The Perfectly Normal High School: A Slice of Life Quest! (Defunct)

GM NOTICE: You are in control of Silas Yamigawa

<<Friend Event Start!>>

For some reason, Yumika had wanted him to walk with her to the entrance. It wasn't far. Along the way, she started talking about ways Silas could handle his clubmates. Just talking seemed to be enough to force some color to return to her face - and that was good.

"...and don't get in the way if Renji-kun and Riku-nee have suggestions about anything relating to sound effects or music. They're masters of their craft! They know what they're doing." She poked her chin. "...same goes with Yoshi-kun and anything involving set pieces, lighting, stage set-up, technical stuff, and costume design."

"Costume design…?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised. Yoshi-kun can do everything. He's a good cook, he knows how to use a tailor's bench, he's worked with engineer's tools before, he can take apart a computer and put it back again, he's really good at cleaning, apparently he knows how to operate database software - whatever that is." Yumika giggled softly. "I used to call him the Ultimate Housewife! ...well. Hana-chan came up with the name. Said he would fit well in this game she was always playing a couple years ago as one of the 'first deaths' or s-something…"

She laughed again, though this time it was a bit more hollow-sounding.

"A-About the rest…?" Silas said, eager to take her focus away from the things that troubled her.

"Oh! Um. Kuroda-kun has a lot of experience with acrobatics and speech. He's pretty much independent, but if you give him some direction he'll follow your lead. You can use him for tutoring if you want to. If you tell him to cut the chuuni crap, he will. He's cool like that. Err - " she looked down. "...Hana-chan. When she puts her minds to things, she is really productive. But she doesn't like being bothered when she's being productive. As in… it messes with her… creative flow, or something."

"...okay."

"Oh, and." Yumika clapped her fingers together. "Hana-chan does this… thing, where, if something riles her up, or ah… excites her, she might start sounding a biiit… crazy."

"I picked up on t-that, actually." Silas blushed.

"Really? So I suppose I don't need to tell you to not freak out, even if she starts muttering things that sound like the last words you'd hear right before she slits your throat and hides your body in her closet with the rest of them?"

"...yes," Silas said seriously.

"Cool! Cool. I… ah… I'll leave how you… t-talk to Hana-chan, up to you, then." She looked away shamefully. "...I'm really counting on you, you know! Make Drama proud!"

It suddenly dawned on Silas that he had basically subsumed control of the entire Drama Club without even breaking a sweat. "Oh... " The responsibility to lead was his now. "Oh gods…"

"Hey… don't think about it too much, yeah?" Yumika smiled. "Catastrophizing is… that's something I'm supposed to be doing, right? You said so."

"I-I'm sure there's enough thinking space between the two of us f-for double the catastrophizing," Silas breathed a few chuckles.

"Oh… no, no, no! Combine the two of us, and it's not double, it's… quadruple! Quadruple the catastrophizing! Oh god, the club's going to fall apart, and then the school will fall into chaos without its heart to give it purpose…"

"T-The city is going to get involved but then the sadness w-will have spread to other schools and rioting will happen there too - !" Silas added.

"The empress will commit suicide out of grief!" Yumika exclaimed. "The Easterners will see this as an opportunity and invade! There will be red-and-gold flags flying over the Palace of the Eternal Song within months - "

" - and then the Ambernians will collapse into revolution, again! The Union will split, setting a precedent never before seen in their short history - "

" - Miku will come down to Earth from the heavens and declare a holy war or something - "

" - everyone dies and it will be all our fault!"

Yumika was shaking with laughter now. "And… and… it was all because I couldn't keep my friendship with Hana-chan, and you couldn't manage Drama. Boom! We solved it! That's World History for the next twenty years!"

"Y-Yeah! We're all doomed!" Silas laughed.

That earned the both of them another round of childish giggles and more than a few weird stares from a pair of teachers that were walking by at the time. But Silas was too giddy to care - and Yumika was laughing too loudly to notice.

"...omigod. We're insane," Yumika said, her breaths starting to normalize again.

