The Council's Road, Not Taken (Kaguya-sama/Oregairu Spinoff)

[ZeroXSEED]

Spoiler: Vote Tally

Vote Tally : The Council's Road, Not Taken (Kaguya-sama/Oregairu Spinoff) | Page 20 | Questionable Questing
##### NetTally 1.6.0

[X] Scavenger hunt
No. of Votes: 10
Cane Toad
bastur2
BooksRFme
CatDog
CookieSideUser
inlurkshadow
ScarletCloud
ShadowStrykerX
TriGayatri
Yveski

[X] Obstacle Race
No. of Votes: 8
CloLag01
blakekeane
Drey
inlurkshadow
Lector312
Lmchakone
ShadowStrykerX
TriGayatri

[x] The 3-legged race (With Hongo)
No. of Votes: 7
Achagoya0072
bastur2
blakekeane
CatDog
Lmchakone
ScarletCloud
Yveski

[X] Tug of War (Miyuki competes here)
No. of Votes: 6
Cane Toad
BooksRFme
CloLag01
CookieSideUser
Drey
Lector312

[X] 100 m Sprint (Miyuki competes here)
No. of Votes: 1
Achagoya0072

Total No. of Voters: 16

"I want to participate in the Scavenger run and obstacle race." You raise your hand confidently.

In terms of running speed, you're not the fastest at school, heck, you're not even the fastest in the year. Nevertheless, when it comes to obstacle navigation, the knowledge of parkour that Ryuju imparted on you, as well as survival game club training, should come handy.

As for scavenger run, it's mostly for hilarity anyway and it shouldn't be a problem for you to lose, not that you intended to lose in any way. It's also one of the more embarrassing events and thus people who don't have thick skin avoid it.

"Well Hikigaya-kun is fast, so please give it all for us." Class Rep grin like a fool, "Looks like our representative for the three-legged race will be Hongo-kun and Ryuju-san. Anyone disagree?"

Silence.

"Alright then, starting today let's give it all in training! For Glory of Shuchiin!"

"OOOOO!" Everyone raised their fist up, including you, though you're only halfway and half-heartedly shouts.

Hongo looks happy at least, hopefully, he can be motivated by this decision. For Ryuju at least, she practically salivated to the thought of whipping a spine in onto the romancer's back.

If Hongo survives this, either he'll come out a real man or sobbing wreck.

"Well then, let's start with training, now." Ryuju's face darkened as she brought out a piece of cloth with her, "Hello, can we exchange seat please?"

She talked immediately with the boy who sits to the left of Hongo. Of course, not only he's more than happy, but he's also too afraid to refuse. "Please, Ryuju-sama."

Hongo cocked up smile slowly wither as Ryuju slid her desk so that it contacted his, and then tied their feet together. "With exception of outside school and going to the bathroom, we're going to be like this for the remainder of the week."

Yep, Hongo is fucked. Needless to say, for Ryuju Momo there's no such thing as a half-hearted measure. Even the hateful boys already start to pity him... maybe that was Ryuju's plan all along? To make Hongo look pitiful and earn sympathy?

Inevitably, some will say he deserves it, but those people are in the minority. People simply don't hate Hongo enough to overlook that he'll be glued to Ryuju for at least three days.

It's a good decision to leave him in her hand.

...

Afterschool, you go to the forest as usual even though club activity temporarily suspended, the terrain is perfect for you to train in the way of obstacle race.

Ryuju and Hongo also practice synchronized jogging, at this point they had to focus less on speed and more on harmony, which isn't that hard since overbearing Ryuju gets to dictate the pace, thanks to her legs being 5cm shorter than his.

"Captain, can we discuss something?" Toyosaki asked you, "About the fourth member of the Relay race... have you decided on who?"

"What do you mean?"

"Judging from all our physical abilities, it's very likely that you, Ryuju, and Hongo being the first three members to participate, which leaves me and Tanuma."

Ah, you haven't really planned for it yet.

"Ah, but I'm fine watching from the side really." Tanuma says with a sad smile, "I don't want to be a burden."

Toyosaki is very self-assured, and he won't bend over under pressure despite his average athletic abilities. Furthermore, his motives for joining the club was to fight Miyuki head-on.

Tanuma on the other hand, looked like he would cry or freeze. That said, this kind of event, going right, is pretty much the perfect occasion to build his confidence. Having him benched right away wouldn't be helpful.

It would be ideal that Tanuma is paired with Ryuju, but the world is cruel like that.

This might be very well one of the first decisions you will make as Club Captain that will have long term consequences to the relationship dynamic of the members.

