Chapter Text
It was a dark and rainy afternoon in late October, and Sayaka entered the student council meeting room to prepare for their weekly meeting.
The lights flickered a little when she switched them on, throwing long shadows across the empty room. Outside, the rain came down in buckets, bringing with it a dreary atmosphere and a creeping cold.
Sayaka frowned at the flickering lights, making a mental note about them for later, and walked over to the table with her small stack of documents.
Her first order of business was to put the kettle on and prepare the tea set for the President. While the water heated, she went back to the documents and placed copies at every seat at the table, making sure they lined up perfectly with each other.
The President had left her chair slightly off center, so Sayaka fixed it and placed a small kiss on the back of it. She remained there just a split second, not wanting anyone to catch her feeding her strange obsession.
Unfortunately, she hadn't yet found the opportunity to kiss her secret girlfriend today, so her chair would have to do for now.
It had been about a month since the trip to the islands where Kirari and Sayaka had become a couple, and the secret was still somehow under wraps.
It was starting to become a bit old.
Not the relationship itself, of course – Sayaka was as deliriously happy as a person could be - but the secrecy. Sayaka had a standing invitation to a sleepover at Kirari's house, one which she could not attend until their silly bet was settled. If it had been up to Sayaka, she would have made sure it was settled some way or another within the first week, but since the President had insisted that they continue this charade, Sayaka did her best to keep their relationship hidden.
The lightbulb flickered again, and then the door opened. To Sayaka's delight, none other than Kirari walked in.
“Ah! Good afternoon, President.”
Sayaka insisted on using Kirari's title at school, even if they were alone. She had almost forgotten herself once, and that in front of Ririka, no less.
“Good afternoon, Sa-ya-ka,” Kirari sing-songed, before making her way over to Sayaka, and catching her by the waist.
Sayaka blushed at Kirari's attempt at rattling her before the meeting, and kept her eyes locked on the door.
“What if someone comes in?”
“How dreadful that would be,” Kirari teased.
The two of them stood close for a few seconds, looking each other up and down with thinly veiled attraction before they sprung apart with a fake air of professionalism.
Okay, it was a little fun being secret lovers, Sayaka had to admit.
She went back to the kettle to finish preparing the tea while the President crossed the room and found her seat at the table. She was skimming the agenda when Sayaka placed the tea in front of her.
Kirari took a small sip while Sayaka watched and envied the cup that got to touch the President's lips, but as it were, any of the other council members could enter at any moment, so Sayaka begrudgingly abstained from leaning down and kissing her.
Keeping their relationship secret was what the President wanted, and so Sayaka would stay strong.
“This is excellent, Sayaka,” Kirari said and placed the teacup back on its saucer before looking at Sayaka with her wonderful blue eyes. “I wanted to ask you about something.”
“Yes?” Sayaka subconsciously straightened her back.
“How do you feel about going on an overnight trip this weekend?”
Sayaka blinked in surprise.
“Overnight, as in a s-sleepover?” she stuttered slightly, trying not to get her hopes up, and also not to seem too eager.
The two of them hadn't gone past making out in the President's office ever since they got back from their trip to the islands, and if Sayaka was being honest, it was only her sense of propriety and fear of being caught in the act that kept her from jumping the President every time she saw her.
“I imagine there will be sleep involved, yes,” Kirari said, her eyes twinkling as she looked Sayaka up and down. “Do you have any interest in that?”
“T-that sounds delightful, President!”
Sayaka was, despite her intention to stay cool, almost vibrating with eagerness, which made Kirari giggle.
“Good. I'll make the arrangements.”
Sayaka raised her eyebrows. For the President to make the arrangements herself – well, it was certainly unusual. But then again, Kirari did win the right to decide their next travel destination during their last trip, so maybe she wanted to surprise her?
Kirari smiled one of her mischievous smiles and took another sip of tea. Above them, the light flickered again. Sayaka raised her head towards it and let out a small huff.
