Cross Worlds

Chapter 30-2

"Why not just let the oldest fill the position?"

"That guy? Hell no. Way too lazy and he even picked the easiest position in our rankings. No way is he gonna be a good president."

"Hey! Just because you're right doesn't mean you have to say it out loud! Little bastards!"

"Then how about the strongest? Obviously that would be Kenji right? Or Yujita? I heard he had a hand in helping take down Hiroshitface."

"Dude, I'm 15 and Yujita is 16... Even if we're strong, ain't no way in hell we know anything about running an organization."

"What about the people with the best grades and work ethic then? That would make the most sense right?"

"Maybe, but us smart types are always looked down upon and bullied. No one would care to listen to us, and we can't use our powers against normal people."

"True, and ruling by fear through those powers would be an awful idea..."

Everyone audibly sighs as they all shoot ideas to no avail. "So basically, we need someone who's a decent age, got some pretty good strength, and is smart with a good work ethic. If such a perfect male specimen exists, he isn't in this organization, I'll tell you that much." Kenji states bluntly.

"Why does there have to be a leader at all?" Riku suddenly spouts, having been quietly listening to everyone's ideas the whole time. Everyone quickly turns their focus to him and so he continues with his idea. "You're all trying to come up with a leader, but why not just split all the work required between all of you? Leave the heavy lifting to the strong, the brain work to the intelligent, etcetera. Whenever someone needs help, you fall back on your comrades to push you forward. If you follow this kind of system, it'll show just how advanced Apollo is to the outside world, and you'll probably start getting way more applicants. After all, an entire organization as big as Apollo, being run by its own members after its president has passed away? What could show the facility's worth more than that?"

"Huh...that's actually not such a bad idea. Where did you get to be so smart, kid?" One of the older members asks.

"Oh you know, I do a lot of reading, you could say..." Riku thinks back to his experience as a resistance leader. "While you might not have as many magic Apollo members as Artemis has, you all should be more than enough to get the job done right?"

"While I don't think you're wrong, none of us have ever had that kind of experience. What if there's a question that none of us are able to answer?" Yujita asks, sheepishly scratching his cheek.

"Then you can simply ask me." Emica speaks up. "After all, I've been doing this for years now. If there's anything you need to know or be taught, I can help you." She suggests with a confident smile.

"What? But we can't just leech off you Miss Emica! That's wrong!" Yujita shouts in protest.

"Oh you won't be, of course I have a condition." Emica smiles innocently and everyone quickly goes silent, Riku predicting as much from her from the moment she suggested such a thing. "You'll all agree to partner up with Artemis. We can hold joint programs, send some transfers over, and slowly but surely...combine into one organization."

Riku's eyes widen slightly. "Huh, I hadn't even thought of that. Emica's ultimate goal is to allow men into her facility as well, so partnering up with Apollo and one day combining forces would be..."

"Honestly, I see no problems at all with the idea." Kenji says with a grin. "We get help from Artemis' president to help run Apollo and we one day unite into one organization? I say we sign the contract right now."