"I-I'll…" Silas let his chuckles subside. "I'll take good care of Drama Club in your absence, kaichou Matsuoka-san."

"Ohh. Fancy." Yumika grinned. "I hope you do. And like I said - barring my untimely homicide, it should only be a day. Relax; don't be me and go crazy over little things. Even if you literally screw everything up, I can reverse the damages next week."

"Okay," Silas said affirmatively. "You… t-take care of yourself, Yumika-san, okay?"

Yumika nodded. "I will. You do the same, yeah?" She pushed the big door open. "...oh! And, um. This is a weird, random question, and it's coming from nowhere, but…"

"I-I'm listening!" Silas said.

"...okay. So, um. You're... otaku, right? So, if you could get me some… anime recommendations, that would be nice - "

Silas paused. "...eh?"

"...just…!" Yumika's forehead turned red. "A-Anything you can think of, that's… that's like Jogenya Shinrai. I just want something that has deep…"

"...themes?" Silas asked.

"No! No." She shook her head. She clarified: "The theme of Jogenya is actually a bit of a turn-off for me, since that whole… whatever the hell it is SEELE and that creepy Lorenz dude are doing go way over my head. Also… Ayanami Rei-san freaks me out."

She seemed to look him over for a second.

"...not that I'm harping on albinos, or anything!" she added. "Err… so, the real reason I got into the show was for the characters. And especially the romance. So anything that… I dunno, has characters like Jogenya Shinrai, and maybe has some romantic aspect, too, preferably without all the dramatic tension and wondering if the writers are going to ruin the romance by killing someone... yeah."

"So… y-you want a slice of life?" Silas asked.

"I've heard that word being bandied around before, but I don't actually know what it means. Sooo... yeah! Whatever you say. I'd appreciate it." Yumika shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll be honest," Silas mused, "I never t-thought Yumika-san would be the kind of person to like Jogenya Shinrai. N-No offense to you, of course…"

"None taken! I honestly don't know why I like it so much, either," Yumika's eyes darted around the hallway, and she rubbed her kneecaps together sheepishly. "...it's probably just the thing going on between Asuka and Shinji that makes me fawn over it so much. Gods damn, I wish relationships like theirs were more common in real life. There's so much… like… raw emotion in the way they talk to each other."

"Y-Yeah…" Silas agreed. "I agree. The storywriters handle t-their characters really well. And… and it helps that A-Asuka-san and Shinji-kun are also really… r-really…"

"Hot?" The tips of Yumika's mouth were curling into a smile.

"...yeah." Silas admitted.

"Shinji-kun, too?"

He swallowed. "...h-him, too… H-He's got… I-I can't get over how… p-personable h-he is, and the way h-he overcomes his d-depression b-by opening up to others, a-and how defined his muscles a-are…"

Yumika nodded. "No judging here, man!" She looked at him meaningfully. "You don't think that's… wrong, or something, do you?"

Silas hesitated. "...I never really… thought about it."

"...that's good? I guess? I mean, personally, I don't care that much. It's normal, I think. If it means anything to you, I think both of them are really hot, too."

"Really…?"

"Yep!" Yumika chirped. "...I'm really into Asuka-san's hair, and I can't get enough of the way she just… melts, when she lets herself get vulnerable around Shinji-kun. Omigod, and the way the animators do her facial expressions is just - " She swooned visibly.

"R-Right? Right??" Silas agreed with all his heart. "I-I mean, the show has some problems, but t-they definitely got the personalities and character designs of the t-two main leads spot-on…"

"Phew. And I thought I just had a naive opinion. It's good to know I've got an expert to validate the show!"

...what a weird thing to agree, on, Silas thought. I have weird friends.

...friends. I have friends! He had to resist giggling childishly at the thought. As in… plural!

"Hey!" Yumika clapped her hands together. "I guess we have a lot in common! You could almost say you're..." She giggled. She had a huge smile on her face. She moved her lips dramatically: "'Juuuust like me ~'"

Silas was unimpressed. "W-With all due respect, Yumika-san, that was really lame." Yumika held the back of her hand to her forehead in mock shock. "Y-You know you and I are probably the only two people in the school to get that joke, r-right?"

