5 Chapter 1.4 - Club Fair

On our second day of school, technically the first day of class, we spent most of our time running over the course objectives.

It seemed no one paid any heed to my word of caution. The students were so addicted to the freedom, that they couldn't care less about the school's regulations anymore.

Sleeping, playing games and gossiping with each other during class etc. Some didn't even bother coming to school regularly. It was just as chaotic as I imagined it to be.

Of course, neither the teachers, nor did I, stop them. It was a hard lesson they needed to learn for themselves.

I took the chance to go along the flow and get some sleep in the process. Soon enough, it was already lunchtime. Everyone left the classroom with their newly made acquaintances or friends.

Friends...

"!!!"

I then realized something crucial. I was so focused on orbiting around Ayanokouji that I unintentionally ended up isolating myself from my classmates. That was not the plan! I looked around only to find nobody I could talk to. Defeated, I looked at Ayanokouji.

Ayanokouji, well it was obvious that he's a loner... too.

He looked around from right to left, obviously looking for someone to eat lunch with. Suddenly he looked at me. His expression screamed, "Help me, Levent. I don't want to eat by myself. Please save me.". I didn't think that he could make expressions like a puppy.

I guess loners really do stick together, huh?

"Want to grab some grub?" I asked, which in reply he gave me confused look.

"Grab some grub?" I forgor that he was a perfect human. Such vulgar language mustn't taint our majesty.

"Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Yes."

Well that was fast.

"Okay just a second."

"How adorable." Horikita out of nowhere.

"How do you find this adorable, may I ask?"

"Two loners eating lunch together just to make each other feel less lonely. If it's not adorable, than I don't know what is." this girl!

"But you're alone, aren't you? Haven't you thought about having lunch with someone? Or do you intend to spend three years here without making a single friend?"

"That's right. I prefer to be alone," she replied quickly, without hesitation. It sounded like she was being honest.

"Perhaps you can join us? We are loners, so-"

"I refuse."

"Oka-"

"I refuse."

".... I didn't ask though."

"You were about to."

"To be honest, no."

"I see. In that case I'll go out first. You two go ahead and enjoy 'hanging' around like loners."

Horikita left the room without making a single noise.

"Well that was..."

"Let's go Ayanokouji."

"Right."

"You're Ayanokouji-kun, right? Oh, Aozaki-kun, is also here."

While we were almost on our way, a beautiful girl suddenly called us out. It was Kushida. She was there to ask us to help her "befriend" Horikita.

"I'm Kushida, from your class. Do you remember me?" she asked.

"Yes. Do you need us for something?"

"To tell you the truth, there's something I wanted to ask you. It's just one little question. Both of you are you on good terms with Horikita-san, right?"

Figures.

"No. It's pretty much like she uses us as emotional punching bags. Other than that, we don't have a particularly close relationship. What made you come to that conclusion?"

"Oh, no. Well, do you remember when I said I wanted to get along with everyone in class? That's why I wanted everyone's contact info. But... Horikita turned me down."

She didn't ask me though. Am I forgetting something?

"Guess I'm nothing more than a mob character huh?" I murmured to myself.

"Weren't you two talking to her outside the school on the day of the entrance ceremony? I was just wondering what kind of person Horikita-san is," Kushida continued.

"Is she the type who'll talk a lot when she's with a friend?"

I could neither confirm, nor deny her statement.

"I don't think she's very good at interacting with others. Why are you asking about Horikita-san, anyway?"

Quite possible that she had already started to gather information about her just so she could expel her out of this school. She has some sort of an addiction towards attention. Horikita was without a doubt, the biggest obstacle she had on her way towards her perfect high school life. Which is why she could not let someone like Horikita be near her.

"Well, during our introductions, Horikita-san walked out of the classroom, right? It seems like she hasn't talked to anybody yet, so I'm a little worried about her."

Kushida had said that she wanted to get along with everyone when she introduced herself.

Little did she know that I was also going to be a huge part on the equation of her perfect life.

"We can't really help you with that. Apart from her name and her personality, we don't really know anything her, sorry."

"No, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. I thought that you two must have been old friends before starting school here. I'm sorry to have asked you such a strange question."

"Useless brats!" is what she was probably thinking in her head. I could see a part of her invisible mask breaking. It was getting dangerous to roam around her any longer.

"In any case, it was nice to meet you again, Kushida-san."

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, Aozaki-kun, Ayanokouji-kun."

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Ayanokouji said.

Ah, I forgot about something crucial. It was supposed to be him having a conversation with her, not me.