“I'm sorry, President, I'll have that light taken care of before I go home.”
“Oh, you don't have to worry about that, I only had it installed this morning.”
Sayaka looked at her with a frown, not understanding. Kirari saw the look on her face and chuckled.
“It's Halloween week, Sayaka. I thought it would make for a spooky ambience.”
Sayaka didn't really know how to respond to that and sucked her lips into her mouth to keep from saying anything rash.
Spooky? In Sayaka's opinion, the best way to describe the last week of October was “chilly and gloomy”. Ghosts were nothing but the delusions and wishful thinking of people like... Well, the President, apparently.
Sayaka almost rolled her eyes. Of course the President would love Halloween, the most nonsensical western holiday of them all.
She watched silently as the President drank her tea with a barely noticeable smirk.
Thankfully, the others joined them before the silence became too oppressing.
“...as a result, crayons are hereby banned from the meeting room,” Kirari said, ending the matter.
“Aw, shucks,” Midari complained and stuck her tongue out at Sayaka, who gave her a look of utter exasperation in return.
“Alright then, the last order of business for today,” Kirari said and handed her papers over to Sayaka. “Since the last time was such a huge success, I was hoping we might take another trip together this weekend.”
There was a mixed reception around the table. Midari and Runa cheered loudly and gave each other a high five (well, they tried to, Runa could only reach Midari's forearm), while Yumemi and Ririka nodded intently.
Only Sayaka and Yuriko looked less than excited.
Sayaka could hardly believe her ears and even opened her mouth to protest before forcefully sucking her lips into her mouth. She knew she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up, and berated herself for not having seen this coming.
“Excuse me,” Yuriko interrupted the cheerful mood. “Would it be acceptable if I stayed at home this time? I have a lot of things to do, so...”
“Oh my, maybe you're even too busy for student council business?” Kirari said coldly. The light flickered ominously above their heads while she gave Yuriko a malicious smile. “I'd be happy to relieve you of your duties.”
Yuriko winced at the President's tone and quickly backtracked. She had a lot of people depending on her to keep her position on the council.
“O-of course not, President,” she stuttered. “I-I'd be happy to go, of course.”
“Good,” Kirari said, and felt Ririka's hand tapping her gently on the shoulder. The two of them exchanged a brief look, and Kirari continued. “Of course, you may invite Mary this time as well.”
The Vice-President positively beamed where she sat.
“With that decided,” Kirari addressed the group again, “as I'm sure you are all aware, Halloween is this weekend. As such, I thought it might be amusing to spend the night at a haunted house.”
“Oooooh,” Midari and Runa said in unison.
“Oh, I love that idea! Destination traveling is so trendy,” Yumemi chimed in.
Ririka winced at the announcement and started to sweat a little. She did not share her sister's enthusiasm for spooky things.
Sayaka on the other hand looked so tired. She had expected to spend the weekend at some nice place alone with her girlfriend, not at some dusty, old shack with her colleges. At this point her one remaining hope was for separate bedrooms.
“Hey!” Midari banged on the table with her hand. “Maybe we can bring Yumeko along this time!”
“I think it's better if we just keep our number to eight people like the last time,” Sayaka interjected before anyone could support that notion. Bringing that woman along would be her last straw. “It would be just awful if anyone in our party went missing.”
The light flickered again as everyone stared silently at Sayaka.
“Yes, that would indeed be unfortunate.” Kirari hid a smile behind her hand and cleared her throat. “Also, we only have four bedrooms again, sadly.”
“Prez! Let's share a-” Midari tried before Runa stabbed her in the ribs with an elbow. “That hurt, ya know... Do it again, uhehe...”
Looks were shared and so Yumemi hurried forward with the most obvious solution. “Same room buddies as last time?”
“What a splendid idea,” Kirari said, and it was settled. “Let's meet up here on Halloween. Prepare for a road trip.”