This is a very critical decision, it's also possible to use a full meritocracy system and simply see which one of them would work the best for the team, by seeing the result of their training at the end of the week instead.

On the downside, you might have to sacrifice your weekend and not going to Chiba until the decision is made, on the plus side, perhaps having them compete for it would be good for their fighting spirit?

Of course, you WILL make sure there's no foul play... Momo definitely has a way to ensure that.

[ ] Choose Tanuma
[ ] Choose Toyosaki
[ ] Have them compete for the position

 

[Achagoya0072]

[x] Have them compete for the position

 

[DamnedAeons 187]

[X] Have them compete for the position

 

[Blonddude42]

I'd have just flipped a coin, lol

 

[TriGayatri]

[x] Have them compete for the position

 

[Cuchulin]

[x] Have them compete for the position

 

[kenmadragon]

[X] Choose Tanuma

It'd the perfect opportunity to help build Tanuma's self-confidence. Rather than have him confirm his incorrect biases, we'll challenge him to prove he's better than he thinks he is.

 

[xyztama]

[X] Have them compete for the position

Now We're in this, let's go for the win.

 

[CloLag01]

[x] Have them compete for the position

 

[Him01]

[X] Have them compete for the position

 

[Yveski]

[X] Have them compete for the position

 

[Kieron]

[X] Have them compete for the position

 

[blakekeane]

[X] Have them compete for the position

 

[Lector312]

[X] Have them compete for the position

For a bunch of perverts, we do seem to have a sense of sportsmanship

 

[ZeroXSEED]

Spoiler

Vote Tally : The Council's Road, Not Taken (Kaguya-sama/Oregairu Spinoff) | Page 21 | Questionable Questing
##### NetTally 1.6.0

[x] Have them compete for the position
No. of Votes: 11
Achagoya0072
blakekeane
CloLag01
Cuchulin
DamnedAeons 187
Him01
Kieron
Lector312
ScarletCloud
TriGayatri
Yveski

[X] Choose Tanuma
No. of Votes: 1
kenmadragon

Total No. of Voters: 12

"How about we decide like this." You respond, "Saturday before the festival, we'll conduct a test about which one of you more suited for the team. Speed is important but so does general preparedness and teamwork."

"We'll do this the proper way by competition, that way there shouldn't be any bitter feelings."

Well at least in theory.

"Interesting." Toyosaki sighed, "If it was anyone else who says that, I'd call that person indecisive and trying to cover his own ass."

"I'm the type of person who says it like it is." You tell him, "At the present the gaps between two of you are marginal, so it's up to your fighting spirits and drive to improve."

"I see." Toyosaki clicks his tongue, "Then please excuse me."

"Captain, is this really fine?"

"Why? If don't want it, just say it out loud."

"That's not what I mean though."

Tanuma probably feels a bit guilty because he doesn't want to sow discord in the club, but deep down also wanted to participate. He wanted you to remove him from the equation.

Coward.

"Now listen here Tanuma." You cross your arm in annoyance, "Why did you join Survival Game Club? From a principle standpoint, we're just a bunch of tryhards pretending to be soldiers."

"I don't really think so." Tanuma laughs in mirth, "Ever since the first time I saw this club, I always thought everyone looks really serious and cool."

Among the reason why joining the Sabage club boost Miyuki's popularity is the gap between his serious, straight-laced model student appearance, with a very niche and wild club interest.

Tanuma joined because he saw the appeal in that. But what works with Miyuki, doesn't necessarily work with anyone else.

"So I thought it I were to join this club, then maybe I would stop being lame too." Tanuma scratches his hair, ashamed.

You can't help that, looking at Tanuma right now reminds you of your middle school self. Less creepy and more outgoing perhaps, but the mindset isn't all that different.

That absolutely has to change.

"What difference is there, do you think, between looking cool and being cool?"

"Huh? Umm... I dunno."

"People like to act high and mighty and say so easily that you shouldn't judge a book by the cover, but part of publishing a good book also requires good packaging." You point up, "The entire bottom feeder of the light novel industry is filled by crap writers who are lucky enough to get a good illustrator proves this."

"People are more like to judge you by your appearance first and foremost because your appearance reflects on how you treat yourself." You say as you loosen the muscles around your neck, shoulders, and back.

You're slumping, which makes you look significantly shorter than you are, not to mention extremely creepy, and Tanuma's expression says all.

"You following me so far?"

"Umm yes."

Tanuma probably gets caught off guard by your weak-looking, slob appearance.

"Punch me in the back, but not too hard."

"Huh?"

