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

Interested question, but the answer depends more on the goal of the news.

Flashy and Fast lean towards establishing the narrative. They want to control what people think of when the topic comes up.

Fast and Accurate lean towards informing people. They're the pillars of a well informed society.

Accurate and Flashy leans toward news that is discerning. Waiting a bit to have a full narrative sells the news better and allows it to be taken together.


The real answer is the Flashy and Fast combo, with the unspoken Pervasive need. News doesn't necessarily need to be fast, flashy, or accurate so long as your story is the one you find everywhere.
 
[X] Agree with Kino and Kose (Accurate)
 
Chapter 1.2
Vote Tally : Council Road, Not Taken (Kaguya-sama/Oregairu Spinoff) | Page 2 | Questionable Questing
##### NetTally 1.6.0

[x] Agree with Kino and Kose (Accurate)
No. of Votes: 9
roronoa20
Eucuron
Him01
kenmadragon
kijin666
Lmchakone
Malason123
shanagan
skaro

Total No. of Voters: 9
You opened your mouth as you lean on your chair, with arms crossed.

"When it comes to a news piece, it might be true that the most important thing is the truth." You say to them, "The accuracy of the news might be the most important."

"See? He agrees with us." You can swear that Kino's nose seems to grow by a couple of inches with how smug she looks at the moment.

Kino Karen was a beautiful girl, that much you have to admit. From first glance, her face didn't look fully Japanese at all. You're not sure if it was just recessive genes or she really has foreign blood but that's not important. With her hair being the longest among others, exposing her forehead, Kino radiates unusually feminine aura.

When she stops talking that is.

Or maybe you're too prejudiced.

Kose Erika was much more traditional Japanese beauty, compared to her. She's not exceptional, otherworldly beauty like the famed Shinomiya Kaguya, but that actually makes you more bothered. It's as if someone like Kose is within your reach, and that thought is terrifying.

Kashiwagi Nagisa had this airy, innocent and childish aura to her. Like a sheet of white silk, it was quite tempting to think she's the type that's easily corrupted. Still, you shouldn't look at people by the cover. Due to her status, she might be more cunning than she appears...

And then there's Shijo Maki. For someone with a physical resemblance to the Goddess Kaguya, she sure lacks even a shred of elegance. Sure, her mannerism was honed, the way she gestures and poses, something like that, the mannerism of a princess. However, in the end, everything was superficial.

This group of four sure is messed up.

Then again, neither you nor Miyuki fit into the definition of a normal.

"But... that's not necessarily because of a moral standpoint." You explain.

"Huh, why is that?" Erika raises her eyebrows.

"Think about for that moment, actually, you're girls so you probably understand this more than I do." You awkwardly gestures, "Why do girls like gossips so much?"

The four of them look at each other.

"Curiosity." You point, "Most people don't always seek the truth, they seek affirmation for preexisting bias and belief. I know that's true, it's expected, and so on. Most people don't like being proven wrong, and they'll see affirmation through gossips and tabloid news cycles. At the end of the day, most news pieces are built based on an established narrative. In this sense, Kashiwagi and Shijo are correct. Quick and flashy brings in money."

"Eh?" Kashiwagi looks confused.

"But news piece did not stop at publishing." You smile ominously, "As news reached the public, there will be reactions. Some praise, some condemnation, clarification, and corrections will soon follow. And when that happens, the courts will get involved. In other words, lawsuits. When a lawsuit happens, the ultimate defense is always objective truth. Unless you throw a sack of money into lawyers to spin harder than a blender, you're not going to win that."

"Scary." Shijo twitches a bit, though she tried to suppress it.

Karen claps her hands, "Ah I've heard this before because different countries have a different definition and standard of libel, publishing fake news can be disastrous. Not to mention you can still be sued for secondary damages. Even media giants fell into oblivion when the right lawsuit is brought."


"Exactly." You stand up as you shut down your laptop, "Before thinking about selling your story, always make sure to cover your ass. When you're unsure if the information you have is the truth, put a disclaimer."

"Ehhh, what is that? Disappointing!" Erika cringes in response to your words, not that you can blame her. This is the kind of person you are.