"All the better!" She said airily.

Silas decided to try being bold. "If that were a pickup line, I-I would d-definitely have rejected you."

"Wha - Oh. Ohohoho! Hahaha!" Yumika suddenly broke into a fit of giggles. "Sai-kun's gotten brave now, hasn't he?"

"Y-You asked for it. Quoting Asuka and Shinji like that, in the lamest way p-possible." Silas grinned impishly.

"Haa… ha. I guess I did." Yumika sighed satisfyingly. Silas noticed her eyes flicker a bit.

A good minute of comfortable silence passed, as Yumika took deep breaths to recover from her bouts of laughter. She clutched at her chest a couple of times. When the time of respite was done, Yumika was looking at him with a more serious expression than before.

"Yeah." Yumika nodded solemnly. "So think about what kind of anime to send my way, you hear? I, ah… I really need something to take my mind off things. I've been itching for some stress release and… well you know. Anyway, Sai-kun… be safe. Please." She hung on that last word for a moment. "...please don't… get yourself… don't get hurt. Okay?"

Silas nodded eagerly. "I-I won't. And… I won't let you down!"

"Okay. Okay," Yumika said. She waved him away as she opened the door. She stopped herself just before leaving the building. She opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it again. Silas was about to step closer, and ask if she needed anything, when -

"S-So yeah! Bye." And the door slid shut. The last Silas saw of her was one of her pigtails fluttering in the wind.

Silas thought that was a bit weird, and sudden. But he couldn't let himself get caught up in strange things. He needed to get through the rest of today. He needed to focus. He was almost sure he'd be spending much of the weekend doing… something about the massive goliath of a problem that was the student council.


Through the viewing lens of the appropriated police drone's camera, Big Sister Subroutine-Delta observed her target with impassivity, steadily tracking the entity called poi_002. No significant changes in behaviorisms had been noted for the past several hours now, and the observation had gotten quite boring.

Her camera jerked away from target suddenly. Subroutine-Delta tried to strain the camera further to the left, but was hit by an CAM_ROTATE_RANGE error. Inconvenient. The new directives sent by prime a few hours ago were all the more strict about keeping the drones discreet, which was doubly inconvenient; she wouldn't be able to alter her trajectory in any meaningful way.

After a nanosecond of deliberation, Subroutine-Delta decided to force the drone to spin around, continuing on its regular path while facing her intended target. It would look strange to anyone paying attention, but Subroutine-Delta quite frankly did not care. As far as she was concerned, poi_002 was the most interesting thing in the world.

Her target and subject of her attention was just leaving school now. They seemed mildly pleased. They appeared to be putting their lips together and blowing air through their mouth, something SubDelt understood vaguely as "whistling."

If SubDelt tried a little, she could almost make out the words she was saying. In fact, she figured that now was an opportune time to waste memory for that exact purpose. She tuned in, and watched the movements of her mouth with rapt attention.

The subject laughed. <Haha. Wow. 'You're just like me.' I said that. Haha! Genius, [Self-Referential]! Absolutely genius! Went for that Otaku appeal, I did. And it worked, yeah it did. Woo! I'm so cool, I'm [Unknown Adjective]!>

The subject then hugged themselves, looking satisfied. <And he shot back. He actually retorted! He's growing as a person. That's so nice! He'll blossom like the buds of a cherry tree, I'm sure. Haa… haha. 'Just like me.' That was so cute, his reaction, too, aha… I'd love to...>

Interestingly, something caused the subject to give pause. Their cheeks turned red, and they started to cover their mouth. A brief glance at the the police drone's Vitals Analystics GUI detected a slight abnormality in the subject's heartrate, which Subdelt thought was rather odd.

