As Tatsuya was heading towards the Disciplinary Committee HQ after class, a high pitched voice called to him. When he turned around, a skinny girl with short cut hair greeted him.
"I'm surprised Erika... are you by yourself?"
"Is that something to be surprised about? I don't see myself keeping appointments with other people and going around with them." Now that she mentioned it, there were several instances Tatsuya could think of.
"Anyways Tatsuya-kun, what are you gonna do about clubs? Mizuki said she was going to join the Art Club. She invited me to join with her, but I'm not exactly the artistic type, so I am just walking around to see if there's anything more fun to do."
"Didn't Leo also say that he chose something?"
"The Mountain Club right? That really suits him."
"Well... it does seem to suit him."
"The Mountain club at our school focuses more on survival than just climbing. Seriously, it's almost like the club's just made for him."
The way she was subtly cursing about almost made her seem like she was bored.
"Hey Tatsuya, if you haven't joined a club yet, do you wanna look around with me?" Tatsuya wasn't able to blatantly reject her because she seemed to have a lonely face, but if he pointed that out to her then she was sure to get angry at him. "To tell you the truth, it seems like the Disciplinary Committee's already using me as they please. It's possible for me to walk around with you, but I have to do it as a patrol. If that's okay with you then I can do it."
"Hmmmmm... ah, well. Let's just meet up in front of the classroom then." Erika seemed to think hard before letting out a shrug like she was reluctant to go along with it, but the smile on her face gave away her fake gestures.
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"Why are you here?!" That was how the reunion started. "Aren't you acting a bit rude?" Tatsuya sighed and said that with a tired voice, but this caused only more agitation.
"What!!"
He seemed like he was about to lunge forward, but,
"Shut up you newcomer." A quick roar from Mari made Morisaki Shun stand upright and close his mouth. "This is an official meeting for the Disciplinary Members, so every person here is a member of the Disciplinary Committee. At least get that through your head before you shout out like that."
"I apologize!" How pitiful; Morisaki's face showed tension and fear. He was brought in only two days ago by Mari. Not only that, he was still feeling heat from being reprimanded from the Student President, a heavy burden for a serious new student such as him.
"Oh well, take a seat." Mari let out a nervous expression as she ordered the blood-drained faced first year to sit down. Judging from her demeanor, she did not seem like the type of person who would feel pleasure from oppressing those that were weaker than her. Morisaki sat in the chair facing Tatsuya. It was an unwanted seating arrangement for the two, but they couldn't help it because they were the newest members.
Being an underling meant they had to sit at the edge of the table, glaring at each other. "Everyone here?" After 9 people entered the room, Mari stood up. "Okay, listen up. The beginning of that crazy week is here again. For the Disciplinary Committee, this will be the first big hurdle we have to overcome in the beginning of the year. Last year, there were certain people in here who had joined and caused an uproar during this period, and there were others who tried to stop it but ended up making it worse. Please be sure to brace yourselves this year. I don't want to give any reprimands to anyone. I repeat, Disciplinary members will not be the ones causing trouble this year."
Multiple members just sat there and shrugged. Tatsuya, on the other hand, seemed to always get into some kind of trouble, so he swore to himself to be extra careful during this time. "Thankfully, we were able to find replacements in time to cover the ones who graduated. I'll introduce you. Stand up."
Even though there weren't any rehearsals or anything, the two were able to stand up quickly without being muddled. But, the two had completely opposite facial expressions. Morisaki was unable to or didn't even bother to hide his nervous facial expression, but the way he stood upright showed his enthusiasm. On the contrast, Tatsuya just stood up acting calm and composed.
"Morisaki Shun from 1A and Shiba Tatsuya from 1E. These two will be incorporated in the patrols from now on." There were murmurs in the room after hearing Tatsuya's class number. But since it was the headquarters where they reprimanded any student using the offensive word, he didn't hear anybody using the word "Weed".
"Who is he being paired up with?" Instead, there were some people who asked questions about him. One of the people who raised his hand was a 2nd Year named Okada. He was one of the people elected by the teachers.
"As I explained previously, during the club recruitment week, everybody will patrol the grounds on their own accord. The newcomers are not an exception to this."
"Are they even useful?" Formally, that question was pointed to both Tatsuya and Morisaki, but by the way his eyes looked at Tatsuya's left chest showed that it was directed only towards him. Something like this was expected to Tatsuya, so he just let Mari handle everything. But Mari, on the other hand, already had a fed up look on her face when she was looking at Okada.
