I began to go to the game club around twice every week. Because I had to practice with my band, so it was the very best I could do to make it to the club twice a week.
And yes, the original first priority was to get Blake into a club in order to find her friends who had the same hobby… but at this point, I didn't really know how well that would go.
After all, at quick glance, it seemed that the game club had no girls in it. And in the end, it would be best if she ended up making friends with people of the same gender, and in the same grade. Ideally, she would make friends with her classmates. I mean, if she didn't do that, she would just continue to be left out during PE class when people got paired off, and it was because I didn't want that to happen that I tried to help in the first place.
We left the clubroom, and we began to walk down the hall when I tried to get some information out of Blake indirectly.
"Are any of your classmates in the club?"
"… Who knows? It's not as if I remember each and every one of my classmates's faces."
Just look at this. This is why she can't make friends.
Looks like I'm out of options. Well… it was time to beg others for help. In fact, the face of the person who I thought could help me out the best in this situation had already clearly appeared in my mind.
Soon, it was lunch break the following day. I began to walk to class 2-C room to meet with "that person" as soon as possible.
"Huh? You're asking me if my club has first-year girls as members…?"
"Yeah. I figured you'd know."
Yes. The person I had gone to for help was the game club member, Kiba Yuuto. He cocked his head to the side and tossed me back a question.
"Why exactly are you asking, Namikaze? You looking to seduce one of them or something? Even though you already have such a beautiful girlfriend."
"Huh? Girlfriend?"
"Weiss Schnee, of course. Am I wrong?"
His words threw me completely off-guard, so I hesitated for a moment before answering.
"N-no… we're not like that. but, do we look like we are?"
"Yeah, you both pretty famous you know, the entire school know it."
So it seemed we did. I see. So we looked like we were like that…
"Why exactly are you asking me that?"
"Ah, well, it's just that when Satsuki's only surrounded by boys, I think it's difficult for her to be there."
Yuuto seemed to be the type to want to stay on topic. Not that I didn't like that.
"Well, if that's the case, then we do have Kiryuu in the club, who's a first-year girl."
"… Kiryuu?"
"Yes. She's a pretty cute girl and her full name is Kiryuu Aika."
Hmm… t-that's quite a familiar-sounding name…
"Was that girl in the clubroom when we were there?"
"No, she wasn't."
"Hmm. Well, is there anybody else? It doesn't have to be someone in her class, but any other first-year girl would be fine."
"There aren't any more. The girls do tend to join the Drama Club more, so…"
"I see."
So, it looked like my only option was to make sure that this girl with the familiar name and Blake got along really well.
"By the way, what kind of girl is she?"
"Kiryuu, you mean? Well… I guess… from just a glance, she really doesn't seem like an otaku."
"Hmm. But, I guess… in the end, she is an otaku, right? After all, you guys tried to recruit her into the game club because she was really good at games, right?"
"Yeah… I guess that's what you would expect." Yuuto gave me a dry chuckle. "That girl is amazing at games, but she never talks about them at all. Even when she comes to club, all she does is read technical books or stare at the computer screen… I haven't really even talked to her much. Honestly, I still don't know exactly why she chose to join the club."
"Is she hard to get along with?"
"Hmm… well, I mean, we barely have any other girls in the club. So I guess it's not a surprise that she feels a bit hard to talk to…"
"Ah, so it's like that. It's really pretty tough to be the only girl in a crowd of boys…"
"Yes, it really is. So it was really a godsend for Kiryuu to also join our club. We also have a few second-year girls in the club, but they barely ever show up."
I see. I feel like I understand a little better about why exactly they was so desperate in trying to get Blake to join the club. It wasn't just because they wanted to recruit a really talented female gamer, but probably because they wanted to do something for that girl in the club who tended to isolate herself. If that's the case… then I think our goals were one and the same.
"It'd be nice if Satsuki and that Aika girl could become friends, wouldn't it? For both of them."
"Yes, definitely."
Information gathering complete. We faced each other for a while and fell into thought.
After a while, Yuuto hit his fist into his open balm.
"Ah, right. In that case, how about this?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you know about our new member welcome party?"
"I think the president might have mentioned something about that."
"Our club plans to have ours this weekend. So, if we can get Uchiha and Kiryuu to sit close to each other, that'll encourage them to start talking and they'll become friends, right?"
Probably not. I think Yuuto was giving Blake's communication skills way too much credit. If we used a plan like that, we would have to be close by as safety nets.
"I see… that's not a bad idea at all."
