"Hmm-hmm-hmm..."
It was late June, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Though the season meant the girls' skirts at St. Jyo Academy were getting shorter, Alex had enjoyed appreciating all sorts of beautiful, long legs on his walk.
In a good mood, he hummed a little tune, his hands clasped behind his back as he walked toward his club room.
The Club Activity Building—
The sign reading "Sex Guidance Club" above the door was quite conspicuous. Such a shocking and scandalous name, enough to cause an uproar, hung quietly right there. Alex, without lifting his head, pushed the door open.
"Huh?"
To his surprise, someone was inside.
The blue-haired girl was kneeling on the tatami mat, holding a cup of tea. Her delicate, beautiful face was placid, like a still well, as if even the collapse of the world wouldn't cause her expression to change.
Even so, her beautiful face and clear, sparkling eyes were utterly captivating.
However, after Alex pushed the door open, the "emotionless beauty's" expression and actions showed varying degrees of fluctuation. She looked up, and their eyes met.
"How did you get in?"
Alex looked at her, then at the door behind him, completely confused. "The key has been on me, hasn't it?"
"I am with the Student Council."
Although her face remained stoic, when Rin said this, Alex felt as if he detected a hint of a smile. But when he looked closely, he saw she was as deadpan as ever, making him wonder if it had been his imagination.
"The Student Council..."
Public privilege, is it? Alex walked toward her with a dark look, sitting down cross-legged. "So, you from the Student Council, what are you doing here today? Just so you know, don't even mention shutting down the club."
He hadn't forgotten the Student Council President, Kaede, who had tried to abolish the club repeatedly.
"It's not that," Rin shook her head decisively, her large eyes blinking as she stared straight at the boy opposite her. She parted her lush, cherry lips, her voice calm yet airy. "I am here to join the club."
"..."
Seeing the opposite Alex freeze in time, sitting there bewildered and silent, Rin tilted her head slightly. "What's wrong?"
"Join the club... The joining you're talking about, is it that kind of joining?"
"Yes," What else could it be? Rin set down her teacup. "I wish to join this club. Are you very surprised?"
This was beyond the point of surprise... I never saw this coming.
"Your sister wants to abolish the club, but you want to join us. That's really something," This was truly interesting. Alex couldn't help but crack a grin, flashing a strange smile. "Rin, this is the Sex Guidance Club."
"I know."
"While it's not as insane as that Tanaka kid before, this is not a decent club," Alex reminded her again. "I'm not a decent person either, you know."
"I know."
Do you truly know, or are you just pretending to know?
"Your sister, Kaede, is trying every possible means to shut us down."
"That's okay. I will help you."
"..."
You really are a good little sister. Alex was speechless. With her saying that, what reason did he have to refuse?
"Fine. The Sex Guidance Club welcomes you—"
A fleeting smile flashed across Rin's face upon receiving confirmation of membership, so fast that one might think it was an illusion. It was clear she was in a good mood; otherwise, the usually deadpan Rin would never smile. It also left Alex puzzled. "I'm very curious, why do you want to join my club?"
"You know your sister avoids it like the plague..."
"Kaede is just being a Tsundere."
Rin answered immediately.
So you know your sister is a Tsundere, huh? Alex was momentarily tongue-tied.
"She doesn't actually dislike Alex's club; it's just that the club name is too explicit."
"What about you?"
"I..." Rin blinked her eyelashes, staring at Alex for a moment before looking away. "I quite like it here... ngh, provided you, Alex, are here too."
Was that a delusion? Did the emotionless girl just get a little shy?
Alex was no herbivore. Noticing the unusual shift in Rin's expression, he immediately went on the offensive, cupping her face in his palm and saying with a playful smirk, "That sounds just like a confession, Rin."
"...No."
No? Then why did you hesitate just now? Finding a fascinating new toy, Alex continued enthusiastically. "Really? But no girl could possibly like this kind of club, especially after what happened here before."
Rin's stoic expression wavered slightly. She didn't respond directly, merely mumbling, "Alex, you're so narcissistic."
While the slightly cunning, emotionless girl was being teased by Alex, over in the Student Council room, a girl with the exact same face as Rin, but with a vastly different demeanor, was sitting absentmindedly in her chair.
A stack of thick documents lay before the Student Council President, Kaede, but she didn't seem to be in the mood to handle Student Council work. She held a sheet of paper with the club name "Sex Guidance Club" written on it and had been staring blankly for a while.
In the Student Council room, Hayato, sitting on the sofa, quietly looked up at her. After watching for a while, he also noticed the President's dazed state and hesitated to speak.
After another moment, seeing she was still spacing out, he couldn't help but speak up.
"Kaede? Kaede?"
"I apologize, I was just thinking about something," The President quickly shook her head, placing the paper down. She patted her cheeks with a complicated expression.
"Do you need my help? There seem to be quite a few documents piled up from yesterday."
Hayato offered.
"No need, I can handle it myself. This workload is nothing," Kaede said. Hayato, being her childhood friend, fell silent again. The room instantly became quiet.
An awkward atmosphere surrounded the two of them.
Since what happened yesterday, the formerly close childhood friends... it wasn't exactly a rift, but things were definitely awkward between them. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but their interactions were no longer as natural as before.
For Hayato, even though it was necessary and done to save Kaede and Rin, seeing his childhood friend, whom he had grown up with, held and kissed by another man was impossible to ignore.
Fortunately, Rin had a stack of work to distract herself with. Hayato, on the other hand, felt restless and wanted to ask Kaede about that club, but the current atmosphere made it difficult to speak up.
Torn, he tried to make small talk. "Speaking of which, I wonder where Rin went. I haven't seen her..."
"Hmm, what?"
Kaede also realized that her sister, who usually stayed either in the classroom or the Student Council room and rarely left her side, wasn't in the Student Council room and had gone somewhere unknown.
"Maybe she's just resting in the classroom."
Kaede instinctively sensed that something wasn't right, but her sister, Rin, was mature and level-headed in some ways more than herself, so she didn't worry too much. Kaede had no idea that her good sister had already joined the very club that caused her such constant distress...