Ayanokouji was awfully silent during the entire conversation. I took his spotlight by pure accident. He being himself couldn't interject into the conversation.

"Hah..." Did he just sigh?

I mean, I did steal his chance to talk to a beautiful girl. He didn't notice this yet, but I just saved him from a an actual snake of a person, and this is the treatment I get?

Well, whatever.

"Let's go."

"Hmm." He nodded.

Well, on the bright side, Kushida ended up giving me her phone number. Now I had infinitely more number of girls contact than I previously had.

Five contacts.

🄾🅄🅃🅂🄸🄳🄴🅁

We decided to go to the convenience store, buy some bread, and return to class. About ten people had remained in the room. Some had pushed their desks together so they could all eat as a group.

But in our case, there was absolutely no point in trying to push our benches together as we only had a few breads to chew on. We both sat down on our respective seats as we silently savored our sweet buns.

Soon Horikita returned and sat down beside us.

"What a delicious looking sandwich~" I thought to myself staring at the food on her table.

Her aura screamed, "Don't talk to me" and so we silently chewed on our bread without approaching her.

Just as I was about to have the last bite of my bread, suddenly music played through the speakers.

"At five PM Japan Standard Time today, we will be holding a student club fair in Gymnasium No. 1. Students interested in joining a club, please gather in Gymnasium No. 1. I repeat, at-" A girl with a sweet voice, probably secretary Tachibana continued the announcement. Club activities, huh? I recalled my previous conversation with Ayanokouji.

"Do you want to check them out?" he asked.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Okay, then I'll also ask Horikita." he turned towards Horikita.

'That would be a bad idea.'

"Hey, Horikita. Do you wanna-"

"I'm not interested in joining a club."

"I didn't even ask you anything yet."

"Well, what is it?"

"Are you interested in joining a club?"

"Ayanokouji-kun, do you have dementia, or are you just an idiot? Didn't I just tell you that I'm not interested?"

"That doesn't mean you won't join, though," he replied.

"Now you're just splitting hairs. Don't argue for the sake of arguing."

"Okay then."

Ayanokouji was utterly defeated. She was still obsessed with isolation rather than gathering manpower.

In order to crack a tsundere archetype like her, one mustn't use argument for the sake of leverage, as that would only inflate her ego. A rhetorical analysis of the situation was a better way of dealing with egoistic beings such as her.

"I really think you should visit the fair at least once."

"Oh? What's your reason for thinking that?"

"Well, our seniors from both years are coming. We can talk to some of them. They've been here much longer than we have, so maybe we could get some advice if we asked them around?"

"I see. So you're saying we could collect information by going to the fair?"

"Well, if you put it that way, then... I guess?"

I merely gave her the idea. She was the one who filled in the blanks.

Now the question was, will she take the bait?

"Club activities, hmm. I see..." she took the bait almost instantly.

You had to make them think it was their idea, when in reality it was actually your's to begin with. Tsundere's are almost too easy.

"Well, if it's only for a little while, I'll go with you two" she said.

"That's fine. But are you sure about that?" again, better safe than sorry.

"You asked me earlier, didn't you? You said you wanted to go to the club fair."

"Ah, okay."

"Again, only for a little while."

Gotcha.

"Well then, when should the three of us go there?" Ayanokouji inquired.

"We will go after the classes are over." Horikita replied.

"Understood." both me and Ayanokouji said in unison.

"Watching you flail about as you two fail to make friends sounds somewhat interesting."

"....."

"..... Sure."

After our conversation ended, I stuffed the last piece of the dry bread I had on my mouth. The bread immediately sponged out all of my saliva. As a result I could neither swallow nor bite. But then I got impatient and tried to swallow it, deteriorating the situation even more.

That's how I ended up being in an awkward position. While I struggled to devour that dry piece of lump, both of them contently watched me as I suffered. At first both of them stared at me with a confused look on their faces. But then things went from bad to worse.

Horikita was gullible enough to pull her phone out, and take pictures of me....with a sadistic smirk! Meanwhile Ayanokouji simply stared at me like I was the test subject of some experiment.

I looked at Ayanokouji pleading for help. "Help me, friend! Save me!" was what I tried to hint at him. Of course he got my signal, yet he kept watching me contently, he even took a bite from his bread.

Traitor.

"Gulp! *cough! *cough!" after struggling for a while, I managed to forcefully swallow the remaining piece of bread. I continuously coughed as if I was a heavy smoker and as I gasped for air like a fish outside the water.

