Work Text:
Chihiro wasn’t particularly fond of math, but there was something that had always piqued her interest about doing the school budget. As the treasurer of the student council, she had to handle more administrative duties instead of working with the actual student body. This was perfectly fine by her, but it often led to her being rather out of the loop.
It was the end of April, and as customary for the end of the month, she was reviewing the budgets of Gekkoukan’s plethora of clubs. Most she recognized in passing, but one in particular stuck out to her.
S.E.E.S….? Whatever could that be?
The strange acronym was the first red flag in her mind. Countless different clubs had tried using acronyms to gain funding for less-than-professional endeavors. But this club didn’t seem to have a full name listed anywhere. Well, she was only a first year, maybe this was a well-known club to her upperclassmen? Looking up from her spot in the Student Council Room, Chihiro realized that she was alone – and likely had been for a while.
I should really be more aware of my surroundings, she sighed to herself. Oh well, no use fretting over it now. If there was no one to ask about this mysterious S.E.E.S. club, she would do some research on her own. It was a chance to learn more about the student body after all.
She carefully pulled files out of their carefully sorted system. Kirijo may not be here at the moment, but Chihiro was sure she’d disapprove of disorganized records. Despite the well-organized records, there was startlingly little information to be found about S.E.E.S.. Looking over the annual funding reports showed that the club had been active for at least 4 years. Just like the budget review she was working on today, none of the prior reports included the full name of the club.
Maybe it’s a long-running joke that I’m just not aware of? She thought to herself, but that felt unlikely. The light of sunset was beginning to illuminate her paperwork, signalling that it was about time she headed home. No matter how intriguing this little mystery was, she still had to get home in time to do her homework.
She gathered up her schoolbag and circled the S.E.E.S. listing on the budget report with a red pen. After a moment, she added a few question marks beside it. Maybe she’d get some answers another day.
—-
The next few weeks were a whirlwind of paperwork and getting settled in for the rest of the school year. Chihiro quickly forgot about the oddity on the club register. Or she would have if the rest of the school had let her. The newest member of the student council, Yuki, saw her notes and had taken an interest in the club. He ended up going through similar steps that she did in the search for more information.
When she asked him why he was so interested, he responded that he was “interested in the club’s history”. It felt like the biggest cop out answer ever, but she was too shy to push him on it. Whether it was through Yuki or one of his friends, S.E.E.S. began to sweep across Gekkoukan like only the juiciest of rumors could.
She couldn’t walk down the hall without students gossiping about S.E.E.S.. The story behind it kept changing, too. One week, it was a secret society for dark magic. Next, it was a crossdressing maid cafe. On one particular occasion, she heard that they were allowed all sorts of dangerous weapons in the club. The influence of high schoolers' ridiculous imaginations knew no bounds, truly.
Odagiri, in a good mood and feeling particularly brave one afternoon, approached Kirijo about the S.E.E.S. club and asked if she knew anything about it. Kirijo smirked to herself, very uncharacteristically, as if she was in on some sort of joke, but didn’t say anything more.
—-
The months began to tick by, and the student body moved on to newer gossip. There was still the occasional curious student, but the hype had largely died down. Within the student council, it had become a running joke.
On one particular day, Kenji Tomochika showed up to the student council and actually asked to join S.E.E.S.. For a moment, the student council just looked at each other, not really knowing what to say.
After a moment or two of silence, Chihiro gathered the courage to speak up.
“I mean, we can’t guarantee anything…but we could at least look at the club roster..?” She sputtered. “Then maybe you could take it up with the club president?”
There was another pause as Odagiri, the only other council member present, looked at her with a shocked expression.
“You know what, I hadn’t thought of that,” He replied, almost talking to himself. “Why didn’t we ever think to look at the club roster?”
Tomochika did a little hop and flung his bag over his shoulder. “Oh yeah? So there’s a chance I can actually join?” He began, speaking faster as he got more excited. “Imma be honest, I didn’t think that I’d have a shot! But maaan, will this look good to the ladies!”
Despite her excitement to learn more about this mystery, Tomochika’s ideation was almost enough to turn her off the idea entirely. Odagiri wasn’t nearly as internal about his displeasure.
“Oh, can it, we’re not doing this for you, Tomochika,” Odagiri growled, “As a member of the disciplinary committee, it's my job to investigate any suspicious student groups…that’s all.”
Chihiro thought that Odagiri was just as curious as Tomochika was, but didn’t see the point in calling him out on it. After all, she wanted to know if such a form existed as well. With bated breath, both Tomochika and herself waited in anticipation as Odagiri rustled around in the cabinets in the back of the room. After a moment, he pulled out a file and tossed it on the table.
“Well, they have a file alright, but it's gotta be one of the smallest I’ve ever seen,” He began, rubbing his chin. “With a club being around as long as this one has, there should be more in here.”
