Under the Rain [Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS]

S3-56✩ The Stubborn Scarlet Star's Blatant Confession

-April, at the start of the new semester of Den City High School-

When the sun had begun to turn red and most of the students had gone home, two students were still occupying the Student Council room, doing their own thing in a peaceful silence. They were Igarashi and Mizuno, who had been recently elected as the Student Council president and vice president of this year, and now were screening the application forms submitted by the students who wanted to join them in the Student Council. Though, only Igarashi was actually doing it, because there were no more than ten forms to be reviewed so he didn't need Mizuno's help. Apparently many students immediately backed off after reading the requirements list that they needed to submit alongside their form. His ridiculous list made those disappointed students spread lies and nasty rumors about him, but although he knew this, he was indifferent towards them.

As for Mizuno, he was sitting by the window and was deeply engrossed in his hobby. The hyperrealism painting of the sakura trees seen from the Student Council room window that he was working on was only one of the many masterpieces that he had created in his free time. He actually had an incredible talent in fine arts and craft, but chose to study medicine out of his strong sense of responsibility. His friends sang him praises because of this, but he always managed to stay humble. Igarashi and Mizuno were two individuals with different traits, so perhaps the contrast between them was what made them stay good friends and strongly trust each other.

The silence ended when Igarashi felt a light pat on his shoulder and glanced up to see Mizuno standing behind him. "There's seven of them, huh? Not bad. Seems like the competition's still gonna be a fierce one!" the blue-haired boy commented as he looked at the documents being spread on the president's desk. Even though the school mainly used digital instruments, Igarashi preferred using the old-fashioned ink and paper and asked the applicants to fill their forms with their handwriting. Smirking mysteriously at him, Mizuno asked, "So did anyone catch your attention?"

"Well, someone definitely did... in a bad light," Igarashi replied, averting his gaze from Mizuno's curious stare. He picked one of the forms that he set aside from the others and handed it to Mizuno. "Every single one of them is exceptional except this girl named Tsubaki Mirai. According to this form that she submitted, she has no experience in club activities and that's because she was homeschooled shortly after enrolling in junior high and she never joined any after-school clubs in grade school, either."

Mizuno's eyebrows furrowed nervously at the mention of the name and upon reading the document in his hands but he quickly masked it from Igarashi by closing his eyes and smiled widely. "So what? You know what they say: better late than never! It just shows her eagerness to try something new. It's not like experience is a must and you'll disqualify her just because of that, right?"

Igarashi briefly stared at him from the corner of his eyes before replying, "Of course not. The application form along with my 'ridiculous requirements list' were actually a test to make sure everyone who signed up would know what awaits them should they pass and join the Student Council, so the fact that she submitted all of them is amazing in itself," he took the form back from Mizuno and stacked it with the other forms. "Besides, I was still going to pass her for an interview because she scored the third highest on the admission test. I'm always welcoming towards clever people, you see. Although frankly speaking, without experience she doesn't stand a chance against the other candidates, which includes the first and second rankers. But that's okay; getting hard-slapped by reality would be a valuable life lesson for her."

Even though Mizuno was relieved at first, he couldn't help but stare at Igarashi in disbelief right now. "Do you realize just how cold-hearted you sounded? She's not even bad, sheesh..." he frowned profusely before averting his gaze and murmuring quietly to himself, "And 'life lesson'? Give me a break, she's had enough of them already."