The gall of them to clap on my misery. I shall burn this to my memory!

"That was quite the entertaining show you put there, Aozaki-kun."

I narrowed my eyes.

"You could've at least offered me some water."

"I could've. I just didn't think it was necessary for me to do so."

"But why? Why would you do that to me?" I asked.

"Because I didn't feel obligated to."

I have never despised anyone as much her ever before.

"Is that something you should say to a person who just choked on their food?" Ayanokouji attempted to reprimand Horikita only to face another one of her counterarguments.

"Just because he choked on his food doesn't mean I have an obligation to offer my water bottle to him. Besides, look at him, he seems fine to me. I need the water to rehydrate myself for the next few hours, so that's why I didn't want to give him. Do you have a problem with that, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Ehhhh...?" at least he tried.

"What about you, Ayanokouji-kun? Why didn't you offer?" Horikita asked Ayanokouji.

Ah, that's right. Why didn't YOU do that Ayanokouji?

"Um, my bottle was empty. So..."

...

I see.

"Fair enough."

"Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it."

Starting to develop some sour thoughts about this girl...

••••••••

"There are more people here than I expected." Ayanokouji expressed.

After classes had ended for the day, the three of us went to the gymnasium. There were about a hundred people waiting around. We stood near the back of the room and waited for the fair to begin.

While waiting, we glanced over the pamphlet that we received upon entering the gymnasium. The pamphlet contained detailed information about club activities.

"I wonder if this school has famous clubs. For example, something like karate." Ayanokouji said.

"Every club seems to operate on a high level. It looks like many athletes and club members here are famous throughout the nation." Horikita replied.

Unlike the school I went to, this school actually went ahead to actually put some budget on their clubs. They seemed way better than the ones I saw from my previous world.

Don't get me wrong. I won't be joining any of them.

"These facilities are significantly more substantial than ordinary schools. Look, they even have O2 chambers. The equipment here is so luxurious, it puts the professionals' stuff to shame. Oh, but it looks like they don't have a karate club after all."

"I see." Horikita seemed completely uninterested, same case for me. Ayanokouji was the only one looking forward to it.

While browsing through the pamphlets, I happened to notice something interesting.

"Look, there's a calligraphy club. I wonder if they would accept my unique style of writing."

My hand writing was as bad as an ant walking on a piece of paper with ink sticking to it's feet. It was anything but beautiful. Some would say they were specimen of the current modern art.

There was also the light music and tea ceremony club on my list of pamphlets.

"Can any of you play an instrument?"

"I can play a violin without any problem." Horikita can play a violin without any problem.

"I think I can play piano a little." Ayanokouji can play piano a little.

"I see. I can play guitar. Imagine if the three of us started a band. Wouldn't that be great?"

"I'd rather not imagine it." Horikita shot me down immediately.

"I don't think a pianist, a guitarist and a violin player would do any good as a music band." Ayanokouji made a valid point. But it's not like we're actually starting a band.

"At least let me dream~"

"Dreaming something unrealistic will only raise your hopes. That is why I must weed it out before the hope grows on you." Horikita replied.

"Ehhhh..."

We'll it's not like I actually wanted to form a band. But it would certainly be quite interesting to have one though.

"Thank you all for waiting, first-year students. We will now begin the club fair. A representative from each club will explain their function. My name is Tachibana, the student council secretary and the club fair's organizer. It's nice to meet you all."

After secretary Tachibana delivered the opening remarks, representatives from each club quickly lined up on a stage. The club representatives included everything from burly athletes in judo uniforms to students dressed in beautiful kimonos.

"Hey, if you want to get a fresh start, why not try joining an athletic club? The judo club looks good, doesn't it? That upperclassman looks kind, and I'm sure he'd encourage you."

Horikita pointed towards a big and scary looking senpai. His height was estimated to be somewhere around six feet two, while the both of us were at five feet nine. Let's not mention Horikita's height.

"What do you mean 'kind'?! He looks like a gorilla! He'll kill me for sure!" Ayanokouji snapped in quite the comedic tone.

"He'll probably talk passionately about how easy judo is."

"Cut it out!"

Well it seems even the ice cold Ayanokouji could show some emotions from time to time.

"What about you, Aozaki-kun? Don't you think he's-?"

"Hard pass."

I had absolutely no enthusiasm for spending my precious 'second' high school life by restricting myself with club activities.

"And even if I were to join, the athletic clubs all look really intimidating. Not to mention how much I suck at athletics. I also get the impression they don't accept beginners."