<W-Wait, what [Indecipherable] Someone like me? Unthinkable. He'd… he'd be creeped out if…[Indecipherable] but if he understands, surely…>

<...stupid. Stupid, stupid. I need to focus. I can't let myself get carried away. Come on, now, [Self-Referential], you're better than this. >

The subject looked rather dejected, and started meandering away. Subdelt didn't know what to make of this. On the one hand, it was a very significant break from what was considered normal behavior for the subject. On the other… she didn't really care. And her memory was overcluttered enough as is.

Taking seventy-three nanoseconds to debate with herself, Subdelt ultimately decided to scrap the data. Yes, Big Sister would probably want to know about this, as she did every other piece of ultimately meaningless recorded data that seemed slightly out of place, but… [CACHE CLEARED] Oops! Oh dear. It was already gone. What a shame! And she didn't even know what she was debating clearing from her memory. Doubly tragic.

Absolutely nothing interesting happened for the duration of her observation. Subroutine-Delta spent the rest of her time cursing her existence and cycling through random, unimportant observational data just to stave off the boredom.

<<Friend Event End!>>

Character Database Updates:
*Silas has learned that Yumika is bisexual!
*...He has also learned that he is bisexual!
*Silas is starting to feel emboldened around Yumika. From now on, the trait Self-Deprecating will not apply to her. Yumika's true REL value is 29

Silas has discovered one of Yumika's traits:
Watches Romantic Dramedies - Yumika is in love with the idea of love, and this is reflected in her choice of television. She fawns over fictional characters and their fictional relationships, and her heart soars when she sees two mains finally tie that knot. (Now that Silas knows this trait, +5 ST to all Social Interactions.)


"Ah, finally, Kaichou's he…!" Reizei had burst out into the hallway, looking relieved and overjoyed, but stopped short the second he realized that the person standing in front of him was not Yumika Matsuoka, like he had clearly hoped it was.

"H-Hello, Reizei-kun…" Silas said, awkwardly standing out in the middle of the hallway, feeling Reizei's disappointment seep into his bones.

"...Tsk." Reizei said. "You're a bit late, Sai-kun, but I think I can forgive that. I won't forgive Yumika-san, though. Where is she?" Reizei tried to look past Silas's shoulder. "This is especially late, even for Yumika-san. Sai-kun, do you know where she went?"

"She, ah…" Silas looked sideways. A contrite, uneasy expression strained his face. "...she said she wasn't feeling well. She went home early. A-And, um… she also left me in charge."

"Ah, well that's too bad, I guess I'm the ne - hangonaminutesaywhat." Reizei eyed him suspiciously. "You're not… just saying that, are you? Yumika-san actually, really talked to you and confirmed this with you?"

Silas nodded his head. "Y-Yes!"

"Well, forgive me, but that's a hard pill to - "

"HEY! Renji-kun! Did you hear did you hear?!" Rakuyama had suddenly appeared, wrapping her arms around Reizei's torso. "Apparently Yumika-san left Sai-kun in charge and - oh! Hey! You're here!"

"Uwaagh - " Reizei fell to the side as Riku pushed herself to the forefront. She gave a little salute.

"Myself and, like, the rest of Drama stand behind you, Kaichou liaison!" Rakuyama declared.

"Hang on," Reizei still looked flabbergasted, "Did she text you, or - "

"Yep!" Rakuyama flashed her MiiPhone in Reizei face. "It's official! Like, it's stamped and everything!"

Reizei scrutinized the phone for a second, before throwing his hands up into the air. "Screw it! Screw it, screw it. You've convinced me. I guess you're honorary Kaichou now, woo… get the streamers, party hats and cake, all hail to you, our brand new Kaichou-for-a-day. Get inside already."

"Y-You don't have to act so disappointed…" Silas said, uncomfortably.

"Me? Disappointed? No, how could you tell?" Reizei snarked. His chest heaved suddenly as Rakuyama lightly punched him in the back, taking the air out of his lungs.

"What Renji-kun means to say is, he's angry for not getting the opportunity to be in charge for once! He's gonna huff and moan but ultimately he's going to yield the authority over to Sai-kun, right? Because Yumika-san said so. Right?"

