I’ve never thought that boys shouldn’t join the club.
However, all the new students who talk to Mako seem to have a rather laid-back impression.
Not just the newcomers, but even classmates and seniors occasionally talk to her, but when Mako kindly responds, Yuuki, sitting next to her with a thoroughly irritated expression, glares at them to chase them away.
It wasn’t like I wanted all of them gone… Well, if they seem unworthy in my eyes, then that’s that.
I thought of it as a “cheat key,” but it seems like it doesn’t really work on female students.
After all, newcomers probably have some sort of romantic outlook about their future school life. Not just anyone can get into this school.
If they worked hard to get in, they would want some reward from the school. Starting from the second year, they’ll also have to think about concerns for the third year, but in the first year, most don’t have much going through their minds.
If they’re dreaming about romance, coming to a club with only the same gender might be a bit difficult.
“Umm~ maybe it’s not going to work.”
Fukuda, who had been watching the scene from a distance, said.
“Maybe I should have made Kaoru dress as a boy?”
If it had been said directly to Kaoru, I think she would have found it extremely amusing… but, who knows, I honestly don’t know if it would have worked. Kaoru fits into the cute girl category too, so it would’ve been noticeable either way.
Is it really the case that no new students are going to come in like this?
As I continued to ponder while observing the scene—
“Excuse me, um…”
There was a girl trying to speak up.
She seemed a bit nervous, stuttering, yet surprisingly, she had a flashy appearance that didn’t match her speech.
Her nails were painted with various colors, and her uniform skirt was short—just as short as Fukuda’s when she was a first-year.
Her skin was white, but at a glance, she seemed to be more on the level of Izumi or Yuuki than Fukuda.
Although her speech was timid.
“Hmm.”
Fukuda had a look on her face as if she caught a scent while looking at the girl’s back.
For reference, Yuuki briefly looked up at her and then quickly returned to focusing on his book.
In Yuuki’s eyes, that means she’s a girl without charm. Even with that kind of styling.
Thinking back on it, the girl was alone. Well, there’s nothing strange about a person being alone, but why? Isn’t it usually the case that kids who play well in light novels band together?
If she had close friends, she could join a club or something.
“She seems like a girl who came from another middle school.”
Fukuda muttered.
I thought so too. If she attended middle school with other kids, there’s a good chance she would know a few at this high school.
But the girl was alone.
Then again, it could mean she originally had a bunch of friends but ended up starting high school alone and got separated.
Someone who has spent a lot of time alone like me wouldn’t mind eating alone at a cafeteria, but I’ve encountered people who say things like ‘I can’t eat while facing a wall’ or ‘I can’t eat alone; it’s too boring’ and insist on making phone calls while eating, so…
While outsiders are often anxious about being outsiders, insiders are naturally more concerned.
“High school debut, huh?”
Fukuda seemed to have come to a conclusion alone as she nodded.
“High school debut?”
I asked from next to her.
“That’s right. It’s when someone transforms their image from middle school to high school.”
Ah, is that so?
I’ve tried to do my own transformations before. Not during high school, but when I entered college and returned from military service.
Both times turned out to be spectacular failures. Fortunately, I was so insignificant that it wasn’t a huge problem, but it left quite a mark on me.
So, what about that girl…?
It’s not possible to read a person’s past just based on appearance and attitude, but at least outwardly, she looks like a girl who kept quietly to herself during middle school.
“Then, is she trying to talk to the literature club?”
“Of course! The literature club seems easy-going. Just going there to read books could lead to connections.”
Kaoru nodded as she responded to Yuka’s question. If Izumi had heard that, she would have been quite saddened.
The funny thing is, I, Yuka, and Koko all managed to make connections in the literature club just as she said.
As Fukuda mentioned, the atmosphere of just sitting together reading books without much dialogue is pretty good for timid individuals. If they can share conversations every now and then and make friends or junior acquaintances, there’s nothing better.
Moreover, isn’t Mako and Yuuki both incredibly pretty?
…Still, it does seem a bit mismatched to maintain such an image while joining the literature club.
Mako finished a short conversation with the newcomer and handed her a piece of paper.
It seemed to be the club application form.
“Take your time to look it over and decide.”
“T-thank you!”
The girl, who had been quite nervous, let out the words rigidly as Mako smiled gently at her.
Um, how should I put it?
She looks incredibly naive.
She seems like a character straight out of a light novel.
“Alright~!”
Fukuda rolled up her sleeves and said.
“Then let’s guide the newcomer with utmost sincerity.”
And with big strides, she put her chin on the blonde newcomer’s shoulder.
“Eep!?”
Of course, the girl was shocked, but by that time, she was already tightly held by Fukuda.
“W-w-w-wait!”
It seems she was trying to say something, but it didn’t come out properly. Did something unpleasant happen to her with a girl who had a similar look during middle school?
Or maybe it was that instinctive sensation where outsiders fear and are intimidated by insiders.
Understanding this is a bit depressing.