"Beginners should be welcomed. The more members a club has, the more money they receive from the school. That's how they're able to get better training equipment." Horikita replied.

"Sounds like they're using the beginners for the money..." Ayanokouji mumbled.

"It would be ideal to gather many new members as a budgetary increase, and then simply to bench them the rest of the time, like phantom members. If you were skilled at manipulation, that is."

"What an unpleasant world... You have a pretty strange way of thinking," he muttered.

How ironic.

A girl dressed in archery gear stepped onto the stage. "Hello, my name is Hashigaki, the captain of the archery club. Many students may be under the impression that archery is an old-fashioned, simple activity, but it is actually a fun and rewarding sport. We welcome beginners with open arms. If you're interested, please consider joining."

"Horikita-san, look, they seem to be welcoming newcomers. Why don't you try joining them? In order to increase their budget, that is." I taunted at Horikita.

"I hate the idea of joining a club solely for that reason! Besides, athletic clubs are just gatherings of people with nothing better to do. Also, I probably wouldn't have fun if I didn't know anyone there. I'd end up quitting in the blink of an eye."

"Isn't that simply your twisted personality talking? I have a feeling that you didn't even bother remembering our classmate's names" Ayanokouji said.

"Yes, you're absolutely right. But athletic clubs are a no-go."

"Figures." I mumbled.

In the end we did stick to our original plan. As the seniors introduced their respective clubs one after the other, we tried to converse with other seniors present at the fair.

Although I already knew everything about ANHS, I pretended to listen to all the things they had to say. The school had strictly forbidden the upperclassmen from providing hints to the freshmen. Which is why most of the seniors decided not to talk about it. The ones who did talk however, gave us either vague answers or absolute lies.

"Well that was a waste of time." I sighed.

"Is that so? I thought it was quite helpful to be honest." Ayanokouji replied.

"If you think it that way, then perhaps... I don't know. What about you, Horikita-san?"

Then I saw Horikita, who was tense. She looked at the stage, her face pale.

"What's the matter?"

Ayanokouji called out to her. But she didn't even seem to notice us anymore. I looked towards her line of vision.

"Ah."

He was already there.

"Horikita, what's the matter?" I asked her to keep faking my normal profile. But deep down, I already knew the answer.

Her nii-san was at the stage after all.

Horikita Manabu and Horikita Suzune, siblings with a twisted relationship. The elder brother who kept rejecting the younger sister. And the younger sister who wanted to prove herself to the elder brother.

"..."

I was yet to determine wether or not it was an incestuous attraction or just a sibling relationship at extreme. Though one thing was certain, the dependency on her brother's shadow would most likely be an annoying drag for our class.

I would most certainly reprimand her unrequited relationship with her brother, but now was not the time. I signaled Ayanokouji to let her be and continue to focus on the club representatives.

Eventually, everyone walked off the stage, until only one person remained. It was president Horikita Manabu. Everyone focused their attention upon him.

He wore sharp glasses and had a piercing, calculating gaze. Standing in front of the microphone, he calmly looked around at the first-year students. An aura of leadership was emitting from him.

Though at the beginning, he didn't say a single word, it was simply one of his ploy for ensuring absolute attention from everyone present. The first years immediately went berserk.

"Do your best!"

"Did you forget to bring your notecards?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

But no matter how many embarrassing comments were thrown at him by the first year students, he kept his poker face. When the laughter had reached a crescendo, it suddenly died.

"What's with this guy?" remarked an astonished student. The gymnasium buzzed with people talking, yet he still did not move.

He simply stood there, quiet and motionless, staring fixedly at the crowd. We weren't given any orders, but not a single student present in the gymnasium dared to open their mouth.

Pin drop silence. That action itself proved the capability of Manabu as a leader.

After a brief moment of silence, Manabu spoke, slowly scanning the crowd.

"I'm the student council president. My name is Horikita Manabu," he began his speech.

"The student council is looking to recruit potential candidates among the first-year students to replace the graduating third years. Although no special qualifications are required for candidacy, we humbly ask that those considering application not be involved in other club activities. We generally do not accept students involved elsewhere."

Manabu managed to silence the entire student body present inside the gymnasium. It wasn't his position as the student council president that granted him this deference. That was simply Horikita Manabu's power. His presence dominated everyone around him.

"Furthermore, we in the student council do not wish to appoint anyone who possesses a naive outlook. Not only would such a person not be elected, he or she would sully the sanctity of this school. It is the student council's right and duty to enforce and amend the rules, but the school expects more than that. We gladly welcome those of you who understand this."

