October 17th, Friday.
It was nearing 4 PM—almost time for club activities.
With his bag slung over his shoulder, Aoki made his way from his classroom to the clubroom.
Thanks to his rising popularity, he was forced to exchange greetings with classmates the entire way there.
Sure, fame had its perks.
But it definitely came with its fair share of annoyances, too.
Finally reaching the clubroom door, Kei let out a small breath to reset his expression.
He raised a hand and knocked on the door, one he hadn't knocked on in quite a while.
"Come in," came a slightly cold voice from inside.
Without hesitation, Aoki opened the door and stepped into the room.
The Service Club.
The setup inside hadn't changed at all.
The usual people were there— Yukinoshita Yukino, whom he hadn't seen in over a month, and Hikigaya Hachiman, whom he'd just run into recently.
Yukinoshita Yukino… She was sitting inside the clubroom, holding a paperback novel of indeterminate content.
When the door opened, she glanced up reflexively.
Realizing it was Aoki, she quickly lowered her gaze back to the book.
"It's been a while, President Yukinoshita. Good afternoon, Hikigaya."
Kei slid his bag off his shoulder as he greeted them and took his usual seat.
Hikigaya replied with a casual "Yo," followed by a proper "Good afternoon."
Yukinoshita, on the other hand, stayed quiet for a few seconds before responding in her usual flat tone, "How fortunate we are to have your presence during your busy schedule."
It was clearly a jab—
A reminder that, despite being a member of the Service Club, Aoki had barely shown up this semester.
Her tone carried some weight, but not enough bite to bother him.
"You flatter me, President," he replied calmly, taking a seat.
He pulled out his well-worn copy of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and laid it open on the desk.
He didn't say anything further for a few seconds.
After flipping to the page he'd left off on, he finally raised his head again.
Lately, he'd been thinking about the bet he'd made with Yukinoshita before summer break.
So before even entering the clubroom, he'd been planning to bring it up.
And now—
Skipping small talk, Kei cut straight to the point.
"You know… It's been, what, a little over a month since we last saw each other?"
He looked directly at Yukinoshita.
"President Yukinoshita—do you happen to remember something you might've forgotten?"
…
Yukinoshita Yukino looked up from her book and locked eyes with him.
Hikigaya blinked, clearly sensing a sudden shift in the room's atmosphere.
Something about the way the two were staring at each other felt… tense.
'What the heck is going on with these two? They get in a fight the moment they meet?'
Scooting back in his seat to remove himself from the blast zone, Hikigaya silently groaned in his mind.
Meanwhile, Yukinoshita remained silent.
Of course she knew what Aoki was referring to.
In fact, the moment he entered the room, she'd been expecting him to bring it up.
Now that he had, he'd only said half the sentence— Like a riddle left unfinished.
But she had no intention of completing it for him.
Instead, she waited quietly for him to say it outright.
Kei didn't make her wait long.
Seeing that she remained silent, he continued without prompting:
"You know, that thing—our bet about the end-of-term exams. Do you still remember it, President?"
Their wager had been simple:
Whoever ranked higher in the final exams would win, and the loser had to grant the winner a single, reasonable request.
Yukinoshita remembered it perfectly.
But she hadn't taken the final exams before summer break.
Which meant, naturally, she had no way of beating Aoki in the rankings.
Because of that, she could've just brushed the whole thing off, saying "I didn't take the test, so it doesn't count."
But her personality didn't allow for that kind of excuse.
A loss was a loss.
There was no need to make excuses for it.
"I remember," she said calmly, her voice as cool as ever. "This time, I lost. So—do you have a request, Aoki-san?"
"A request, huh…"
Kei hadn't expected her to accept her loss so readily.
But he didn't dwell on it.
Instead, he fell into brief thought.
'What could he even ask of Yukinoshita Yukino?'
Money? He wasn't short on that.
Status? Yukinoshita didn't exactly have the means to give him any.
Anything else? He couldn't really think of anything.
At least, not anything that qualified as a "reasonable request."
After a moment of thought, Aoki spoke again.
"I can't really think of anything to ask for right now… Would it be alright if I kept this for now and brought it up later if something comes to mind?"
Yukinoshita Yukino, still holding the paperback in her hands, met Aoki's gaze for a few seconds.
Then she lowered her head and looked back at the book.
She nodded. "Alright."
Her gesture clearly signaled that she was ready to end the conversation—but Aoki, still a little curious, decided to press just a bit more.
"There's one more thing I'm wondering about," he began, hesitant but sincere.
"Yukinoshita-san, you probably would've ranked higher than me on the finals if you had taken them. Was there something urgent? Why didn't you show up for the exams?"
Unlike her, Aoki didn't lower his gaze to the pages of a book. Instead, he hesitated briefly before asking.
And now…
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but after asking that question, Aoki felt as though Yukinoshita Yukino's presence—normally sharp and composed—seemed to soften, even falter, if only slightly.
She didn't answer right away. The silence lingered.
Then, finally, still staring at the paperback in her hands, she replied in a quiet, clipped voice:
"…Family issues."
The implication was clear—she didn't want to elaborate.
Realizing this topic was something Yukinoshita didn't wish to discuss, Aoki pushed aside his curiosity.
He gave a simple "Ah, I see," and redirected his attention to the open book on the desk: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
As curious as he was about the reason she missed the exams, Aoki knew it wasn't really his business.
If she didn't want to talk about it, pushing further would only make him seem nosy and inconsiderate.
Still, family issues…
If his memory served correctly, Yukinoshita Yukino came from the Yukinoshita family of Chiba—an influential and prominent household.
So for a family like that to have issues…
Maybe a sudden crisis in the family? Some kind of fallout or internal discord?
There was no way to know for sure, and speculation would get him nowhere.
Aoki pushed the thoughts out of his mind.
What mattered now… was getting back to studying French.
By the time club activities ended, it was past 4 PM—Friday afternoon, finally the end of the school week.
He boarded a packed train home, his backpack slung over his shoulder, mind idly wandering during the bumpy ride.
Tomorrow was Saturday.
The idea of moving out, which he'd been putting off, could finally be acted on.
There was no point in delaying a change of apartment.
The sooner he got it done, the sooner his day-to-day life would get easier.
As for where to move…
He'd been thinking about that too.
Both Nijika and Kita had given him suggestions, and he'd taken the time to consider them seriously.
Shimokitazawa, next to Nijika's house, was just a short walk from the livehouse—super convenient.
But the downside was that it was a bit far from school.
Kita's recommendation, on the other hand, was a lot more balanced.
It was close to Shuchiin Private High School and not too far from STARRY, either.
If he had to choose between the two, Aoki leaned toward Kita's suggestion—it was more practical overall.
So, after weighing the pros and cons carefully, he made up his mind.
When he finally got off the train about ten minutes later, he made his way back to his current apartment, bag still on his back.
After a moment of hesitation, he decided to contact Kita.
He opened their LINE chat, typed a message, and hit send:
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[Kita, if I wanted to find a good apartment around your area, do you have any recommendations? I think you mentioned something before.]
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