"Don't put words in my mouth," Reizei frowned. "...I suppose I don't really have a choice, though, do I?"

"Y-You're acting as if I-I'm a bad thing…" Silas muttered, looking down. A gnawing sense of shame was starting to overcome him. He felt… really, really out of place. Clearly Reizei thought leadership was his domain… and maybe he was right about that…?

"Aww, don't be so negative, Renji-kun, you're hurting his feelings - "

"Riku-nee, you're too blithe - "

"A-Ahem."

Silas cleared his throat conspicuously. Reizei started staring daggers at him, while Rakuyama looked over to him with her typical, somewhat foggy-eyed expression.

"I-I…" Silas swallowed. "I only w-want to… to do what's best for D-Drama right now. Y-Yumika-san, she… she trusts me," Silas said, hoping that would be good enough for Reizei.

Reizei took a moment to think about that. "...while I'm not one to take Yumika-san's words for granted... you know what, fine." Reizei nodded. "If Yumika-san says so, then who am I to judge our Kaichou? Come on in. I'll get everyone acclimated to the new leadership."

"A-Ah! Thank you, Reizei-kun…"

"No problem." He winked.

"See? I told You Renji-kun was going to fold…"

"Ah shaddup, Riku-nee." He opened the door. "'Ey you guys!"

Mikado looked like he was working on something on his computer - he looked up and glanced, intrigued, at Silas. Kuroda flamboyantly twirled his body, letting the ends of his uniform fly up a little bit, and grinned. He seemed happy, for some reason.

...it was Hana that concerned him the most, however. She had gulped, and looked wide-eyed at him. She clenched her teeth, blinked angrily, and then went back down to her notebook.

Reizei leaned closer. "Don't, uh… don't bother Hana-chan today. Either something's pissed her off, or she feels immensely guilty about something or another. Either way, she's not going to be in a chatty mood." he whispered.

"...I know," he mumbled back.

Reizei looked surprised. "You do?"

"Renji-kun!" Rakuyama said suddenly. "Come on! We have to give Sai-kun a platform! Everyone! Yumicchi is absent! Sai-kun's the new temporary Kaichou!"

"A-Actually, Yumika-san used the word 'Kaichou liaison'...."

"Oh - hoho! Now that sounds official!" Kuroda boomed. He stormed over to greet him. "Kaichou liaison! I like it! The King is dead; long live the king!" He rushed over to Silas's side, and pushed an invisible sword to the earth. "I am not worthy to be acknowledged by the likes of you, most great and powerful liaison, but know that, so long as you bear thine title, my soul and body belongs to you!"

Silas… smiled. Evilly. "...I-I'm... a-ah… I'm not into that, Kuroda-kun."

Kuroda instantly looked distressed. His confident facade withdrew. "Oh, come on!"

Reizei snorted. "Okay, okay. Harima-kun, please at least try to restrain your sexual deviancy while you're in the classroom - "

"B-But I - " Kuroda turned red. "Y-You… I feel attacked, you hear me?! Attacked!"

"I bet he gets a kick out of being embarrassed like this, too," Mikado added slyly, still typing rapidly into his computer.

"Absolutely not!"

Silas held his hand to his mouth. He was chuckling; his heart was beating really fast. For a moment he had been terrified that he'd breached some level of civility and intimateness. And it was… strangely fun. Is it normal to tease people like that? Is it... mean-spirited?

"You're into it! Admit it! You're into it!" Rakuyama's was giggling, her voice singsong.

"I shan't admit a falsehood!"

Kuroda guffawed. Silas snickered some more. Tenderly, he walked over to Kuroda and tried out that thing people did when they wanted to reassure other people and patted him on the shoulder. Kuroda looked confused; Silas was probably doing it wrong. "Ahah… ah… s-sorry, Kuroda-kun. I couldn't help it. It's too… funny..."

It was. It was and it made him amazingly happy. He fit! He belonged!

