For the KSG Writing Week – Day 6, Misha
        MishCo
 
 
        Saturday, February 15, 2007
        Misha skipped down the hall of the girl’s dormitory, sliding to a stop at the door of Hakamichi Shizune, Student Council President.
        “Shiiiichaaaan!!!” Misha called, accompanied by a rapid pulse of knocks. A wave of bubbly vibrations penetrated the door, awakening the room’s sole occupant. Misha waited a minute or so, but the expectant answer never came.
        “Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiichan!” Misha called again with her mouth pressed to the wood, after which followed an even more intense series of knocks. After being still denied Shizune answering the door, Misha sighed and pulled a mini-notepad out of her purse.
        [Shizune, are you awake in there? I’m coming in if you don’t answer in 60 seconds, so I hope you’re not changing~!]
        After scrawling her note, she slipped it under the door and crossed her arms expectantly. Still, nothing. Misha’s hand descended once more into her purse, this time returning with the spare key Shizune had leant her for emergencies. She unlocked the door, and going inside Misha found a very unhappy Student Council President, still in bed, with a sickly disposition and runny nose. Misha placed her hands on her hips.
        [Shicchan! Are you sick?!] She signed swiftly. Shizune slowly raised her arms after wiping her nose.
        [Of course not. I simply overslept and have a headache.] Shizune kept a defiant expression on her face, despite a repetitive sniffle. Misha scowled.
        [Oh no! You’re definitely sick! I bet you caught a cold from all the work we did in the snow this week! You’re staying in today, and I’m going to take care of you!] In response, Shizune crossed her arms.
        [That won’t be necessary, as I am not ill. In any case, even though it is Saturday, there’s still a lot of work for the two of us.] After signing, Shizune dropped back to her pillow.
        “Hmm…” pondered Misha. An imaginary light bulb appeared above her head and she raised a hand.
        [I know!] She signed. [If you won’t let me take care of you, then I’ll do the work by myself as a favor to you!] Shizune rolled her eyes.
        [Oh really? You think you can handle today’s work by yourself?] She felt the warm blanket wrapped around her, the soft embrace of her pillow. Then, her expression became that of an apex predator about to dive in on its kill. [Tell you what, let’s make this worthwhile. I’ll stay in today. If you can do all of today’s work by yourself, correctly, I’ll buy takeout for the next 3 days. If you can’t, you have to buy for 3 days instead.]
        “Wahaha!” laughed Misha. She offered her hand for a shake, but swiftly reconsidered with an embarrassed giggle. Shizune still got the message.
        [Very well then, Acting President. You’d better get to work.]
 
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        “Yeah!  Let’s do this!” Misha announced to the mostly empty Student Council Room, devoid of anyone but herself. In front of her on the desk she’d arranged the various tasks and folders for the day. Since it was a Saturday, classes had been restricted to the morning, so she had the whole afternoon and evening to plan and execute that day’s workload. First, she needed to collect all of the Class Representative’s attendance reports for that week and put them in the right folder. She grabbed a clipboard from the desk and began running down it with her pink pen.
        “First, Class 3-3. Check! Wahaha!” Misha dramatically poked the attendance sheet she’d gathered from her own class on Shizune’s behalf. With some satisfaction, she checked its box. “Hmm, Class 3-2 is next…”
 
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        Misha knocked on the classroom door, clipboard and folder in hand.
        “Lilly? Are you here?” She asked, peering through the mostly open doorway.
        “Indeed I am, Miss Mikado. And a good afternoon to the President as well,” replied the soft voice of Lilly Satou, Class 3-2’s Representative. Sitting in a chair, she was running her pale hands along a set of braille pages.
        “Good guess, Lilly, but today it’s just me! Shicchan is feeling under the weather, so I’m filling in as Acting President!” Misha took a triumphant pose, despite the lack of any visual observers.
        “Oh?” Lilly asked in surprise. She smiled sweetly. “Is that so? Do give her my best then.”
        “I sure will.” Misha replied. Lilly giggled a moment later. “What’s so funny?” followed Misha’s high pitched reply.
        “Oh, it’s just we never get the chance to talk alone very much. Not since the old days…” Lilly turned her head toward the floor.
        “Yeah…” said Misha, with a slight frown. “ I really wish you guys would make up, so we could hang out together like we used to!” Lilly sighed.
        “Misha… you know as well as I it’s not something that can be simply made up. It’s… times change, people change. Sometimes things can’t be undone.”
        “Ha~!” Misha scoffed. “You should never give up on friendship, Lilly!”
        “Perhaps you are right, Miss Mikado.” Lilly’s downcast face gave way to a slight smile. “In any case, how can I be of service to you?” She folded her hands neatly on the desk.
        “Oh!” exclaimed Misha, holding up the folder. “I need your attendance reports! I really hope you have them finished by now~!”
        “Indeed I do. In fact, I was finishing them just as you entered!” Lilly lifted up the pages she’d been reading and handed them vaguely in Misha’s direction.
        “Hooray Lilly~!” Misha happily stuffed the pages into the folder, and with a polite thanks, skipped into the hall towards the rest of the classrooms.
 
