisingly one of the only people who could tolerate his and Sig's eccentric personalities.

I suppose that just comes with not taking everything too seriously, but either way it just goes to show how cool she is with pretty much everyone at school.

Chris, on the other hand, is just smiling at my explanation.

”You guys are never boring, are you?”

He seems rather amused by the whole story.

”What do you mean?”

”Don't play dumb. The school's a riot right now because of you three. I can hardly believe how famous you guys got after just a week. Especially with how depressed you were on Tuesday.”

More like infamous, man. I'm more surprised that you don't seem to care about the rumors.

”Well, I guess it's all thanks to your advice the other day.”

”My advice? Oh, that… Sorry, I was kind of in a bad mood that day. Ended up taking it out on you.”

”It's okay. I needed to hear it so it worked out anyway.”

”That so?”

He looks down at the desk with a smile.

”You're a strong person for taking advice like that at face value. People can't normally do that. It's just the nature of feeling down to hold you back from trying, even if the solution's staring you right in the face.”

”Ahaha, I don't think I'm strong or anything. I guess… just having something I could believe in kept me going.”

That 'something' being both Scarlet and the 'Fated Ones'.

And of course, Momo's words of encouragement.

The difference between middle school and now is that this time, I actually have people who care about me.

If it weren't for Scarlet's kindness, if it weren't for that oath, if it weren't for Momo's words…

”…”

”By the way, was the girl who came into the clubroom that Scarlet girl who's been helping you? She looked kind of like that girl you're running against, didn't she?”

”That girl? Ah…”

Oh crap, I forgot.

He saw Jennifer when she came here, didn't he?

But before I can offer up a response, she just so happens to walk in at the worst possible time.

”Ah, Scarlet-chan!”

”Shhh! Not so loud! People will hear you!”

She quickly closes the door and locks it behind her.

”Phew, don't scare me like that… Huh? Where's Nick?”

Her eyes dart across the room, but Nick's absence is an indisputable fact at this point.

”Ah, Nick-kun had some important business to attend to so I'm afraid it's just us.”

”… I see.”

She accepts it without thinking too much and takes a seat next to me.

This should mark the beginning of the meeting, but Chris is just shooting me a strange glare right now.

Not that I don't know why…

”U-uhm… Chris, Reyna, this girl is Scarlet Sterling. The one I was telling you two about earlier.”

”Nice to meet you Scarlet, Chase was just telling us about how you're going to be helping us on the campaign to clear his name. Say, you wouldn't happen to be acquainted with a cute girl who has long blonde hair, would you?”

”Baby, that is Jennifer! You did not see all of the posters outside?”

”Oh, is it?”

His suspicious gaze once again focuses onto me.

Yeah, he definitely knows something happened…

Great…

”Uh, we can talk about it later.”

He sighs and leans back in his chair.

This doesn't seem to be helping my case with him…

Before he can say anything else though, Reyna continues speaking.

”And yes. Bitch-girl Jennifer is Scarlet's friend, right? I know both of you.”

Bitch-girl…?

”Pfft… I mean, Rey-chan language! They're like best friends, don't talk about her like that!”

”Ahaha…”

But contrary to Sig's objection, Scarlet gives Reyna a bit of a giggle.

”No, she's right. If I'm going to do this then I have to come to terms with it.”

Oh man… talk about harsh.

Jennifer may have wronged Scarlet, but it's obvious just from looking that she still likes her a lot.

I've gotta change the topic before she gets too down about it.

”So um… Scarlet! How is my approval rating looking? Y'know, since we announced my running and all.”

”It's most likely the same as it was before you announced, which means you're still at 4/30.”

”What was the point, then…?”

”Don't whine, this was just our announcement. The big stuff happens tomorrow.”

”Tomorrow?”

”Yeah, that's why I wanted to have Chris and Reyna here.”

Chris looks up at Scarlet.

”Okay. What should we do?”

”Do either of you two know Leyla Thompson?”

”Lelya Thompson…? I've heard of her, but I've never spoken to her I'm afraid.”

”Oh, oh, I have! She is the pervert girl who runs the newspaper club! She is always asking about Nicholas!”

Seriously…? Why would you go to Reyna of all people to ask about Nick?

”That's perfect then. I need you to get Chase an interview with her for tomorrow. Just say it's urgent if she refuses.”