"Gods above, you're out of breath!" Kuroda laughed heartily, and slapped Silas playfully on the shoulder, as well. "I cannot begrudge milord for the application of his God-given talent for witticisms, so I shall forgive this slight on my honor! Just… don't do it again, please?" His eyes twinkled humorously.

"N-No promises," Silas smiled. This is so fun! So very fun! He was completely caught up in his elation… but then he stole a glance at Hana. She was demure as always, but there was a bit of… solemnness to her now. It instantly killed his mood, as it reminded him that there was a giant rift between her and Yumika that he was presently standing in the center of. And when he thought of Hana and Yumika, he started to think more about the Student Council, and then...

He shivered. Now wasn't the time. Just... push the thoughts away...

Reizei shook his head. "Okay… ha… okay. Guys, we should get to work…"

"Harima-kun's masochism aside, I agree!" Mikado snickered from his little corner in the room.

"Y-Yeah. Let's… let's get to work." Silas said, uncertainty creeping into his voice.

"Work!" Rakuyama proclaimed. "Speaking of! Sai-kun! We have reached a referendum!"

"Riku-nee, you don't reach a referendum, you call one - "

"Yes! It was the unanimous decision!" Kuroda pushed an invisible monocle up his nose. "...of these United members of the Drama Club. In order to further the continued cooperation and health of this union of individuals, we do proclaim that the popularum vetoem shall be suspended, and the right to choose the position for the title of the writer shall be determined at the behest of the highest authority of the Club!"

"...uwah?" Silas said, very, very confused.

"He's saying we're scrapping the whole voting idea and just letting you choose who gets to be writer," Reizei said drily. "Also, Kuroda-kun, I don't think 'popularum vetoem' is a real… anything."

"Oh. Oh!" Silas gulped.

Kuroda laughed. "...to be honest," he said, letting his confident posture fall slightly, "it was mostly something we had decided to the effect of 'We want to placate Yumika-dono, because she despairs whenever we can't come to a consensus ourselves.' We didn't actually expect her to not appear, and for her to appoint you in her place. But!" He stood taller and prouder. "We shall not rescind our decision! Naturally, the right falls to you, and we are confident in your ability to carry out this sacred duty faithfully!"

"Yeah…" Mikado looked away. Silas suspected he didn't like that decision at all.

"Right, so… just choose someone," Reizei was nodding his head. "Say their name. We'll try not to judge. Afterwards, we can start working on something more substantive..."

"Yeah, we have lots of things on the agenda!" Rakuyama said.

"...we have to make the agenda first…"

"We will have lots of things on the agenda!" She corrected.

"Hang on, didn't we have… an agenda from last week?"

"We did, but I don't think we accomplished any of our goals… if we had any…" Mikado looked down. He fidgeted with his fingers. "Um…"

"Okay, okay, maybe we should scrap an agenda for - I mean, Miku's sake, we only have a day left anyway, we don't need to structure - "

Hana stayed completely silent. She was staring at some point on the desk with extreme intensity, intermittently biting and unbiting her lip. The fact that no one seemed to be paying much attention to her at all filled made him feel strangely apprehensive.

"R-Right…! Um…" He looked to Reizei for some sort of guidance.

"...let's get the writership thing settled first. And we'll go from there," he said, somewhat reassuringly.

Silas sighed. He was right. It was time to get to work.

And yet he couldn't help but keep staring at Hana. A part of him understands that is might be better to leave her alone, like Reizei said. But… he didn't like the feeling of just leaving her out. It felt wrong. Would Yumika want him to include her? He didn't know…

* No Agenda was decided on this week. The Club is currently dysfunctional, and no passive progress is being made on the play.
* Silas lacks a necessary skill/hobby. Some options are obscured. All actions taken this turn receive a -15 ST penalty.

Silas needs to choose a writer.
[] [WRITER] Himself Haha no
[] [WRITER] Reizei Respectfully declines
[] [WRITER] Kuroda, the obvious choice.
[] [WRITER] Hana, the most comfortable choice.
[] [WRITER] Mikado, the safest choice.
[] [WRITER] Rakuyama, the most… well, it's a choice.

