Chapter Text
Zanka, Riyo and Rudo lounge around homeroom after class. Zanka rested his head on his designated desk as Riyo and Rudo sat at the desks next to him, fighting over some stupid anime.
"I'm telling you, Yuji is winning death battle for sure," Rudo exclaimed, "One piercing blood and it's over!"
Riyo wags her finger in front of Rudo's face. "You must be mistaken, little Surebrec, but not only can Denji out smart his opponents, he can also use the chains of his chainsaw as whips! All Yuji can do is a bunch of flashy punches. That's just facts."
"That is so untrue! Yuji learned martial arts from his Grandpa and his divergent fist can carry out two blows in one punch!" Rudo yells. He couldn't be bothered to control the volume of voice. He slammed his fist onto his desk. A couple students in the room look at him weirdly. Zanka buries his face in his arms in embarrassment. Could this idiot be any more embarrassing?
Riyo hummed, "Hmm. No."
"N-no?! What do you mean no!?"
"Sure, He can do all that kung fu stuff but, Denji has strong hypermobility and can regenerate from extreme injuries using blood."
"Yuji can regenerate too using his reverse curse technique! Zanka back me up on this!"
"Absolutely not." Zanka mumbled, absent-mindedly. He didn't need to raise his head to know that Rudo was scowling at him. Riyo let out a hearty laugh.
"You see! I knew he would agree with me!"
"I never said that." Zanka deadpanned.
"What? Then whose side are you on?"
"Nobody's," Zanka fully sits up from his desk. "I couldn't care less about this. It's just a dumb video."
Riyo and Rudo gasp in unison. Zanka rolls his eyes, it's never good when they move in unison. Riyo points an accusatory finger at him.
"How. Dare. You. You have no idea how important this is."
"No idea!" Rudo repeats.
"The JJK and Chainsaw man fandom have at each other for years. This Death Battle will be legendary!"
"Why can't you guys have this kind of energy towards something like academics?" Zanka retorts. Riyo clicks her tongue and shakes her head in a disappointed manner.
"Oh, Zanka. You'll never understand the beauty of pop culture. Such a shame."
"Such a shame." Rudo repeated Riyo's words again, shaking his head along side with her. Zanka just let out a scoff.
"Ayy Zanka, won't you come over here for a sec?" Zanka turns over to see who's calling him. It turns out to be Mr. Enjin. He was at his desk waving his hand at him. To say he was surprised to see her was an understatement. Rudo and Riyo oohed at him. Zanka glared at them, which the two giggled at. Zanka strolled over towards his desk, his steps slow and his hands shaking uncontrollably. Mr. Enjin hands him an envelope.
"What's up? I was meant to give this to Mr. Corvus a while, but forgot. I trust you enough to give it to him, so can you give it to him, will ya.
Zanka eyes widen, trying to suppress his smile. Mr. Enjin trusts him? He was flattered, granted there wasn't much competition.
"O-of course! I was meant to arrive at his classroom for student council anyways," Zanka mutters, scratching the back of his neck, nervously. He takes the envelope and walked out of the classroom. "Thank you!" He heard Mr. Enjin shout. No, thank you. Zanka thought. His timid walk turns into a prideful strut. That's right, Mr. Enjin trusts me with handing Mr. Corvus this envelope. I'll be his number one in no time! Zanka was so caught up in his little power trip that he didn't notice he walking straight into someone.
Zanka staggers back from the collision. The other fell completely on the floor.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Zanka apologizes. He froze once he saw who was on the ground. White hair, cold, unimpressed eyes. Hyo. She lifted herself up, fixing up her hair and skirt. " I wasn't looking at where I was going and-"
"No need to explain yourself, I'm fine." Hyo interrupts. "Honest mistake." Zanka gulps. How does she stay so calm and unfazed all the time?
"I was just headed to Mr. Corvus classroom for student council. Walk with me?" Hyo offers. She her thumb vaguely at the direction of his room.
"Uh, sure..." He reluctantly agrees. Hyo and Zanka walk through the uncharacteristically empty halls. It's usually so crowded and bustling. Guess everyone else left for the day. An uncomfortable silence fell over the two. At least for Zanka. Zanka started playing with fingers, his fingertips brushing over his left hand's knuckles. He has always so akward towards Hyo. It always felt like she was one step ahead of him. Whenever he scored high, she'd score higher. She was a genius, a natural talent of sorts. He stole little gazes at Hyo from time to time. Her face as still as stone. She had her hands behind her back, posture as straight as a pencil. He became more aware of his own posture. Should he also be standing up straight?
"I heard we're gonna start planning for the winter formal for the next couple of weeks." Hyo prompted. That snapped Zanka out of his daze.
"Wh- oh yeah! For-forgot about it. I'm not really one to go to parties. Let alone plan ones."
"Hm. Me neither, but since Mr. Corvus is leading it, I have trust that he'll at least make it enjoyable."
That's true. No matter what the subject could be, he always finds a way to make it fun for students. That's part of his charm. No wonder he's a fan favorite. They were half of the way to Corvus' classroom. Right outside the door, two teacher's assistants, Tomme and Norede, were talking to each other. Norede glanced at the two, a sharp look on her face.
"There you are. You two are late to the meeting."
"It's only 3:32. I thought we're on time." Zanka argued.
"Exactly. You're late."
