part 2 : cooperation | chapter 20 | the newspaper club's inspection ii

[faeil]

The Newspaper Club’s Inspection ②
Chapter 20
written by Akira
>>student council room

Himari: Y-You’re inspecting things?

Fumi: Correct. I’ve been hearing a lot about you recently, after all—

You’ve been dragging that transfer student boy around and helping people, if I recall correctly.

You do know that right now, you’re the talk of our school?

That’s right. If I were to write an article about it, I’d probably title it.. Oh… "Student Council President Desperately Tries to Appeal to the Students in Light of Plummeting Popularity"?

Himari: I mean, I guess that’s true, but the way you put it is really irritating for some reason?!

Fumi: I’m just expressing an objective fact.

Or maybe "The Student Council President—The Heroine of This Tragedy—Trapped in Hot Water, Yet Bravely Struggling On! Everyone, Cheer for Her!" would work better for you?

Going easy on you would go against the very spirit of mass media, doesn’t it?

Himari: Grrr… I don’t really get what you’re saying, but I feel like you’re talking me down!

Fumi: Anyway, all the Newspaper Club does is report the daily happenings of the school, with as little bias as possible. We would be remiss if any ill-will was to be reflected in our articles.

Basically, the reason our Student Council President Re-election article became such a topic of discussion in the first place was because your student council president was doing such a shoddy job, everyone was unsatisfied with her.

What we do is take what people are vaguely thinking and what they want to know, condense it and express it in words, and distribute it. That is the most cherished desire of the mass media.

Want to refuse our inspection? Fine with me. We’ll just write a mixture of fact and fiction for our next article.

We can ruin you so easily, you see?



Remember it well! The pen is mightier than the sword!

Tomoko: Actually, swords are mightier.

Mitsuru: Tomoko, be quiet. You’re going to open up a whole other can of worms.

Fumi: As I was saying…

Even I don’t have any desire to wage war against the student council. I think I’d like to get along well with all of you, you know?

Since ancient times, exceptional politicians have strengthened the foundations of their campaign through controlling the mass media. I wonder if you have that quality?

Himari: Hmph. You seem like some neat little literature-loving girl at first glance, but something’s fishy about you!

Fumi: Literature died a long time ago. Nobel Prize for Novels? The Naoki, the Akutagawa Prize? Hah! Simply for the amusement of the old who belong in their graves!

Since the advent of the letterpress, Bibles and newspapers were distributed to the world in abundance. In those ancient times, when faith and information were scattered amongst the people, literature was certainly sacred.

But then came the World Wide Web—the internet, made commonplace! In this age, publications are too slow, too dull!

Now, a myriad of information is spread through the circuits of the net limitlessly, and the masses can instantaneously respond to what they’re interested in.

As if they were taking place before their very eyes, the masses respond to every thing and happening of the world. To the modern era we live in, this is now reality—

Going through the procedure of printing and publishing with such leisure is no longer enough for the masses!

What we do is discover what topics will light a fire in the masses’ hearts and respond before anyone else. That is what we make into an article and distribute.

That is the literature of the modern age—

No! We have forgotten the ‘champions’ of literature, posturing as artists! That is the way original textual information was meant to be!



These sparks we've scattered will spread to the hearts of the masses and burst into flame!

That is the literature of the modern age! Yes—literature is bursting into flame!

What are you doing, Hiyono! Applaud, applaud!

Hiyono: Eh? Oh, right! Clap clap clap! My club leader is so cool!

Fumi: Fufu. Well, if you aren’t capable of understanding my magnificent literary spirit, then I suppose that’s fine too.

It’s your choice whether you’ll let me inspect the student council or not.

However, I’ll take the behavior of the likes of you, distort it, and spread it far and wide. You understand that I’ll make you all burst into flame?

Himari: Who do you think you are, Oda Nobunaga? This damn arsonist reporter…

Mitsuru: What are we going to do, Himari?

Himari: All we can do is agree. She’ll write terrible articles about us either way—

But I’m not mistaken! If I demonstrate my true feelings from the bottom of my heart, the students should understand!

Fine, I’ll let you do your damn—I’ll let you do your inspection.

You and I are both students here, which means you’re my friend too! I don’t want to fight if I don’t have to!

Fumi: You’ve got guts. Fufu… Now, this is quick, but let’s get to it.

It appears our celebrity transfer student boy is present as well? Hiyono, are you ready?

Hiyono: Ah. Umm… Yes!

Fumi: (Now… I’ll set you ablaze with my literary spirit, my cute sacrificial lamb.)

(You’ll burn so not even ashes are left. Fufufu… The Newspaper Club will be unstoppable—)

Hiyono: (Ah, she’s making that evil face again... Lord have mercy, lord have mercy…)

notes:
-naoki/akutagawa prizes are two of the biggest literary prizes in japan.
-Oda Nobunaga was a brutal daimyou and one of the three unifiers of japan, killed anyone who stood in his way
-sacrificial lamb-chan

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