Tanuma do it anyway despite his perplexed face, and with a small thud, your entire spine straightened again by reflex, along with the tightening of muscles around it.

"This is what they mean by looking cool." You tell him as you resume your usual appearance, "But if you just want to look cool, then you'll be a failure like Hongo."

"Uh, Hongo-san?"

Both of you look at Ryuju and Hongo, practicing three-legged running at high speed. Despite being paired with one of the most beautiful girls in Shuchiin, Hongo looks really miserable today, and this training is going to continue until the Athletic Festival!

"Yeah, he's handsome, smart, athletic, and his words of seduction are intoxicating, but once girls went past that they see a desperate, arrogant boy trying to prove himself. That's why his relationships didn't last long. Just like trashy light novels with great illustration end up forgotten or in trash bins."

After spending these past three days as a club, you finally understand why. Hongo and Miyuki really aren't all that different inside. Their only difference is that Miyuki born with a complete lack of talents, while Hongo was blessed with them.

Yet, through sheer effort alone, Miyuki could easily surpass him, to the point that he didn't register on Miyuki's radar at all. To Miyuki, Hongo is nothing more than a talking weed.

Hongo refuses to improve himself as a person, while Miyuki continuously pursues self-improvement.

"In other words, being cool means you have faith in your own quality and value as a person. If you can't even be proud of yourself, then how can you expect people to appreciate you?"

People look down on you at middle school because you look down on yourself at middle school. When you started getting sick of it, you started studying madly to the point of becoming a hermit.

And when you get accepted in the Shuchiin scholarship program, you can finally be proud of yourself and stick it out to your bullies in middle school, showing how much beneath you they are in reality. The pitiful bastards were speechless and ashamed, some even trying to suck it up to you later.

And then, you meet her. Ryuju Momo wasn't a superficial person by any means, but she also recognized the importance to put up a strong front so people don't look down on her.

She taught you how to project your inner strength outwardly, creating the tough and uncompromising appearance you possess now.

"Even so..." Tanuma wavers in fear and uncertainty, "It's only less than a week until the athletic festival. How much difference do you think that would make?"

"You wouldn't know until you try, don't you?" You punch his shoulder in annoyance, "Don't just work hard but work smart. It's pointless to train yourself hard, only for your body to fall apart during the event."

"...Thanks, Captain." Tanuma Tsubasa's newfound smile was like that of a sunset, warm and comforting.

As you roll your eyes aside, you see a glimpse of Shijo, peeking behind a tree. When the realizes the fact that you noticed, she immediately bails very, very quickly.

That's not the speed of an average girl, no, that's not the speed of typical athletic girl either. She's probably almost as fast as Ryuju, and Ryuju is much faster than you, and that's kind of terrifying realization.

What a stalker.

...

A few days passed since then, and it's Saturday. The sports festival will be held tomorrow and much of the school already decorated for the occasion.

Even though it was in the middle of electives, the topic of conversation remains focused on the issue of the upcoming Athletic festival.

And thus one of the assignments was to write an article about sports festivals in general.

"Hikigaya-kun, what's with this bitter reporting, isn't this supposed to be about your middle school Athletic festival experience?" The teacher asks in worry when she inspects your work.

"It's not really out of the personal experience so much as out of personal observation." You tell her, "I remember some of my classmates griefing so hard and the teacher was quiet in pure disappointment. It was hell."

And in your own case, your own parents literally abandoned you in the middle of a competition. You STILL haven't forgiven them for that, and you're skeptical that they're attending this year's athletic festival out of the goodness of their heart either.

You really can't expect much out of them.

"That's Personal experience though." The teacher shakes her head and awkwardly rubs your back, "Ordinary school students have it hard huh."

Even though everyone retains their fierce competitiveness in the Athletic festival, Shuchiin students generally a lot more relaxed on such occasions and thus more forgiving toward mistakes by their classmates, and the teachers also pretty hands-off.

"I think I'm going to rewrite this after all."

"It's a well-written article though, if rather unique in perspective, you probably should keep it."

"I will, Sensei."

You rarely get open praise like this from a teacher, so you decide to keep the work even though it's technically not graded, it will be definitely published later.

"Whoa, Hikigaya-san get praised again." Kino pouted in jealously.

"It would be nice if your article didn't read like an R15 romance novel, Kino-san." Sensei looks rather irritated, "And Kose-san, are you trying to write religious solicitation involving Shinomiya-san?"

Those two are beyond incompetent when they get into their obsession.

"We'll redo it." They look away in shame.

Sensei generally is harsher on Kose and Kino because of their position as members of the Mass Media club, so when it looks like they're not taking the electives seriously, it's rather jarring.