Someone who looks too dimly on modern society, while reveling in it. Still, the fact that you manage to talk with classmates (girls) without stuttering, that's kind of achievement by itself.

Still, this talk about news, gossips, and rumors makes you reminisce about something. Something that happens in the past, ah yes, your days in middle school. When you confess to a girl you like, the eleventh one to be correct, the news spread among her friends and then...

It was hell.


If the truth can be so hurtful to the victim, what about lies? You can hardly imagine how disastrous that would be.

"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality." You laugh as you put your laptop in your bag, intending to leave. The girls look confused as they try to process what you said, especially since you said it in Japanese.

Except for one.

"Wait." Shijo looks like she turns serious for a moment as she says, "Edgar Allan Poe, wasn't it?"


You grin at her wordlessly as you finally leave the door on your way out. Miyuki and Ryuju both have after-school activities in the council, so you're more or less on your own.

To be honest, it's been lonely ever since the election passed. As part of going home club, it's not like you can't just study your ass harder than ever. But that feels like too much of a waste. After increasing his rank all the way to the top ten, You know there is diminishing return in terms of the amount of study time versus an increase in exam grades.

Studying harder might not be worth the hassle. As long as you can stay in the top 50, you can still maintain the scholarship.

But if not studying, what else? Should you buy some random games to play? Maybe too much of a waste of money...

As you walk down the stairs that connect the Shuchiin's front gate and the main road, you hear someone calling you. "Hikigaya-san?!"

Maybe that's just your hallucination?

"Hikigaya-san, wait! OW!"

Ah, that's actually real. And there are two of them.

As you turn your back to face the people in question, you see Kino and Kose chasing after you desperately. And thus, it causes them to trip one-third of their way down, and fortunately, you're there to catch them both by the back. It's probably doesn't hurt all that much, but it's super embarrassing. So embarrassing you get second-hand embarrassment. You feel the numbness in your arm begins to subside as you let them go.

"Ah, th-thank you." Both girls look flushed and move away.

Eh, not unexpected. They probably feel icky being touched by someone like you.

"Nevermind that, what do you need?" You ask them.

"Umm, if we're not wrong, you're President Shirogane's closest friend, aren't you?"

"Far as Shuchiin academy concerned yeah." You tell them as you continue walking, "You want to know something about Miyuki or what?"

Those two are a member of Shuchiin High's mass media club, why wouldn't they be curious? Besides, they're not going to miss a chance by ignoring his close friend when it comes to information sources. That's just common sense!

"Umm, you said it before that it's best to know the truth before spreading stories but." Kino asks hesitantly, "Was it true that President and Kaguya-sama are going out?"

"You're still insisting about this stupid rumor." Kose rubs her temple, clearly frustrated with her friend's shipper antic. Then again, it's not like the thought didn't cross you even once. However, you know that Miyuki will never keep a secret from you. Especially with how proud and egoistical he can be about his achievement.

There's no way he'll not brag to heaven if he scored with such high-level girl.

[ ] "What a stupid rumor."
[ ] "I don't know. Maybe not."
[ ] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."
 
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[X] "I don't know. Maybe not."

Non-commital non-answer seems lazy enough without being directly rude and insulting-to-their-face nor encouraging their hopes.

It's the middle road again - calling the rumor "stupid" will just antagonize the girls, and saying it's "not impossible" is just encouraging the obviously false rumor. Being non-committal would say no without being deliberately antagonistic towards the rumor-mongering (they can't help it, they're "teenage girls in the throws of (gag :confused:) youth"...).
 
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[X] "What a stupid rumor."

Seriously? Ask that to the President and Kaguya if you want to get to the bottom of things. Unless they're liars.
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."

A lot more updates already than I expected.
Though I won't object to that!
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."

While I'd like to take the middle option I like Karen more than Erika, so screw it.
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."


Feed the rumors!
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."
 
The funniest part is that at this point of timeline Kaguya hasn't opened up to Miyuki yet. I.e. She's still Kuuguya now.

That would happen in November assuming the hair ribbon incident still holds.
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."
 
[X] "It's not impossible, but that's not really the case at the moment."
 

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