"Don't worry, they're useful. I've seen Shiba's skills with my own eyes and Morisaki is also pretty competent with his device manipulation. He just had bad luck with his opponent. If you're still anxious, then why don't you pair up with Morisaki?" Mari let out a negligent answer like she had enough of it, but Okada hid his smirk and, while holding his composure, let out a sarcastic
"It's fine".
"Anybody else want to say anything?" Tatsuya was surprised at Mari's belligerent composure because it made her seem like she was picking a fight with everyone. But besides Tatsuya and Morisaki, no one paid much attention to it. The other members treated this like it was a daily routine. There seemed to be some deep-rooted conflicts within the committee, but the leader here seemed to be the one stirring up these conflicts.
"We will be concluding this meeting. The patrols will be done according to plan. Does anyone have any objection with this?" There were some who seemed like they wanted to say something, but they weren't people who were actively opposed to the notion.
"Okay, very well then, carry on. Don't forget your recorders. I will explain things to Shiba and Morisaki. Everyone else, mobilize!" Everyone stood upright, put their heels together, and used their right fist to hit their left chest. Tatsuya wondered what was going on, but he learned later that this was the traditional salute that the Disciplinary Committee used. There were other rules like saying "Good morning", no matter what the time was, and such.
The other six members started leaving the room one by one. Koutarou and Sawaki, the last ones to leave, said "Don't try too hard" and "If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me" as they left (it was obvious which one said what). As Tatsuya was being courteous (at least formally) to the two, Morisaki glared at him with annoyance. Mari saw this and held in a sigh while feeling a headache coming around.
"First, I'll give you guys these."
Mari gave the two an armband and a small video recorder. "Put the recorder in your chest pocket. It's customized where the lens would pop right out of the pocket. All you have to do is push the recording button on the right." When they put the recorders in their pockets as told, the lens stuck out, ready to record.
"Be sure to keep that recorder on you at all times. When you see someone committing a violation, be sure to press the switch. You don't really have to worry about getting a good picture because testimony from a Disciplinary Member is considered as adequate evidence. Just think of it as a precautionary measure."
As she waited for the two to reply, Mari ordered them to bring out their mobile terminals. "I'm going to send you the communication frequencies now... confirm that you received it." The two confirmed the receipt of the communication frequency.
"Always report your findings using this frequency. We will also be giving out instructions through this frequency as well. Lastly, CADs. Disciplinary Members are permitted to carry their CADs and you don't have to wait for permission from someone to use them. But, if we find any unauthorized usage, you will be kicked out of the committee and receive a penalty more severe than the normal students. Last year, we had a student expelled because of that, so be careful."
"Question."
"Go ahead."
"May I use the CADs that I found in the Committee room?" Tatsuya's question caught her off-guard so it took a moment for an answer to come.
"...I don't mind, but why? Those are pretty old models." Mari figured, by watching Tatsuya during his match yesterday and such, that he was skilled with handling and maintaining CADs. Not to mention that Azusa was enthusiastically talking about the high spec CAD that he used. And here he was asking to use an older model.
Mari couldn't hide her curiosity. "They may be older models, but those CADs are high-class items mainly used by professionals." He gave an unexpected answer with a bitter smile.
"...Is that right?"
"Yes, that series has a low popularity because it's such a hassle to maintain, but despite that, you are able to customize it however you want, and the switch while using the NCT is very sensitive. Thanks to that, although limited, it has passionate support from enthusiasts. The person who bought these was probably a fan of the series. The battery life is a little limited, but it's been overclocked to boost processing power. If you sell these, you can probably get a hefty sum of money from those enthusiasts."
"...And we've been treating those things as trash all this time. I see, now I know why you were so particular about cleaning up the place."
"I'm sure if you brought Nakajou-senpai over she would have explained about the series..." "Nakajou is too afraid to even step foot in this room."
"Oh... I see." The two let out nervous laughs. But Mari soon noticed Morisaki was thrown out of the loop.
"*Cough* Well, in that case use it however you want. It's just collecting dust in the room anyway."
"Understood. In that case, I'll borrow two of them."