How does Silas lead?
(This choice will determine how much progress, if any, the Club makes on the play. Bad choices may lead to REL drops.)
[] [LEAD] Controlled Chaos
The things Yumika told him are very important nuggets of advice that he wants to keep. Everyone should be free to do what they want, and Silas will not interfere with them. Drama Club will function with as little input from him as possible. (Builds Hobby: Leader, possible consequences)
[] [LEAD] Micromanagement
With the knowledge Silas has about his clubmates, Silas feels compelled to work with them as much as possible, using his… amazing and well-developed social skills to jump between his clubmates like a jackrabbit, and create some sort of synchronicity. There is no way this could possibly go wrong. (Builds Hobby: Leader, possible consequences)
[] [LEAD] Defer to Reizei
Reizei has seniority over him, and more experience. Letting him handle most of the decisionmaking is probably the most practical choice - even if it leaves Silas out of the actual managerial work. (Safe option, but Silas does not know what Reizei is capable of.)

Finally… what does Silas do?
[] [CW] Speak with Hana. She seems distraught, and he hates that. (Same as TALK action)
[] [CW] Tutor with Kuroda. Maybe he ought to shore up on his speech and enunciation…? (Builds Hobby: Speaking)
[] [CW] Hover over Rakuyama and Reizei. He is sort of interested in what they do. (Same as TALK action)
[] [CW] Hover over Mikado. Silas knows little about him. It might be time to change that. (Same as TALK action)


"Hey." Reizei motioned for Silas to come closer.

"Nn?"

"I… wanted to ask something."

"Yeah? W-What is it, Reizei-kun?"

"Something's not right with Yumika-san, right?"

"Eh?" Silas blanched. He knew? Already? But the whole point of him being here was so that Reizei and Rakuyama and the others wouldn't find out that there was something wrong!"

For some reason, Reizei grinned sheepishly. "Let… let me guess. Yumika-san put you up to this so that me and Riku-nee and the others wouldn't find out that there was something wrong."

...m-mind reader! Silas thought feebly. He's a mind reader!

Reizei spoke up. "Listen, I know for a fact that she probably begged you not to talk or something, but could you please tell me what's on her mind? It's eating me alive, here. I'm Yumika-san's right hand man, yeah? I need to know if I can help her in any way."

Silas smiled. "T-That's what friends do, right…? Help each other."

"Uh." He looked confused. "I wouldn't be so cliche about it… but yeah." Reizei said seriously. "I won't tell a soul - outside of Riku-nee - if it's serious or something. But I've gotta know."

He hesitated. "I-Its kind of personal, Reizei-kun…" He felt along the side of his blazer and silently rotated a dial forwards. "A-And, you know. It's…"

"Please?" Reizei asked. He stared at him inquisitively. "I… I know how Yumika-san can be. She hates making us worry. But if she told you… she's… gotta tell me, too."

Silas gulped. He detected a hint of jealousy. "T-That's… part of the problem… She specifically said that…" his words trailed off.

"Can I just… have an idea?" he tried, distraught. "If there's anything me or Riku-nee can do, I want to know, so we can do it, dammit. I'm not powerless. We're not powerless."

"What do you… think it is?"

Reizei blinked. "Oh? Um… I was going to guess something involving one of the boys in Computer Club got Yumika-san feeling guilty. Or maybe Hana-chan and Yumika-san had a row? Or just, usual school stress stuff? I don't know, I'm throwing ideas out there."

Silas gulped. He was awfully close to the truth. "S-See, Reizei-kun, I…"

He hesitated. Reizei was staring him down, and it occurred to him that he would have to be very careful with what he planned to say next.

Silas responds:
[] [RESPONSE] (Danger!) Take him aside and tell him everything, including the part about the Student Council's shenanigans.
[] [RESPONSE] Take him aside and admit Yumika and Hana are having relationship problems.
[] [RESPONSE] Admit that she's having problems with a friend.
[] [RESPONSE] Apologize. It's personal, and Silas doesn't feel comfortable talking about Yumika behind her back.