Shuchi'in Private Academy!

An incredible prestigious academy, originally established to educate the children of nobles and samurai! In modern times, now that the aristocracy no longer exists, its students are the children of wealthy families, who will go on to become the new leaders of Japan. So you would think the ones who lead them, the Student Council, would be treated with the utmost respect. After all, it would be impossible for an ordinary person to climb to the top of Shuchi'in's hierarchy.

But you would be wrong!

"Ew, it's the student council!" The jeers of the student body could be heard whenever the Vice-President and President were seen together in the hallways! Although they were not completely hated, a vocal minority kept positive sentiments about the Student Council to a minimum!

"Gross! Ishigami is such a creep!" A first-year girl recoiled when the Shuchi'in Academy's Vice-President passed her. Yu Ishigami is a genius in analyzing and processing data! His sharp observational skills and inability to understand social taboos made him a perfect second-in-command since he was willing to say what others could not.

"Ugh, Iino is such a buzzkill," A second-year boy complained after Shuchi'in Academy's President confiscated a magazine he brought to school. Miko Iino a genius who stood at the top of her class. The daughter of an International Humanitarian Service Aid and a Judge on the Supreme Court; she had strong ideals involving justice and the common good! Her goal as Student Council President was to create a morally upright school and restore Shuchi'in Academy to its former glory!

But these two were incredibly unpopular!

Ishigami's lack of tact and the rumors surrounding him, which he had done nothing to dispel, had made him an enemy of all women in Shuchi'in Academy. And Iino's zero-tolerance policy on the disciplinary committee prior to the leading the Student Council had done little to endear herself to the student body. Had anyone else run for Student Council, Iino surely wouldn't have been elected. But the person who hated them the most wasn't a member of the student body.

No… It was each other!

"Could you put that thing away, some of us are trying to work!" Iino scowled at Ishigami, who was playing his Vita in the student council's room. Iino, on the other hand, was sitting at the President's desk, with a pile of papers that needed to be read.

"I already finished my work. I'm just waiting for my ride," Ishigami retorted, his feet on the table which irritated Iino even more than she already was, "Besides, why do you care? I'm wearing headphones."

"You shouldn't be playing video games at all in school!" Iino argued, "You should be studying or doing homework! Honestly, this is why your grades are so low. You are setting a poor example as the Vice-President!" Ishigami's grades had taken a nosedive during his suspension, and it didn't seem to be getting better anytime soon. It was also one of the reasons Iino disliked him. Had he done his best, Iino could have forgiven low marks, but she had seen glimpses of his intelligence. She knew he was capable of more, but the fact he refused to apply himself infuriated her.

"You're so nitpicky! This is why you only have a 10% approval rating, you know!" Ishigami snapped, which genuinely hurt her. Iino understood that what was right was not always popular, but it still hurt to be disliked. She went deathly silent as she fumbled to put her headphones on, so she could listen to soothing music to recover. Ishigami also fumed as he sat in silence, no longer in the mood to play. This student council was a ticking time bomb about to blow! Even the most innocent of comments could spark a full-blown argument!

And so half a year has passed!

And during that time, much of note has happened!

Iino and Ishigami had learned more about each other, and grown as people through various hardships, such as the sports festival and the cultural festival. Iino had begun to see Ishigami in a new light, after seeing how kind and observant he could be. She also had a slight suspicion that he was the prince who gave her the pressed flower and note in middle school. And on Ishigami's part, he had seen a new side to her. Normally he only saw her scolding him, but after working with her for six months, he saw the gentler side of her. It had humanized her in his eyes, knowing that she was a high school student like him, and not always a stick in the mud. He had always admired her hardworking nature, but recently that admiration had turned into something else. Something romantic.

Yes, he was smitten! And so was she!

Yet their relationship had not changed!

Iino refused to take the first step since she was his superior. Although the difference in status may be inconsequential, in her mind it was an uncrossable moral boundary. The last thing Iino wanted was for him to feel pressured into dating her just because she was in a position of power over him. But if Ishigami were to ask her out, she would be perfectly fine with that, since it was of his own will.

But Ishigami had no plans to do that. After all, he knew that the only reason he was on the student council was that Iino had stood up for him in middle school. One of the conditions of him advancing, despite refusing to write the apology, was for Iino to be responsible for him in High School. And when she was elected, the Chairman of Shuchi'in Academy had recommended that he be the Vice-President instead of her best friend, since he would be willing to argue with her (Osaragi was the general affairs officer). And through this debate, she could better lead the Student Council. As such, he couldn't ask her out, since the only reason he was here was that he was essentially forced on her. But if Iino wanted to ask him out, then that would be fine, since it was of her own will.

Or so they told themselves! In all honesty, neither of them had the guts to confess!

They were cowards!

Neither of them were very popular, so they couldn't fathom the idea of someone else liking them. And both of them were aware that the other had a poor opinion of them initially, so they believed they would be rejected if they asked each other out. And the worst part was that they would have to continue to work together. For Iino and Ishigami who had only just started getting along with each other, it would be unbearable to return to the atmosphere of 6 months ago!

Especially with their crush!

And watching all this was Rei Onodera, Secretary to the Student Council, a good student who was well-liked, unlike her clubmates. She was one of Ishigami's few friends from the Cheer Team and the newest person that Iino latched onto. In the past, Onodera had mindlessly spread rumors about the two, but she had turned over a new leaf. She wanted to support them.