The thing is that you're extremely sure Kino and Kose were serious, just that their entire mindset being rotten to the core, twisting the content of their article to suit their fetish.

"Hikigaya-san, do you have free time today?"

You immediately guess, "What, you want another restaurant article?"

"Not this time, we're just going to play around." Kose confidently makes a peace sign, but her eyes shockingly resemble yours: like the eyes of a dead fish. "Because otherwise, we're going to burn out from all the physical training."

In all honesty, you never really go 'play around' at least in the normal definition of high school boys recently. To relax, you either cook something new, play games or read stuff. Going to Arcade? Karaoke? Batting center, or bowling? Literally never.

A natural introvert, you're naturally an indoor person yourself.

"Hmmph, someone soo boorish probably doesn't know the normal definition of fun." Shijo flicks her twin tail smugly.

Bitch please, your insult game is kiddy grade compared to Yukinoshita.

"Just you four?" You ask them, "What about Yukinoshita?"

"Yukino-san is meeting with her families so she won't be here." Kashiwagi smiles, "...You really close with Yukino-san huh, Hikigaya-san?"

What's with that odd tone? Kashiwagi probably super disappointed with Yukinoshita's absence.

"No way, we don't even share contacts." You cringe in response, "But just one guy would be awkward, wouldn't it?"

"Oh don't worry we're just using you to shield us from getting hit on." Shijo looks at you with belittling sight. "After all, Shuchiin girl are the natural prey of unscrupulous peasant boys outside."

Ouch. It's not like she didn't get a good point but ouch, now THAT hit too close to home.

"I'm thankful for you for being frank, Stalker-san." You tease her, "Don't you want to invite someone else instead?"

"Wha-what are you saying?! Who are you accusing of stalking, you creep!"

"Well, I HAVE something to do." You tell them, "We're going to decide who will participate as the fourth representative of Sabage club in the relay race. Tanuma and Toyosaki will have a contest today."

"Tanuma-kun will?"

"Can we watch?"

"Of course, cheer on them while you can too." You smirk at them.

And so, you change into your PE uniform, which consists of a simple white cotton shirt and a red shorts.

"You're here, Hachiman." Miyuki waves at you dressed the same.

"What's this traitor doing here?" You ask Momo jokingly.

"Who knows?" Momo shrugged, while a pale and withering Hongo beside her saying nothing. He's probably ragged both physically and mentally from spending several days with her like this.

"While I know you're joking it kinda hurts to call your fellow club member traitor like this." Miyuki clenches his fist in frustration.

"Awawawawa! President!" Kino screams like a fangirl (which she is), "Aren't Kaguya-sama with you today?"

Indeed, Kose looks rather paranoid (or maybe excited) as she scans the field for the presence of enigmatic Ice Goddess.

"We'll help them preparation later, but we have like one-hour free time for the moment." Miyuki answers, "She's probably with Secretary Fujiwara somewhere."

You notice Ryuju release the cloth around her leg and Hongo, "I'll also help later, I feel bad for letting everyone doing the labor work."

"Well, you helped us tremendously with the budget management though so don't feel too bad." Miyuki cheer her up, then hand her out a whistle, "Would you please be the referee?"

"Sure!" Ryuju takes out a pair of pistol magazines and hands them out to Miyuki and you. "This will be the club's baton replacement."

"It's a bit small, so handing them out is going to be tricky, but it's lightweight so it's easier to run with." Miyuki comments, "Lucky."

"Speaking of which, what's the item that will be used by the Student Council?" You ask him.

"Solid Gold Aguilette," Toyosaki scoffs, referring to the aiguillette that passed from President of the student council to their successor.

"Yep, they're fucked." Both you and Ryuju say in perfect sync, the aiguillette is of a perfect size for baton replacement, but it's tremendously heavy. Meaning the Student Council already handicapped from the get-go in tomorrow's relay.

Toyosaki probably knows this for a fact and that's why he's confident that we can win against the student council, which if you're not wrong, possess a greater amount of athleticism in total.

"Alright then, let's wrap this crap." You take a deep breath and release it after warming up completely, "Tanuma, don't be to tense and believe in yourself."

"Ah yes."

There's something a little different with him today, but that's good, it seems that Tanuma is pretty psyched for today's selection.

Toyosaki is confident too, but that's pretty expected.

To simulate relay race, you and Miyuki run at the same pace around the field.

"Hey, let's have a duel tomorrow, you and me. "Miyuki taunt you, "Do you dare?"