“Hey, the club room is this way.”
But Fukuda seemed determined not to let go of her shoulder and turned toward the curriculum office.
The school buildings are generally connected, but the old building, which has been standing for a long time, looks significantly different from the relatively newly extended annex. While it’s not so outdated that it can’t be used in web series, to be honest, it does look a bit shabby on the surface.
If I were a completely clueless newcomer, I would probably freak out, being dragged toward the shabbiest place in this school, especially with someone from the fun crowd doing the dragging.
In reality, the newcomer was looking at Mako as if asking for help, but sadly, Mako was also an accomplice in this.
Though the shape of her smile looked a bit strained.
Yuka, Koko, and I quickly followed behind.
I was worried she might have a heart attack, but apparently, it ended up backfiring. Maybe she thought it was a gang that was following her; her face turned green.
…Well, still, I don’t think Koko and I give off that kind of vibe, do we?
We may have a bit of an eerie side, but…
To be honest, if you asked the newcomer who she would be more afraid of when being dragged along by someone, I bet she’d choose to be frightened of the newcomer.
Since we didn’t want her to actually faint, the three of us just walked silently to the club room.
*
“……”
And in the club room, there was a more cowardly presence than the newcomer.
“Hey, senpai. No matter what, it’s a bit problematic for the president to get scared of a new student.”
Fukuda said as she moved around the room with the newcomer’s shoulder held tightly in her grasp.
Izumi was hiding behind Kaoru, just like the last time she saw Fukuda, darting around.
“Eh? Eh? Eh?”
Just like before, the newcomer was making a noise that seemed broken.
“Hey, Fukuda. Why don’t you let her go?”
Yuka mentioned while sitting lightly on the desk.
She had her arms crossed and bore an expression of disbelief.
Yuka is simply acting the way she normally does, but honestly, that posture isn’t very good. To the timid girl, it would just feel like another delinquent joined the fray.
Although Yuka is closer to being an outsider than a delinquent, I don’t think it’s necessary to elaborate on that here.
“Yeah, yeah. Even the president seems troubled. While it’s a bit fun to tease Izumi, overdoing it might hurt her.”
“You…!”
“Tease…?!”
Kaoru’s words had a very powerful impact on the small frightened animal.
Izumi slapped Kaoru on the back, and the newcomer’s expression completely wilted. Did the word tease sound like bullying or something to her?
I wish Izumi would keep in mind that she’s currently hitting the person who’s teasing her.
But thankfully, Fukuda listened to Kaoru’s words.
“Alright, here, sit down, newbie-chan.”
Chan, huh.
That’s a term I haven’t heard in a long time.
Fukuda seated the newcomer at the table right beside me. Well, maybe that was on purpose. Despite this view, I’m actually rather reasonable within the literature club.
Of course, Koko was sitting next to me, smiling warmly at the newcomer.
Thinking about it, this is Koko’s first younger friend in her life.
When I think about it that way, it feels a bit strange. Of course, considering the order of their births, I would technically be born after Koko in this world, but Koko, who hasn’t interacted with humans properly, has never had the chance to build the minimum connection that would exist with others.
Does she even know the concept of a junior?
With a bright smile, Koko reached toward the snack basket in the middle of the table and picked up a dorayaki.
Then she offered it to the newcomer, whose name she still didn’t know. I shifted back to clear a path for her hand.
“Wanna eat?”
“Eh?”
The newcomer, sitting there in a daze, blinked.
“Wanna eat?”
Koko smiled brightly and repeated.
Hmm.
It seems that the concept of a junior is somewhat clear to her. Maybe she’s been oddly excited since this morning, and the thought that she’s really getting a junior has gotten her all worked up.
“Um, yeah, thank you…”
The girl, taken aback by suddenly receiving a snack from a senior smaller than her, fell into confusion.
After receiving the dorayaki, the newcomer was still unable to eat it, fidgeting about.
Koko reached her hand out to the newcomer again.
“Give it here.”
“Eh? Y-yeah.”
The newcomer continued to display an expression of not understanding the current situation as she placed the dorayaki back into Koko’s hand.
Koko passed it by me and,
“This is how it’s done.”
She kindly opened the dorayaki’s plastic wrapping, looking at the newcomer as if to say, ‘How did you not know this?’
I contemplated deeply about Koko’s social learning. Well… I thought she had learned almost all the common sense a normal person would have.
Ah, no. Upon reflecting again, the newcomer had been stuttering almost all her words. She even failed to form words a few times.
So perhaps, Koko recognized her as a ‘child who needs help.’
Similar to how Koko was first looked at by other kids.
Thinking back on it, I also taught Koko in that manner. Maybe she wants to teach this girl the same way she did back then.
“Here.”
“Um, yeah…”
The newcomer, now becoming a girl who couldn’t even properly unwrap a snack, received the dorayaki once more with a blank look on her face.
Then, with a bewildered expression, she looked toward Kaoru, who sat smiling brightly in front of her.