Upon closer inspection, Odagiri seemed to be correct. Sitting on the table before them was potentially the smallest club file she’d ever seen. Even closed, she could tell there was no bulk to it. Without further pretense, Tomochika flipped open the folder and presented the contents to the room. Inside were 2 loose-leaf sheets of paper. Both sheets were yellowed with time, but didn’t contain a ton of information.
The first sheet was a simple list of names. In a neat, concise scrawl that she immediately recognizes as Kirijo’s, she read off the first three names.
Mitsuru Kirijo (President)
Akihiko Sanada
Shinjiro Aragaki
Next to each name was a signature that she didn’t recognize and a date from over 4 years ago. Below that were a few more names, still written in Kirijo’s precise handwriting, with a variety of different pens and adorning dates. Her eyes widened as she read off the remainder of the list:
Yukari Takeba
Makoto Yuki
Junpei Iori
Fuuka Yamagishi
Aigis
Ken Amada
Finally, under the rest of the names, in an unfamiliar writing, was one last line of text.
Koro-chan!
Chihiro raised her hand to cover her mouth in surprise. While she was familiar with many of the names on the list, there were a few that she couldn’t begin to recognize. As shocking as it was to see Kirijo’s name listed, she was more impressed than anything to see just how much work she could juggle at a time. Their Student Council President truly was amazing. In retrospect, Sanada also made a lot of sense. From what she’d seen, the two of them had been friends for a long while. Judging by the date listed next to their names, maybe they founded the club?
Unfortunately, the list just got crazier from there. She couldn’t recall anyone called Aragaki, but he was registered to the club at the same time as Sanada and Kirijo. It was over four years ago…maybe he graduated?
Chihiro’s spiraling thoughts were uprooted by Tomochika’s much more obtuse objections.
“Wait…Makoto and Junpei?” He shouted, pointing at the list. “I can’t believe those idiots didn’t tell me!”
At this explanation, Odagiri’s face lit up with recognition as he too recognized something on the list.
“Makoto …I can’t believe he would keep something like this from me,” Odagiri scowled. “This group sounds suspicious, I can’t believe that he’s involved with this nonsense.”
“W-well, let’s not jump to conclusions,” Chihiro began, shuddering as their gazes met hers. “I doubt Kirijo would be the president of an unseemly club…would you? Sanada seems like the straight-laced type as well.”
Odagiri seemed to consider this, but was quickly interrupted.
“I mean, yeah, we know all about them, but who are these other people?” Tomochika stated a little louder than necessary. “I don’t know them well, but Yamagishi and Takeba are fairly normal, but who the hell are Aigis and Koro-chan! I mean it sounds like a pet's name, there are hearts surrounding the name, and everything!”
Leaning in for a closer look revealed that the Koro-chan listing was indeed surrounded by little hearts. It was cute, but it did nothing to answer their growing questions.
Odagiri rubbed his chin in the way that he did when he was determined to solve a particularly nasty problem.
“I haven’t met her personally, but I think Aigis was the student who transferred in after Makoto, same class and everything.” He explained. “She’s a bit of an odd duck, but I haven’t heard anything particularly bad about her.”
The three of them contemplated in silence for a few moments before Chihiro remembered the other document. Picking it up, it was dated the same as Kirijo, Sanada, and Aragaki’s entrance dates. It seemed to be the typical form that students needed to have filled out by their club advisor, but instead of one of the typical Gekkoukan teachers, it seemed to have been completed by…Shuji Ikutsuki?
Chihiro, not recognizing the name, leaned the paper towards Odagiri. Catching on quickly, he gently took it from her and began reading through it.
“Ikutsuki..? Why would he be authorizing clubs? It doesn’t make any logistical sense!” He concluded, confusion evident in his voice.
“Ikutsuki, who now?” Tomochika offered in reply. “I don’t think I’m in any of his classes this year.”
Odagiri shook his head, but it was lacking its usual glower. “That’s because he isn’t a teacher, he’s the school’s chairman.”
That confused Chihiro more than anything so far. She hadn’t been a part of the student council for long, but she thought she knew Kirijo well enough. She must have been using her family connections through the school to get this club approved; that was the only explanation after all. A prank was one thing, but a fully funded club? Her head was starting to spin.
Odagiri cleared his throat, once again commanding the attention of the room. Chihiro wished she could have that sort of confidence.
“As wild as this all sounds, spreading it outside the three of us would only reignite the rumors surrounding S.E.E.S.” Odagiri spoke slowly, as if even he wasn’t sure what he was going to say next. “Until we can ascertain the exact nature of what this club even is, I say that we keep our mouths shut.”
After a moment, he shot them both a cautious look. “That includes President Kirijo and Makoto. If they are up to something nefarious, we wouldn’t want them catching on to us.”
As difficult as it felt to consider the idea, Odagiri’s logic was sound, so Chihiro nodded her agreement. Tomochika was standing there with his arms crossed looking glum, but eventually acquiesced.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m in,” he responded, tapping his foot repetitively. “I’m just pissed that my pals would keep something from me…ya’know?”