”Why would she refuse? Isn't this supposed to be a big story?”

At my question, she merely sighs.

”The truth is, she's supposed to be interviewing Jen after school tomorrow for an article. Apparently she's going to release some lies about things that supposedly happened between you and her.”

Oh yeah, Leyla did mention that she had a…

Wait.

She's going to what?

”…”

”That's why we need to get positive press on Chase while stealing away Jen's spotlight at the same time.”

Oh Scarlet, you have no idea do you?

What Jennifer's going to talk about in that interview…

It could destroy our entire campaign.

Dammit!

I shouldn't have ignored it for this long.

What do I even do about this…?

”But Scarlet-chan, isn't your friend just going to look for Leyla in the newspaper clubroom once it's time for the interview?”

”Yeah, but I'll just have to try my best to distract her.”

”That's…”

Sig looks like he wants to say something, but he ends up stopping himself.

”That's naïve, Scarlet.”

Which is why I say it in his stead.

I force myself to say it despite possibly hurting her feelings.

Sig was definitely thinking it too, but I don't think he had the heart to actually say it.

”Wh… what do you mean? How is it naïve?”

”How is it not? This is the girl who's been manipulating you since the moment you first met her. Not to mention she's someone who's really single-minded and won't ever stop until she gets what she wants. Do you really think you can stand between her and that interview?”

”I…”

”Do you?”

”…”

”But it's all we have, Chase.”

It's all we have, huh?

”If she uses this chance to start more rumors then it's over. Who's everyone going to believe, Jennifer or you?”

”That doesn't mean you can stop her, though.”

”I have to try!”

”…”

It's not that I don't see where she's coming form.

I just think there has to be a better way to go about this.

If we do this like Scarlet is suggesting, then we'll certainly be walking straight to a dead end.

One where Jennifer wins the elections, and we're the laughing stock of the school.

Before we could continue our argument though, Chris suddenly speaks up.

”Hey, I get that this is important, but Reyna and I have uh…”

”We are going to study for our midterms!”

”Yeah, so… I don't know if we'll be much help on this. If you need to talk to some seniors then I can help, but you'd have more luck asking Nicholas if it's just that Leyla girl you need help convincing.”

”U-uh, yeah. Sure.”

At Scarlet's affirmation, the two of them get up and walk off to the doorway.

”Good luck Chase! Kawaii!”

”You're killing it Reyna-chan!”

”Arigatou!”

When did Sig start turning her into such a weeaboo, exactly?

”Oh and, Chase. You're in charge of locking up again.”

”Okay, see ya.”

”Yeah, later.”

The two exit through the door, leaving the three of us alone in the clubroom.

”…”

The air is kinda awkward, though.

Scarlet still seems to be a bit upset since I shot her idea down.

Doesn't look like she could think of any other way to stop the interview from happening. It must be hard on her since this kind of puts a huge wedge in our plans.

We're already having trouble dealing with the other rumors. Another one popping up over the weekend will ruin everything. Especially if it's about what I think it is.

Still, we can't get hung up on that.

We need to focus on our own campaign instead of trying to slow down Jennifer's.

I mean, wasn't that her whole idea from the beginning?

And thanks to what Nick mentioned earlier today, I have a pretty good idea of how to do that.

”Oh, by the way… Nick mentioned something about a campaign speech this morning. What was that all about?”

”Campaign speech…”

Scarlet repeats the words absentmindedly, then stares at me with a look of bewilderment.

”Wait, you mean you haven't gotten started on that yet?!”

”G-gotten started? I didn't even know I was supposed to give one!”

”Oh my god, why did I think a loser like you would be up for this? This is hopeless…”

”Dude, you guys are the ones not filling me in about this campaign and stuff! Like yeah, I get that I'm supposed to be a saint who's getting framed by my opponent or whatever but like, what are my policies? What do I even stand for here?”

”Huh? Who cares about that? It's a popularity contest. Whatever your policies are, just tell them like a stand-up comedian and people should vote for you.”

Do I look like Kevin fucking Hart to you, woman?

”Chase-dono, you should hang anime posters up in our homeroom. Maybe some decent normie shows like Hunter x Hunter and Shingeki no Kyojin so more people will vote for you.”

”You're the only one who'll vote for me if I do anything anime-related during my speech.”

”Fine then. I won't vote for you if you don't do it.”