Emi considered herself a good orator if she was honest. She was no Cicero or Demosthenes but her command of the levers of oration was one of her strong points, she felt. She would most likely be better if she could control her temper a bit better, but when things made her mad, she found the emotion difficult to control and tended to rant.

It was from the position of a not-quite-Demosthenes but still quite good speaker she had stared at Asami with awe. She had been vulnerable and earnest. Honest and committed and, most importantly, genuine and dedicated to the cause of the Flower Appreciation Society. No, she wasn’t going to make Athens revolt against Alexander, but her heartfelt speech should have been more than enough to ensure the club’s creation.

It was with that knowledge she and, in fact, everyone else in the Student Council room turned slowly with shock and varying degrees of disbelief toward Riku. Riku’s placid face betrayed no emotion, simply a bureaucratic deference to the facts.

“What the actual hell, Riku?” Tsubaki was the first to speak.

“That does seem rather harsh, dear,” Himari shook her head, making her disagreement kindly but plainly obvious. Emi felt Asami’s shoulders begin to shake as the girl lowered her head. Shooting Riku a venomous glance Emi comforted her friend as well as she was able.

“…Mean,” Chie mumbled.

“I, similarly, was quite moved by Ms. Takahashi’s speech,” Riku said matter-of-factly. Emi doubted anything short of an excavator of mammoth proportions could move the placid-faced girl. “The fact of the matter is that school charter sections 14 and 26 set out the rules that must be followed pertaining to club creation. Subsection 14a, b and h as well as 26c plainly state that all clubs must have no less than 5 members and a faculty advisor before they can be considered for creation.”

“Subsection…” Tsubaki leafed haplessly through the papers on the table in front of her, trying and failing to find what Riku was talking about. Not, of course, that she expected to as the papers were only her trigonometry homework, she’d hoped Chie would help her with later. Still, it seemed counter-productive to Tsubaki’s confusion and disbelief to not at least look as if she were looking for whatever Riku was talking about.

“Surely these are extenuating circumstances in this case, though,” Himari argued gently. “It’s been since well before we started in high school that a new club has been approved. It’s good for the culture of the school to get fresh ideas and new viewpoints.”

“Are you suggesting we not follow the rules?” Riku stared at Himari in stone-faced horror.

“W-Well…I’m not saying we don’t follow them! I’m just saying that sometimes, maybe we should consider the…er…uh…spirit of the students and maybe not necessarily not follow the…er… so much as overlook the…uh…sub…” She trailed off, wilting under Riku’s incredulous stare.

“Do you know what happens?” Riku stared at her unblinkingly in a way Himari found more than a bit disconcerting.

“Er…” Himari began, suddenly nervous.

“Without rules the very fabric of society begins to break down,” Riku still hadn’t blinked, and Himari was beginning to grow rather worried for her. “Without rules the norms begin to fray and eventually break. Without rules the police no longer keep the peace. Without rules roads aren’t repaired, trains don’t run, airplanes don’t fly. Without rules the baser members of society run roughshod, devoid of the guardrails decent people rely on to keep them in check. Murders become commonplace. Basic human rights degrade to the point we are all little more than slaves to the strong. Without rules we have chaos. We have confusion. We have anarchy. In short, without rules we have unfettered madness making all of us nothing more than animals.”

“Come on, Riku, I doubt letting these sub…things slide this time is going to lead to Lord of the Flies,” Tsubaki interrupted dismissively.

“Are you certain?” Riku turned the full glare of her unblinking expression of pure horror to the Vice President. “What’s next? Where does it end? Do we discard our constitution as an annoyance? Do we ignore international treaties? Where does the slope finally end, Tsubaki-san? Does it finish with the collapse of Japan? The death of the Rule of Law? The dissolution of the nations of the world themselves? Do we become tribal beasts bashing each other over the head with rocks in a never-ending haze of violence, assault and retribution?”

“I…uh…” Tsubaki looked to Himari for help. Himari sighed and reached across to touch Riku’s hand to calm her down.

“It’s ok! It’s ok! Shhh,” Himari soothed the flustered girl. “We get it. Just breathe, ok, dear?” Riku finally blinked and Himari felt immediately relieved. She turned to the four girls staring at them with a mix of distress and confusion. “We wholeheartedly think your club is well-worth the student council’s consideration.” Himari smiled her winningest smile. “We just need you to get one more student and find a faculty member to act as an advisor. Ok?” Himari turned to a visibly shaken Riku and smiled encouragingly. “Maybe you should make some tea, dear. How does that sound?”

“Y-Yes,” Riku got to her feet unsteadily and made her way toward the tea pot. She began the process of making tea, pausing for a moment, she glanced over at the four girls standing at the end of the table staring at her with alarm. “W-Would you like some tea?”

“Ye- “Moo began before Emi cut her off.

“It’s not necessary!” Emi smiled as winningly as she could. “We had a big breakfast!” She finished nonsensically.

“Your club is wonderful, dears! Please don’t give up! Come back when you’re ready, and we’ll approve you immediately! We promise!” Himari smiled broadly. The four girls nodded silently before excusing themselves and stepping out of the room.

“W-We broke Riku-san,” Asami mumbled once they’d emerged back into the hall. Emi nodded dumbly. “Is she going to be ok?”

“I…I don’t know, Asami chan,” Emi admitted after a moment’s consideration. “I just don’t know.”

“What now?” Suyin asked quietly.

“We do what all lionesses must do after they faceplant into a water buffalo’s butt, ladies,” Emi grinned. “We pick ourselves up and go on the hunt once more.”