And currently, she was trying to support two pining idiots so they could finally get together already!

"Hey, Iino, can you look over these documents I did? It's about the upcoming exchange with our Sister School from France." Ishigami handed the paper to the President, who blushed when she realized their hands accidentally bumped into each other. Onodera rolled her eyes, had to admit they were cute.

"Sure," Iino accepted without looking Ishigami in the eyes and thumbed through the papers. "It looks good, like always. And your handwriting is so nice!"

"Well, I just thought I should try to be neater like you told me…" Ishigami sheepishly scratched his head while looking proud of himself. His cheeks were tinted red from the praise.

"Oh, that's good…" Iino hid her expression in the papers, but Onodera knew she was blushing so hard right now. She was probably swinging her legs wildly under the desk despite trying to act composed from the waist up. It was obvious to anyone who wasn't Ishigami, who was on Cloud Nine after getting Iino's approval! By the time she had recovered, Ishigami had returned to the couch and was playing on his Switch. Iino fondly watched him play, and her smile widened when he beat the level. She liked it when he did his little celebration.

And that was the scene Onodera saw every day since joining the student council, and there had been no progress! Just the two dancing around each other. So naturally, she wanted to do something about it.

"Hey, so I won a pair of tickets in the mail yesterday, but I already saw it, so I wanted to know if you two wanted it?" Onodera asked, bringing out a pair of tickets to a popular romance movie, How Kashiwaga's Boyfriend Met Kashiwaga. She placed it on the table, and Ishigami leaned over to look.

"Why did you enter a contest for tickets to a movie you've already seen?" Ishigami asked, ever observant.

"Don't worry about it." Onodera waved away his concerns.

"Ok? Whatever." Ishigami shrugged, "But thanks, I'll go. I wanted to watch the movie anyway. How about you Iino?"

Ishigami was acting nonchalant, but he was a bundle of nerves on the inside!

Ishigami had heard a reputable rumor that if two people saw the movie together, they would be guaranteed to become a couple! Ishigami didn't have many friends, so he was usually out of the loop on these things, but Onodera had specifically mentioned this one, so he was knowledgeable for once. The fact that Onodera was the one who had planted the idea in his head was lost among the chance of going on a movie date with Iino.

The Movie Date!

The most classic date, second only to eating together! Not only would it provide a conversation topic for afterward, but it offered plenty of opportunities for couples. From holding hands to sharing a blanket to stealing food from each other, there were countless ways to enjoy the theater with your special someone! And Ishigami wanted to do couple-like stuff with Iino!

"Definitely not! Romance movies are too inappropriate!" Iino declared, which put a wrench in Onodera's and Ishigami's plans. "Honestly, they just use lust to sell their movies to the lowest common denominator! There isn't even chemistry half the time!" The fact that her favorite romance novels used the same tactics was lost on her.

Iino had never gone to the movies before. Ever since she was young, she had always preferred reading over watching movies (Movies starring Sho Hirano didn't count). And once she grew older, she had sworn to never go into the den of indecency that was the Cinema! Who knew how many illicit sexual activities went on once the lights went out in the theater! It was disgusting!

"You shouldn't judge a movie based on its genre, you know," Ishigami objected, "Not all of them are the same. In fact, some of the best movies subvert genre expectations. You really shouldn't decide without at least considering it…"

"Hmph, I've seen enough to know what happens! They all glorify illicit sexual relations and normalize cheating!" Iino refused to budge, "Besides Movie Theaters are too lewd! It's full of couples who just want to get lucky!"

"What? Have you ever been to a theater?" Ishigami asked, because her ideas were so antiquated. Perhaps it was just Ishigami's personal experience, but he had never been disturbed by any couples in the Theater. After all, they lived in the age of streaming! Why get kicked out of a theater when you could just stay home to Netflix and Chill?

"No, but it's a common trope in stories!" Iino confirmed Ishigami's suspicions. Ishigami was going to call her out on that, but someone beat him to it.

"That's unfair," Onodera stepped in, "You should at least see for yourself if that's true. After all, sometimes first impressions can be wrong." The line about first impressions struck a chord in Iino and Ishigami.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to see for myself," Iino admitted bashfully. Truthfully, she had wanted to go just as much as Ishigami, but was worried about her self control. Iino was scared of what she would do to Ishigami if they got a romantic mood going. "But a romance movie is off limits!"

Onodera sighed as she fished out a second pair of tickets from her sweater. She knew these morons would chicken out, so she had a back-up plan. "Actually I also had a pair of tickets to a comedy movie." She handed the tickets for the movie, A Series of Unfortunate Events that happened exclusively to Maki Shijo, to the Vice-President.

"I guess that would be okay…" Iino conceded, giving a guilty little smile as she gave into her base desires, much to Ishigami's delight. Luckily for him, his body blocked Iino's sight, so she couldn't see him pump his fist in victory.

Onodera saw it though.

"Hey, how about we go together…" Ishigami offered, and Onodera sipped her tea as she watched her clubmates plan their "not-a-date." Honestly, she wanted a little more from the two of them, but she decided to take the little victories.

Although Onodera did wonder if she could get a refund on the tickets.

Results of Today's Battle: Mutual Victory