"Two? You really are an interesting person." Tatsuya took the two that he had secretly customized for himself and attached them to both of his arms. Seeing that, Mari let out a smile, and Morisaki twisted his lips sarcastically.
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"Hey." While leaving the HQ, Tatsuya was called out by Morisaki. He could tell by his voice that it wasn't something friendly. Tatsuya thought about ignoring him, but that would just make things more complicated, so he unwillingly turned around.
"What?"
A resenting voice and an arrogant answer. There was no way a friendly atmosphere would come out of this. "You seem to be good at bluffing. Is that how you got to the president and the other members' good side?"
"Are you jealous?"
"Wha..." If you're going to get angry over a small counter like this then stop making sarcastic remarks, thought Tatsuya. But at the same time, he felt a little jealous of Morisaki's straightforward attitude.
"...Either way, you really crossed the line this time. There's no way you Course 2 guys can use multiple CADs at once." By not saying "Weeds", he's probably putting his awareness in the Disciplinary Member's role, thought Tatsuya cynically. But Morisaki didn't notice Tatsuya's bored stares and continued with his lecturing like he was drunk with his own words. "If you attach CADs on both your arms, then the Psion interference would make both of them unusable. You didn't even know that did you? All you were thinking about was looking cool.
Since you can't use any decent spells, I guess you have to do these sneaky little things to get by just so you don't look stupid." "Is that supposed to be advice? You seem pretty confident, Morisaki." "Ha! I'm different from you people. I was caught off guard the other day, but that won't happen next time. I'll show you the difference in our levels." How naïve of him to assume that there will always be a "next time"...
◊ ◊ ◊
Even though he had a meeting with Erika, she wasn't in front of the classroom when Tatsuya came. Oh well... Tatsuya let out a sigh, a habit he acquired since the beginning of school, and brought up the LPS in his mobile terminal. There was a red dot slowly moving on the school map. At least she was kind enough to not turn off her mobile device. She didn't seem that far away. It was only supposed to be a precautionary measure though... She was completely relying on him to seek her out. He zoomed in on her location and started walking towards it. Tents covered one school ground to another; it almost made this place look like a fair with street vendors.
"Seems like there's a festival going on here..." Erika said to herself. But when she realized that, she started laughing at herself. She had a habit of talking to herself, but from the beginning of this school year, she hid that habit. Unusual that I'm by myself, huh... It looks like you really don't understand me that well Tatsuya-kun. She was silently talking to him — the boy whom she broke her promise with.
During middle school, actually even in elementary school, she spent most of her time alone. It's not like she hated people or anything like that. She had a pleasant attitude and she could easily get along with anyone. She just becomes negligent towards relationships quickly. She just couldn't be with anyone 24 hours a day. Her good friends called her cold and said that she acted like a whimsical cat. Others said that she acted high and mighty. There were many boys who wanted to have a relationship with her, but none ever lasted. She went around freely, not being tied down by any promises. That was her motto.
...Well, it WAS my motto... but lately I've been acting a bit weird. Looking at it from a 3rd person's perspective, it almost seemed like she was stalking him, Erika thought to herself. This is the first time that I promised to meet up and go around with someone. It has only been a week so I could get bored of this like always, but at the same time, I was thinking that this might be different.
"Erika~"
10 minutes after the promised time. From just past the school entrance within school grounds, Tatsuya was calling out Erika's name. He found me quicker than I expected, she thought. "...Sorry."
He showed a painful expression on his face for a moment, but then he bowed his head down. "...So you're going to apologize." Erika wasn't expecting this, so she was stupefied.
"I'm sorry for being 10 minutes late for our meeting time. But, being late and not being at the promised location are two different things."
"Ack... sorry." It was a strange expression, but Erika was unable to counter the smile on his serious face. "...Say Tatsuya, don't people say that you have a bad personality?"
"No, that's unthinkable. No one has ever complained about my personality. They have said that I am a bad person though."
"That's the same thing! Wait, that's even worse!"
"Oh wait, that's wrong. Not a bad person but an evil person."
"That's even worse!"
"I was even called a demon by some people."
"Ok, I've had enough!" As Erika was panting, Tatsuya started acting like a pondering philosopher. "You seem tired. Are you okay?"
"...Tatsuya. People mentioned that you have a bad personality, didn't they?"
"Well as a matter of fact they did."
"...So you're just going to ignore the entire conversation we just had?" Erika just dropped her head from fatigue.