Immediately after finishing, he hopped off the stage and left the gymnasium. Everyone was silent even after his departure.

That was the leadership of student council president Horikita Manabu, huh?

"Thank you all for coming. The club fair has ended. We will now open the reception area to anyone interested in signing up. Also, registration will be open until the end of April, so if any student wishes to join at a later date, we ask that you please bring the application form directly to the club you wish to join."

Thanks to the organizer of the fair, everyone snapped out of their state of shock.

Now..

"Hey, Horikita, what's wrong?" Ayanokouji asked again.

"...."

I snapped my fingers in front of her face.

"Ek!" she gave an unexpectedly cutesy reaction. Well she was a girl after all.

"Huh? What is it?"

"Horikita-san, are you okay?"

"Oh... Yes, I am fine. You don't need to worry about it."

"What happened?" Ayanokouji asked her.

"I said it's nothing. Do not ask that question or you will come to regret it."

"Hey now, there's no need to be violent." Ayanokouji raised his hand in surrender.

"Are we done with the club fair? If that's the case then I'm leaving."

"Right. Um, Horikita-san, could it be that the student council president is actually your brother?"

"Huh? What made you come to that conclusion?"

Horikita immediately asked me with a glare, clearly shook by my question.

"Well, you both have the same name. Besides, I did notice some similarities between you two.

"I can see what you're trying to say. You both looked peculiarly same, like twins. Is it really true that you're siblings then?" Ayanokouji remarked the same question.

"W-well, don't go making assumptions by yourself! I don't want to discuss this matter with any of you."

So obvious.

"Yo, Levent, Ayanokouji. You both came, huh?"

Right at that moment, we were interrupted by Sudou, Ike and Yamauchi.

"Oh, hey, you three. So all of you came to join a club, huh?" it was Ayanokouji who greeted them.

"Yeah. I've been playing basketball ever since elementary school. I thought I'd join the team here."

"I see. And what about you two?"

"We just came because we felt it might be fun, you know? Besides, we thought we might have a fateful encounter afterward," Ike said.

"What do you mean, 'fateful encounter'?" Ayanokouji asked Ike to explain his statement. Well...

"I want to get my first girlfriend in Class D.

That's my goal. That's why I'm keeping my eyes open for an encounter."

Obviously getting a girlfriend was his first priority.

"In any case, we came here to see if there was any club worth joining." I added.

"Did you join any?"

"Nope."

"Pffft hahahaha! Seriously?" Sudou started laughing on his stomach.

"Dude you're funny."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Oh, by the way..."

Ah, he's about to invite us to their group. Not happening...

"Wait, where's Horikita? Ayanokouji, have you seen her?"

"Ah, now that you mention it."

"What's wrong?" Ike asked.

"Oh, well Horikita-san was also with us. I wonder if she got lost among the crowd." I lied.

Horikita didn't get lost or anything. She left the moment they approached us. I just didn't want to be a part of their shenanigans.

Although Ike, Yamauchi and Sudou were supposed to be Ayanokouji's first friend circle, they weren't necessarily needed for the development of the story, at least for now. I forcefully took their role at playing 'f.r.i.e.n.d.s' with Ayanokouji.

"Huh? Is that so?" I somehow sensed conflict in his voice, most likely because he was jealous by the fact that we went out with a girl. His face screamed "Good for you, traitor!"

Look, we're not even friends. If I had other choices, I would've let the sleeping dogs lie. Unfortunately for me, Horikita had the biggest role to fill for the development of the D fects. She's the one who has the most potential out of all the D fects, annoyingly so.

Besides, I was not interested in Horikita, even the least.

"Ayanokouji, let's go look for her."

"Ah, right."

"Well then, I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah, see ya later, you two." Sudou seemed, nice?

While walking towards, apparently anywhere but near Horikita, Ayanokouji quietly kept an eye on me. He couldn't help it, nor could I blame him for it. His suspicions of me would only grow larger.

But I decided not to pry on this matter for now.

I needed to be more careful around 'f.r.i.e.n.d'. If I took things lightly any longer, he could potentially turn into 'e.n.e.m.y'.

I wanted to avoid that possiblity, no matter what. It was not because he was a formidable opponent.

It was because I had a better understanding of this character named "Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

I can only pray that you come to terms with me as an ally, Ayanokouji. At least, just don't become an enemy for me.

The next day, I would soon find out whether or not that decision would be correct.

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