"I'm not falling for that." You tell him, "The moment Fujiwara defected, the total abilities of the Student Council relay team shoot up considerably. We can bear to think about personal achievement anymore."

"Psssh, coward." Miyuki makes an insulting face in response, "Well Fujiwara will compete in the all-girl club relay with the Tabletop Club, so our Auditing officer is taking over."

As both of you go almost full speed, you see both Tanuma and Toyosaki waiting. However, that one second moment was all you need to turn things around. Tanuma didn't look at your direction, rather he's facing forward with his right hand going back. Toyosaki however, waits for Miyuki in anticipation and looks rather impatient.

Ah.

With an underhand pass from you, Tanuma managed to run full second ahead of Toyosaki who wastes his time changing his direction because he's facing backward before.

It's clear that in overall running speed, Tanuma is inferior. But the difference isn't big enough and Toyosaki fails to catch up in the end. Tanuma finishes ahead of him by a mere half meters difference.

"Shit!" Toyosaki screams in frustration.

"I won!" Tanuma looks shaken himself, but for an entirely different reason. He probably can't believe that he won just like that. "Captain!"

"Told you to play it smart." You make a pistol hand gesture in response.

"Doing an underhand pass without training, I didn't expect you to have guts to do that." Toyosaki spat, "Well played, Tanuma."

"Ah, I..." Tanuma blushes a bit, "To be honest, I'm really scared of failing but I decided to stop thinking and just believe that Captain will understand what I'm going to do."

Toyosaki looks a little hurt by the realization. "I lost in more way than one."

The reason he's lost, was because he didn't TRUST Miyuki to hand out the magazine via the underhand pass. He's treating a relay race like a solo endeavor, and that's why he lost to Tanuma. In all honesty, had you never meet Miyuki, you will probably end up like that too. Someone who's always bitter and doesn't trust people at all. In the past, you would laugh at the notion of teamwork being key to individual victories.

Yet Tanuma managed to prove that's not really the case.

You wonder how Toyosaki feels at the moment, his sole reason for joining the Survival Game club early on is gone now.

"Alright then, to celebrate this occasion, I'll be super generous today and treat everyone." Shijo suddenly jumps in and offered, "And I mean everyone here."

"Whoa, how nice." You deadpan, knowing very well she was just happy that Tanuma won this. Now, you absolutely sure, that Shijo is attracted to the meek boring guy. But thinking again, Tanuma is a nice guy, so just like you fall easily with a nice girl, Shijo probably had that kind of problem too.

"Wait, me too?" Hongo finally regains his sanity and point at himself.

"You're free today, but if you fool around too much and mess up tomorrow's race I'm going to kill you." Momo threatens him.

"I swear upon my life I'll restrain myself, Ryuju-sama." Hongo makes an OK sign at her, and his face is completely and utterly serious.

The hell? Did Ryuju make him a literal slave now? Did Hongo fail to stand up to her and got mind broken?

"Alright then, you guys have fun." Miyuki and Ryuju excuse themselves.

"Alright then, where should we go today?" Kino asks, "Anyone?"

"Hikigaya-san, what about you?" Kashiwagi asks.

"Huh, me?"

Hmm, a good place where girls and boys can hang out without being too suspicious and on the nose... Shuchiin High uniform stands out too much around this area after all.

[ ] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes
[ ] Bowling - A little public but also safe option
[ ] Can't think of any

 

[TriGayatri]

Welp, there's only one true answer.



Show them our mad singing skill.

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

 

[Achagoya0072]

[x] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

 

[CookieSideUser]

[x] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

 

[DamnedAeons 187]

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

 

[Him01]

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

For the EXTRA joke, make one of the songs they sing is Love Dramatic. And then Hikigaya would be reminded of those two in the Council.
Just a suggestion though

 

[Drey]

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

 

[Lector312]

Welp, there's only one true answer.



Show them our mad singing skill.

Click to shrink...

You have convinced me
[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes
Have someone record Hachiman and post it online

 

[Caladcholg]

Welp, there's only one true answer.



Show them our mad singing skill.

Click to shrink...

+1 for this fabulous idea.

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

 

[CloLag01]

[X] Bowling - A little public but also safe option

 

[Cuchulin]

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes.

 

[Yveski]

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

 

[Sir Bidoof]

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes.​

 

[Cane Toad]

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

The stalkers can't resist even this, can they?

Spoiler: get out of here stalker

 

[Nnu]

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes.

 

[xyztama]

[X] Karaoke - Private atmosphere means not many prying eyes

For the full nihonjin experience, we definitely have to go for the Karaoke.

Also, just low key waiting for some Yakuza jokes here when Ryuju sings.