Zanka opens his mouth to argue, but closes it. It's not worth it. They walk into the crowded room. Corvus sat at his desk, typing away on his computer. The rest of the student council congregated around the desks, chatting away with their friends. He didn't have any friends in student council with him. Well no meaningful friends. Follo talked to him from time to time, but he's also a TA, so he doesn't count. There was also Jabber Wonger. Jabber. He wasn't really a friend either, Jabber just talks to him (or at him) and tries coercing him into fighting him. He was also a natural talent. He wasn't at the same level as genius as Hyo, but he was up there. Speaking of which.
"Aye! Mr. Bad Attitude! Class Prez! Come sit over here!" Jabber exclaimed across the room, waving his hand wildly back and forth. Momoa sat next to him, headphones on her ears and doomscrolling on her phone. Since Jabber's loud mouth drew attention to where they standing, Zanka felt obligated to sit with him. Zanka only sat across from him, Hyo sat next to Jabber. Mr. Corvus got up from his desk clapped his hands to get the room's attention.
"Alright everybody, eyes on me." Corvus announced, everybody quit what their doing to focus on him. A few of them turning their chairs around, including Zanka. "Good afternoon, student council. Very glad you guys joined me today. As you already know, this year's winter formal if coming up which means the other students will be riding the 'formal craze' once again."
The room groaned in response. "I know, I know, but we gotta put our game face on for these next few weeks alright? We'll be going over our plans, and I would appreciate your grit and cooperation. Ms. Hew Amozo, would you help explain?"
"Gladly." Norede walked in front of the class, arms crossed and a permanent frown on her face. "Listen up, everyone! I set up a system of everyone's role for the winter fromal such as decor, food, promotion, etc- Momoa take off your headphones and pay attention."
Zanka turned to look at her. Momoa looks up from her phone at the mention of her name. She sees everyone staring at her, especially Norede, and removes her headphones. Norede sighs.
"But for now we will be brainstorming. Any suggestions? Remember no Idea is off the table."
Jabber shot his hand up in the air.
"And no, we're not doing a playboy whore themed formal." Norede deadpanned. The students adorned looks of confusion. Jabber lowered his hand, pouting.
"Man, this some bullshit," he muttered.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say?"
Jabber sighed, "Nothing."
"Anyone have any other ideas, except Jabber."
Nobody raised their hands immediately. Either they're to scared or they genuinely have no ideas. Zanka was ready to raise his hand, but he sees someone else raise their hand before him.
"Yes, Eishia?"
"Uh, I was thinking that we maybe do a masquerade theme..."
"Great Idea, Eishia thank you." Norede praised. She took an expo marker and wrote it on the board. A masquerade? Every school does a masquerade party. Zanka gains more confidence and raised his hand a little higher, but he was still reluctant. Norede scanned across the room, and looked at Zanka's direction.
"Let's see, uhm...Momoa." Momoa? Zanka turns his head around to see Momoa with her hand extended in the air, her face very uninterested.
"How about an 80s theme?"
"Good idea." Norede wrote her suggestion on the board. Are we serious? More and more people raised their hands for suggestions.
"Night on the bayou!"
"Candy land!"
"Alice in Wonderland!"
A myriad of Prompts filled the whiteboard. There was barely any more room left for any more themes. Zanka was never called on. Granted, his hand wasn't very visible but he still felt ignored.
"Wow, that is a lot more Ideas than I thought there'd be." Mr. Corvus said. He checks the watch on his wrist. "Well would you look at the time, it's almost time to wrap up our meeting already, well thank you for coming and help me, clean up with me, yeah?"
The student council got to work, arranging the desks, cleaning the floor, cleaning out the whiteboard. Zanka was wiping off the counters before Mr. Corvus calls him over.
"Hey Zanka forgot to tell you this earlier, but I was wondering if you would be interested in being a part of the planning committee?" Mr. Corvus informs.
"Oh, uh I don't really know if I should. I'm that good of a leader." He laughs nervously.
"What are you talking about? I've seen your leadership skills, you're practically perfect. What can I do to convince you?" Mr. Corvus replies, patting on the shoulder. Zanka's face blushes.
"Also I noticed that you an envelope in your hand, what's that about?" Oh yeah. He left it sat the seat where he was previously sitting at.
"Forgot about that. Mr. Enjin sent me to give you."
Corvus sighed. "He couldn't even give it to me himself, huh?" he muttered, mostly to himself. His disappointment showed on his face, but knowing Mr. Enjin, he wasn't at all surprised. Mr. Corvus then adorned a somewhat pompous look on his face. "Y'know, Mr. Enjin and I were talking about the list we organized for the students who'll be head of planning. I asked him, 'Who else should be on the team?' and he said 'Zanka, duh.'"
That peaked his interest. Zanka turned to stare at him, eyes wide and everything. Corvus continued.
"He said, 'Zanka is the most responsible out of all my students, he's perfect for something like this.'"
Enjin? perfect? Responsible? Enjin!?
"Buuuut, if you don't want to do it that's fine," Mr. Corvus started walking away.
"Hey, wait!" Zanka blurts out. Mr. Corvus stopped dead in his tracks. He turned his head around to face the other.
"I-uh-I'll think about it!"
Corvus nodded, his content smile on blooming on his face. "That's what I like to hear! Let me know when you finally decide."
Zanka sat on the steps of the stairs outside of the school, waiting for Goka to pick him up. He checked the time on his phone. 4:18. God, where is he? When he said to pick him up later than regular, he didn't mean after graduation. He decided to walk home instead, it;s only eight minutes away from where he lived, and hey, why not grab a snack on the way there? He got up and started walking through the streets.