Kaoru just observed the newcomer silently, and finally, the newcomer took a bite of the dorayaki.
“…It’s delicious.”
“Ah, she’s cute.”
Kaoru said that and gave Fukuda a thumbs up.
Fukuda, too, returned a proud thumbs up.
It felt a little amusing, like they succeeded in a hunt.
As they observed the newcomer’s somewhat dazed demeanor, it seemed like Izumi had also developed some intimacy, as she had now taken a seat beside Kaoru, gazing delicately at the newcomer.
“Cough.”
Just moments ago, the Izumi who was running away from the newcomer cleared her throat with confidence.
“So, uh… do you want to join the literature club?”
“Eh? Ah, yes.”
The newcomer replied.
The sight of her holding the dorayaki in both hands still displayed a rather daft impression.
With yellow hair and painted nails, and an overall made-to-fit uniform, her appearance screamed ‘gyaru,’ but otherwise, she looked comically naive.
“Um, is this the literature club?”
“Yup! Actually, it’s the occult research club.”
Kaoru interrupted Izumi’s words.
“No, it’s the literature club. You brought the application form, right?”
I handed over the application form on behalf of the newcomer. I had picked it up after dropping it while playing hide and seek with Izumi earlier.
“See? It clearly says literature club.”
“Y-yes…”
“And if you don’t believe me, we can show you the club activity guide we made.”
“Ah, um, no, it’s just that I’d really like to see that, but it seems like it’s not necessary right now!”
“Is that so?”
When Izumi gazed at her a bit flustered, the newcomer, who had just stood up, slowly sat back down.
She gives off an impression of a small animal.
She’s taller than me, though.
“During usual times, we gather here to read books or write various things.”
‘Writing various things’ does happen a few days out of the year, but nonetheless.
“During the festival, we create the literature club’s material too.”
“About that festival, don’t you think it would be great to try something different this year?”
Fukuda chimed in like she had been waiting for this.
“How about a cafe? A maid cafe or something?”
Those eyes were fixed on me and Koko. Is it because she has experience?
“A maid cafe? In the literature club?”
“More accurately, a literature cafe! There are books in cafes too, right? If the literature club does it that way…”
“…We’ll think about that later since we have more time.”
Izumi replied with a rather uneasy expression on her face, it seemed she was not too thrilled at the thought that she might have to wear a maid outfit.
Fukuda, on the other hand, appeared to be staring wide-eyed at Izumi’s expression.
Kaoru was the same.
Those two just get along too well. I’d better stay cautious so that I don’t become prey when they’re together in the future.
“Anyway.”
Izumi tried to steer the conversation back to herself.
“There’s cabin training during the break and stuff like that. There aren’t many activities you’d find burdensome.”
That much was true.
Somehow, the eyes of the newcomer were directed at Koko and me, and I also nodded my head in agreement. Koko followed suit.
“We went to an onsen last year. We had a Christmas party too.”
I casually mentioned that we hadn’t actually gathered under the guise of the literature club. Well, that was the case for everyone here, so it’s not a lie.
It wasn’t necessarily an activity directly related to the literature club.
“C-cabin training!”
However, upon hearing the words ‘cabin training,’ the newcomer sparkled her eyes.
“D-do you do things like pajama parties?”
It feels like she’s interested in something strange.
“Well… we did wear pajamas.”
Since we certainly did sleep.
“…!”
The newcomer’s eyes brightened significantly. It seemed she completely forgot the previous nervousness.
“I-I want to join!”
“Um, really?”
Perhaps she was prepared for persuasion, but Izumi was slightly taken aback by the sudden declaration.
“Are there any joining conditions?”
“Not at all… so, alright.”
Izumi, who understood the newcomer’s reaction, finally pushed the application form in front of her.
“Then, sign it here. You can join, and if you happen to not like it, it’s okay to quit anytime.”
“Y-yes, thank you!”
The girl, using the pen I handed her, wrote her name vigorously.
*
In the end, she was the only one who joined.
All the kids talking to others were mostly boys, and they outright gawked at Mako or Yuuki. Even a few guys who seemed somewhat serious were staring intently at either of them until they eventually turned away, as though they got hit over the head by Yuuki’s gaze.
“…Harumi.”
When we finally went to get them, Yuuki was all stirred up.
“Sorry, sorry.”
Fukuda clasped her hands together in apology, smiling brightly as she said it.
“But that girl said she’d join!”
“Really? That’s great! She seemed like a nice girl.”
Mako replied cheerfully with a big smile.
“Yeah, yeah, I knew it! She seemed super nice!”
Fukuda said while keeping her hands together.
…Um, how should I put this?
To be honest, looking back now, that girl might have been accurately reading what Fukuda was like.
Since Fukuda is nice, she won’t bully her… but you know how it goes.
Fukuda really likes cute girls.
Kaoru is like that too.
I have a feeling she might end up getting manipulated quite a bit.
Well, as long as she enjoys it, I suppose it doesn’t matter.
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