"Then let's do that."
"Yeah. Ahh, but I'm really sorry, imposing on you like this even though we've only just met."
"I don't mind Namikaze." Yuuto gave me a gentle smile.
Geez. It really seems like there are a lot of reliable people around me these days.
After school that day, I plan to meet Blake. That girl usually tried to get back as soon as possible, so if I headed straight for the shoeboxes at the building entrance after the last homeroom, there was a good chance I would run into her.
And so, when I hurried towards the shoeboxes today, I saw Blake on the landing between the first and second floors. But she didn't seem like she was on her way out of the building.
She stood there without any expression on her face, sweeping the floor with a broom.
"Ah, it's your turn to clean up today?"
"… Yes it is."
Blake paid me a single glance. Even while she looked at me, her hands didn't stop moving as she swept the broom across the landing. She was pretty good at that. I imagined that she must be used to doing this at home.
"Where are all the other people who are supposed to sweep the stairs?"
Blake completely ignored my question, and just continued her work.
I went down the stairs, walked right down the hallway, and headed towards the other set of stairs in this school building. I walked up those stairs to the very top, walked down the hallway on the top floor, and then headed back to the first set of stairs.
Walking down those stairs, I finished the loop and returned to where Blake was.
… It was exactly as I thought.
The territory the first years had to cover for cleaning the stairs was the staircase the Blake was working on, as well as the staircase on the other end of the building. I took a look at the other set of stairs too… but there was nobody there. All the other people charged with cleaning the stairs had left it all to Blake alone and had all gone home.
This wasn't that uncommon of an occurrence, and it wasn't serious enough to be considered bullying.
They might have just left because they thought it was too annoying, and even if they really were doing it out of ill will, they probably just wanted to play a mean joke on their unsociable classmate who always left the earliest. Compared to the sudden death eroge and ero book traps that a certain sister had set for me, this was completely, utterly tame.
And I might be repeating myself, but Blake was the one who chose to be antisocial, through that crucial period right after one enters a new school. So she was to blame for some of this, and she was reaping what she sowed. There wasn't any room for me to feel sympathy. There wasn't any room, but…
I brought brooms and dustpans then started to sweep the stairs, starting with the staircase opposite to Blake's. When I'm mostly done with the cleaning and just collecting the trash on the staircase landing, Blake showed up.
The minute she found me, her eyes widened for a moment. And then her expression sharpened. "… What exactly are you doing?"
"I'm cleaning the stairs." I gave her a nonchalant answer, and poured the contents of my dustpan into the garbage bag. My casual attitude seemed to get on her nerves. Blake's tone became even harsher.
"… This does not please me at all. Are you trying to take pity on me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb. You couldn't stand watching me cleaning alone, so you went off to do this, correct? It is none of your concern. Do I really have to tell you that every time?"
No. That's exactly what I thought you would say. That's why I started on the other set of stairs.
"Well, sorry then. But, I've already pretty much finished up here. So, I guess you'll have to forgive me today."
Blake fiercely bit her lower lip. Her pride made it very difficult for her to accept my kindness at a time like this. But I'd known she wouldn't like what I was doing, and I was forcing my kindness onto her even knowing that. Rias probably would've been able to figure out some better way to do this without getting her angry, but I didn't know any. I apologize for that. But… even I didn't know she would get this angry.
"Don't expect any thanks for this."
"Of course I don't. I just did this because I felt like it."
At that, Blake's eyes narrowed. There was an awkward silence. Then, she spoke in a heavy tone.
"You said once before that you weren't lying when you said that you worried about me, right?"
"Yeah. I wasn't lying."
"Ah, is that so? Yes, I understand now. That you certainly, certainly, certainly, certainly were not lying. However… I wonder, have you ever thought about where exactly those feelings come from? Or rather… have you realized it, but you're just pretending not to know?"
What exactly is she trying to say? Feeling pinned down by this pressure, all I could do was keep looking at her.
"… I thought I would spare you the pain and not say this to you, but having things like this happening so often is very troublesome, so I will tell you exactly where those feelings come from."
Standing above me on the staircase, Blake looked down at me haughtily and pointed a finger right at me.
"The reason you seem to care about me is because the sister you used to go out of your way to help so much has left. And I am your junior, a girl, and seem to have my own set of problems. I seem to be the kind of person that would rely on you, and that is the only reason you care."
After that, Blake turned sharply on her heels.
"I am no substitute for your sister. So do not take me for an idiot, please."
And after spitting out those final words, Blake strode away and left.