Chihiro shared a look with Odagiri, both hoping that Tomochika would keep his promise.
“So Makoto, when were you going to tell me that you were in S.E.E.S.?”
Mitsuru liked to think of herself as a rather composed individual, but hearing a question like that out of the blue was almost enough to make her drop her bento.
Almost.
It had been a perfectly ordinary day thus far, or as ordinary as they could be. Though she tried to keep her teammates focused on their schoolwork, she could hardly blame them for their occasional inattention. The Dark Hour was enough to rattle anyone, especially after their consecutive infiltrations.
Because of such stressors, she had decided to surprise the team with a nice lunch that afternoon. They were all busy people from different friend groups, but they occasionally made the time to hang out as a group. It wasn’t good for team synergy to only meet up for club ‘activities’ anyway.
When they all met up in their agreed-upon area for lunch, Junpei was accompanied by someone she wasn’t immediately familiar with. On paper, Junpei’s friend, Tomochika was his name, could sit with whoever he liked. They were eating in one of Gekkoukan’s bigger pavilions, and it was by no means a private space. Students were milling about all around them, going about their lunchtime activities. In the end, she decided not to say anything but mentally reminded herself to educate Junpei on social etiquette.
In hindsight, ending the whole interaction right there may have saved her a couple of headaches in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, she was too busy trying to be accommodating.
Their lunch started fairly mundane. Yukari gave Junpei a couple of odd looks over Tomochika’s inclusion, but they were quickly forgotten when she discovered that he knew Makoto as well. It was good to see their leader coming out of his shell, bit by bit. When he first arrived at Gekkoukan, he didn’t seem to care about anything at all. But nowadays, he was always busy after school, racing to hang out with his network of friends.
Mitsuru herself didn’t engage much with the idle chit chat beyond pleasantries. She was content to enjoy her lunch and just be present in the rare peaceful moment. Yukari and Fuuka seemed to be discussing a TV show of sorts, with Aigis occasionally interrupting with trivia. They didn’t usually watch similar shows, so it was nice to see them have something in common. Akihiko had seemingly finished his lunch ages ago and was now quickly jotting down notes from a textbook; probably studying for the math quiz they had next period. For someone so punctual, he often forgot the little things.
Finally, sitting directly across from her were Junpei, Makoto, and Tomochika. Junpei and Tomochika seemed to be engrossed in their discussion of the latest game to arrive at the arcade, while Makoto only occasionally contributed his thoughts. After watching him for a little while, she realized that like her, he was observing the rest of the group. He may have been an unwilling leader at first, but he had definitely stepped up to the role.
After a lengthy conversation that Mitsuru was largely uninterested in, Tomochika sat up straight in his chair, almost as if he remembered something important. His fun-loving grin shifted into something more dubious before turning towards Makoto.
“So Makoto, when were you going to tell me that you were in S.E.E.S.?” Tomochika asked, in a suspiciously giddy manner. “I thought we were buds, man! You know about all of my dirty laundry!”
Though Tomochika’s voice had a more jeering tone than a downright instigative one, he seemed genuinely put out. Conversations across the table died out as everyone turned to look at Tomochika. Even Akihiko was aware enough to pay attention. As for Makoto, he blinked owlishly for a few seconds before turning to Mitsuru in a thinly veiled cry for help.
It was only through years of leadership and quick thinking that Mitsuru was able to pull herself together.
“I don’t see how Makoto’s club activities are any business of yours, Tomochika,” Mitsuru answered slowly, gaining confidence as she spoke. “If a club has been ratified by the school, I see no reason for a student to question its members.”
Now, Mitsuru didn’t know Tomochika well, nor did she have any plans on getting to know him anytime soon, but he didn’t give her the impression of a particularly…bright individual. Despite this, the smirk that he shot at her in reply was downright maniacal. Mitsuru had the sneaking suspicion that she just fell right into his trap.
“Well, Miss Student Council President, it’s funny you should mention club members,” He continued, his voice getting louder and louder. “Because I have it on good authority that everyone at this table is a member of the fabled S.E.E.S. club!”
Junpei opened his mouth to respond to that declaration, but was swiftly kicked under the table by Yukari. As Tomochika stared her down with his arms crossed so smugly, she realized the situation she was in. The ruckus at their table had attracted quite a crowd. The students sitting at nearby tables weren’t even trying to be subtle with their eavesdropping.
Forcing herself to think logically, Mitsuru knew that it was extremely unlikely that Tomochika knew what they did as a club, as running around beating up shadows after midnight was quite a leap in logic. In the end, it didn’t matter how he managed to find out now that half the school knew.
She was in the middle of fabricating the perfect counterargument when Makoto spoke up, ruining her chances of saving face.
“...So does this mean we can wear the armbands to school?” Their glorious leader asked like you would ask someone for the weather.
Mitsuru took a deep breath, it was going to be a long year.