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        After collecting the attendance reports, the Council’s next duty was to check in with the finances of all the clubs, usually just by having the president sign their weekly receipt. Marching diligently all over the campus, Misha visited each club in turn, getting the president to sign the receipt, and moving onto the next. She stopped for a moment after a walk out into the courtyard.
        “Okay…which is next?” Misha ran the back of her pink pen down the next page of her checklist. “Tea club… check. Tech club… check. Toast club… Wahaha.” Misha licked what was left of her complimentary gourmet toast from her fingers. “Check. Next… Track Team! Let’s go!” She exclaimed aloud, and began skipping down the slope to Yamaku’s track. Upon her arrival she found resident track runners Emi Ibarazaki and Miki Miura, cooling off after an afternoon practice, as well as the unconscious form of their friend, Suzu Suzuki in the nearby grass. Miki was the first to notice Misha’s arrival.
        “Hey there, Drills!” came Miki’s greeting, waving her good hand above her head.
        “Hi Misha!” shouted Emi a moment later, flashing a bright smile.
        “Zzzzzzz,” said Suzu. Misha ended her skip at the edge of the track, a few feet away from the benches where the two girls sat.
        “Hey guys! Is the Track Captain around? I need you to sign your budgetary receipts for this week, please!” Miki and Emi shared a momentary panicked face before returning to a mask of placidity.
        “He’s, uh, he’s doing… inventory in the track shed right now.” Miki answered, glancing at the grass. “But I’m the treasurer, so I can sign it if he’s not here right?”
        “Maybe!” exclaimed Misha. “I don’t think it would be a big deal. Here you go, Micchan!” She extended the thin green paper to the track runner along with a pen, and before long the receipt was signed and back in the folder. “Thanks, guys! I’ll see you around, okay?” After exchanging goodbyes, Misha made another checkmark and strolled off to her next destination. After a minute or so, Miki turned to Emi.
        “Heh, she’s so cute.”
        “W-what?!” Emi’s face turned bright red.
        “Pfft. Not like that, you gaylord. Funny how you should jump to that conclusion first though…”
        “Ahh! The Turks are invading!” Suzu shouted blearily as she bolted from sleep.
        “Shut up, Suzu, there are no Turks invading Japan.” Miki replied, not even bothering to glance over. Emi sighed exhaustedly and rested her head on her hands.
        “Why do I even hang out with you guys?”
 
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        Most of her work finished, Misha confronted what remained as the sun began to sink below the western horizon. All that was left was filling out the planning forms for the upcoming weekly activities; since there were only a few the next week, she didn’t expect it to take long. She cracked her knuckles dramatically and set to her task.
        The hour began to edge dangerously close to double digits; Misha’s form-filling potential was quickly reaching its maximum.
        “Wa…” moaned Misha. The workload had turned out to be more tedious than she could possibly imagine. Hours in, and she could still see a mountain of work waiting her pen. Her moping was broken by the sound of the door opening behind her; in stepped Shizune, walking, but still looking a bit under the weather.
        [Hello.] She signed. [I took a long nap and had a nice meal, so I felt like I could come down and give you a hand…I’ll still abide by the conditions of our agreement, of course.]
        [Shicchan!] Signed Misha in response. [You shouldn’t! I can handle this on my own!] Shizune raised an eyebrow and scanned the pile of paper resting on the desk.
        [Clearly not. How much have you even gotten done?] Shizune stepped toward Misha’s desk, looking over the papers awaiting filling. Suddenly, she looked like a mother whose mud covered child has just marched through the front door. After a deep breath, she began signing again. [Misha. These are the activity reports for the entire next semester. The ones for next week are in this folder.] She pointed to a nearby, somewhat thinner folder. Misha gasped and began rapidly signing.
        [I’m so sorry! I must have gotten them mixed up!] Shizune smiled in response.
        [Don’t worry about it. It just means you got a head start. Want me to help you finish this week’s? I suppose I can still count it as a win for you, since I’m doing this as a kindness.] After signing, Shizune pulled a nearby chair over to Misha’s desk, grabbing a pen and some scrap paper along the way.
        [Sure, Shicchan! Thanks!] Signed Misha with a bright smile. She picked up her pen to work on the new forms before being interrupted by the growling of her stomach. [But maybe we should order some food first. It’s pretty late. Chinese sound good?] Shizune nodded, and Misha reached for the nearby phone.
        [And, since this is your work we’re doing, you’ll be paying, of course.] Shizune signed, crossing her arms in a gesture of victory. Misha lowered the phone from her ear, so she could sign back.
        [What? I’ve been working all day! You can’t seriously make me pay for dinner too!] Misha dropped her head to her desk. Shizune gave a long sigh.
        [Fine then. How about a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors…?]