In the end, Isshiki Iroha didn't ask what was on her mind.
Though she was in the same class as the Nakano quintuplets, they rarely interacted—certainly not enough to call it familiarity.
Among the five, the only one she could somewhat call an acquaintance was Nakano Yotsuba, the cheerful, ever-helpful one.
But right now, Yotsuba's attention was clearly elsewhere.
Isshiki kept her head down, continuing to fill out her form, as Yotsuba's voice chirped through the clubroom:
"Actually, I'm really good at soccer too! When I was a kid, I even made this super cool goal once!"
Shirase played along. "It's a pity the captain plans to enter the boys' high school league and not a mixed one. Otherwise, with you on the team, we'd be invincible."
"Ehehe~ I'm not that amazing," Yotsuba said, squinting her eyes in delight.
Nakano Nino glanced around the room and asked, "Still no new recruits today?"
Shirase gestured toward Isshiki, who was still writing.
Nino shot him an unimpressed look. "She's the manager, not a player."
"Then no," Shirase said simply.
Nino idly rolled the cap of her juice bottle between her slender fingers, her tone casual but her eyes thoughtful. "I've heard stories about this school's soccer club. Apparently, the results have been getting worse year by year. By last year, the third-years even had a falling out with the freshmen, and in the end, all the seniors quit."
"I heard that from the captain too," Shirase said. "But it wasn't about personal grudges. They just lost too many times. Every season, they barely made an appearance, never achieved anything worth mentioning. Last year was the worst—they couldn't even defend themselves. With no results to hold them together, internal collapse was inevitable."
Nino hummed softly. She understood perfectly well.
Shirase continued, "When a team plays for too long under a toxic atmosphere, even if everyone tries to stay united, time wears them down. Eventually, someone breaks. There's an old saying—when an avalanche comes, there isn't a single snowflake that isn't made of H₂O. In the end, everyone bears some of the blame."
"That line just now…" Isshiki couldn't help lifting her head in surprise.
Nino, however, spoke calmly. "Don't mind him. He's always been a weird one. Says things no normal person would."
"Hey, that's uncalled for. That's practically slander," Shirase protested.
"I'm only telling the truth," Nino replied coolly.
These two definitely have something going on!
Isshiki's conviction grew even stronger.
Meanwhile, Yotsuba, the only one not paying attention to the subtle tension, leaned back on her chair, sighing wistfully. "If the soccer club hadn't fallen apart back then, and with Shirase and Hayama joining this year, maybe we'd actually have a shot at doing well. I bet the captain sometimes wishes he could turn back time, huh?"
Nino laughed softly. "Don't be silly. Time travel isn't real."
Shirase added without missing a beat, "Nino's right. Besides, from a metabolic perspective, time reversal would be a horrifying process."
The room fell into immediate silence.
All three girls—including the one quietly filling out forms—darkened their expressions simultaneously.
"Shirase, if you can't say anything normal, just shut up!"
"You can't deny me my basic human right to speak," Shirase replied earnestly. "As they say, true understanding of the world is the essence of knowledge, and insight into human nature is the essence of literature. Every little thing in life holds something worth contemplating. Take Yotsuba's comment about time reversal—I simply approached the concept from a different angle."
As Shirase and Nino bickered, Isshiki sat there in a daze. It took her a full three seconds to confirm that this overly talkative boy in front of her was, in fact, the same "cold, stoic" Shirase Haruto rumored throughout school.
My whole image of him just shattered.
When she glanced toward Yotsuba, who looked utterly unfazed—grinning like she was watching a comedy—Isshiki finally realized something: Shirase actually seemed quite close to the Nakano sisters.
Maybe that's why he acted differently around them—no longer distant or hard to talk to, but warm, almost… friendly.
Isshiki bit her lip softly. My impression of him was way off.
"You really are an idiot. Come on, Yotsuba, we're leaving!"
Thus ended the latest round between Shirase and Nino—with the girl retreating in defeat.
Dragging Yotsuba along, Nino stepped outside, only to notice the sky had darkened ominously. Thick, inky clouds pressed low, swallowing the crimson glow that should've lingered at sunset. It looked as though the sky itself was about to collapse.
"It's going to rain," Yotsuba murmured.
Nino glanced back toward the clubroom and quickly said, "You go on ahead."
"Eh? What about you?"
"I'm going to buy an umbrella—and deliver it to a certain idiot. You know how his brain works sometimes. What if he suddenly decides that walking home in the rain is some kind of poetic experience to commemorate April?"
"I don't think Shirase-kun's the type to do that."
"Who can say? He's an idiot. Idiots think differently from us normal people."
"Heehee… Nino, you're so kind."
"Shut up!"
...
The soccer club captain, who had been out trying to recruit new members, rushed back the instant he received Shirase's message.
And just as Shirase expected, when the captain learned that Isshiki Iroha had voluntarily applied to become the new manager, he burst into tears on the spot.
"This is wonderful! The soccer club is saved! God hasn't abandoned us after all! Praise the Lord!"
The dark-skinned, muscular upperclassman trembled with emotion, occasionally throwing in bursts of Engrish between sobs, leaving Isshiki completely stunned.
Shirase, meanwhile, muttered under his breath, "If you're going to praise God, at least say 'hao ye' instead."
After that, Shirase's part in club business was over.
When he stepped outside, the rain had already begun. Heavy drops hammered the ground, and students without umbrellas groaned in frustration.
Shirase hadn't brought one either—but he wasn't stupid enough to walk home in the rain like Nino had predicted.
He stopped under the eaves of the school building, deciding to wait it out. As he glanced to his left by chance, something caught his attention.
A boy stood there, also looking helplessly up at the sky.
Clearly, he hadn't brought an umbrella either.
Students passed him by without a second glance, as if he were invisible.
It was Hachiman Hikigaya from Class B.
Shirase remembered that Yuigahama Yui and Ebina were in that same class.
Now that I think about it, Shirase mused, I've been here for over a month and still haven't seen Fuutarou-kun even once. Where on earth did that guy go?
Shaking the thought off, Shirase walked straight over and stopped beside Hikigaya, gazing up at the rain.
Hikigaya immediately noticed the presence beside him. Glancing sideways, he realized that one of the school's most popular boys seemed to be in the same predicament—caught by a sudden downpour with no umbrella—and promptly looked away again.
Just as he was about to stop thinking about it, a voice came from beside him.
"You didn't bring an umbrella either?"
Hikigaya froze, scanning the surroundings to make sure the boy really was talking to him.
Given his long history of misinterpreting when girls spoke to him, he hesitated before answering.
"...You talking to me?" Hikigaya asked cautiously.
Still staring up at the sky, Shirase said, "This rain couldn't have come at a worse time."
"...?"
Hikigaya's signature ahoge wavered slightly in the chilly wind and rain.
The school's famous "popular genius," Shirase Haruto—apparently on the same level as Hayama Hayato—was starting to sound… a little off.