"Why'd you put miso soup in a thermos?"
Horikita was stunned by Amane's move. She'd been wondering how Amane had managed to bring miso soup with her.
She never expected it to be in a thermos.
"Pretty clever, right?"
"Mhm."
"Suzune, you're so dismissive! It wouldn't kill you to say I'm smart."
"Mhm."
"Just once! Say it just once!"
"…"
Amane's face fell, and she slumped sideways onto the desk with a dejected sigh. Horikita picked up the thermos lid and took a small sip of the miso soup.
Sure, it was made from instant paste, but being able to have a warm cup of miso soup at lunchtime was its own kind of comfort.
She glanced at Amane, whose lips were now jutting out in a pronounced pout.
Horikita speared a piece of octopus-shaped sausage with a toothpick and held it out to Amane's mouth.
Amane blinked, then squeezed her eyes shut with exaggerated stubbornness.
"Hmph!"
"Amane-san, you're very clever."
"Chomp!"
Amane ate the sausage in one bite.
"That's more like it," she said, finally appeased.
Horikita shook her head helplessly. Her tone just now had been exactly like one used to placate a small child. In some ways, Amane really did give off the impression of being just like a child.
The two of them chatted and laughed as they continued their lunch.
Watching them from nearby, Ayanokouji felt a twinge of envy.
He was still in a situation where he didn't even have anyone to eat lunch with.
Yet even a girl as aloof as Horikita had someone willing to share a meal with her.
He didn't. Forget girls—not even a single guy sought him out to eat together.
It made him feel a distinct sense of malice from life itself.
Just as the pleasant lunch hour was drawing to a close, the school intercom crackled to life with an announcement.
[A club orientation session will be held today at 5:00 PM in the First Gymnasium. Students interested in joining a club, please assemble in the First Gymnasium. I repeat—]
Amane's ears twitched slightly at the sound. Upon hearing it was about club orientations, she immediately lost interest.
While Amane was currently focused on quickly integrating into her class and becoming friends with all sorts of people, she felt clubs were a bit too… bustling for her taste.
All that noise would make her uncomfortable. Plus, there were bound to be lots of rules and regulations. She'd probably find it hard to cope.
Honestly, she just wanted to go back to the dorm and lounge around after school. Maybe go shopping with a classmate sometimes.
Who in their right mind would join a club for fun?
Horikita, sharp as ever, noticed Amane's dismissive expression.
"Amane-san, are you planning to attend the club orientation?" Horikita asked.
Hearing the question, Amane thought for a moment.
"I probably won't go. It doesn't sound interesting, and I'm not really a fan of the club atmosphere," Amane replied.
After finishing her sentence, she lazily stretched and then flopped forward onto Horikita's desk, intending to take a quick nap.
"What a shame. I was actually thinking of going to take a look," Horikita said.
Truth be told, Horikita wasn't particularly interested in the club orientation either. But she wanted to see how Amane would react if she said she was going.
Amane's ears twitched again, though her eyes remained closed. Internally, she was wrestling with a dilemma.
Should I go or not?
Just then, Ayanokouji spoke up.
"Horikita, if you want to go, why don't we check it out together?"
"Ayanokouji, you're interested in clubs? My apologies, I forgot you don't have any friends yet. You're not hoping to make some at the orientation, are you?" Horikita mercilessly exposed his ulterior motive.
"As expected of Horikita. So, will you accompany me?" Ayanokouji had barely finished his sentence when he noticed Amane staring directly at him.
Her gaze was like that of a wild animal guarding its food.
But the next second, Amane batted her lovely eyes.
"You're not going to leave me behind, are you?"
Amane-san, you're the one who said you weren't going.
"Well, I'm going too," Amane declared, clutching Horikita's arm and shaking it back and forth.
Ayanokouji averted his gaze from the two of them. If possible, he'd have liked to advise Amane that, when in the presence of male classmates, she might want to avoid such… vigorous movements.
"You're so annoying. You clearly said you weren't going a moment ago," Horikita retorted, flicking Amane lightly on the forehead to make her stop shaking her.
"I changed my mind!"
"Fine, let's all go together. Actually, you might be the only one among the three of us with any club experience. Didn't you mention you were in an archery club before? I think you said you were the captain… or was it 'Kyoshi'?"
Amane instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
Damn it.
It was just a little white lie she'd tossed out casually back then. She never expected Horikita's memory to be so sharp.
She had a bad feeling about this.
"Being the 'Kyoshi' is seriously impressive. For an archery club, the Kyoshi should be able to handle a 35-pound bow, right?" an unexpected voice chimed in.
"You're… Miyake Akito, right? Miyake-kun?"
"Huh? You know my name? I remember you are…" Miyake suddenly found himself in a crisis—he couldn't recall the name of this cute girl in front of him.
"Miyako Amane. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
After exchanging nods, they both turned their attention to Horikita.
Horikita let out a soft sigh.
"Horikita Suzune," she said, her tone rather cool.
Miyake didn't seem to mind. He was the one who'd overheard a topic he found interesting and couldn't resist interrupting; it was only natural if he caused some slight annoyance.
"I couldn't help overhearing earlier. Miyako, you were the Kyoshi of your archery club?" Miyake looked at Amane with surprise.
"Y-yeah, sort of…" Her tone made it hard to believe she was telling the truth. The likelihood of it being a lie seemed high.
Just as Miyake was about to voice his skepticism, a sudden thought occurred to him.
Back in his middle school archery club days, there was a girl labeled as Kyoshi, which eventually led to her quitting.
While the position of Kyoshi was considered an honor among the boys, for a girl, it might actually lower her appeal to the opposite sex. Perhaps she was deliberately avoiding the topic.
"Miyako-san, that's really impressive. If we get the chance, I'd love to exchange experiences sometime. Sorry for intruding," Miyake said, his tone quite polite.
"It's fine… We can exchange experiences if the chance comes up." Amane's smile was noticeably stiff.
Horikita felt a laugh bubbling up, but in a crowded setting like this, she probably couldn't bring herself to make such an expression.
They finally managed to see Miyake off, but unfortunately, their conversation had been effectively cut short.
When afternoon classes ended, Amane, Horikita, and Ayanokouji headed to the club orientation together.
Although attendance was voluntary and no specific class seating areas were assigned, the four classes had seemingly, by unspoken agreement, divided themselves into four distinct blocks.
Horikita looked around with some curiosity at the club recruitment posters displayed nearby, trying to understand what clubs were all about through these advertisements.
It was then that Horikita Suzune spotted a familiar figure—the person she was currently most afraid of running into.
"Suzune?"
Amane felt Horikita's hands gripping her shoulders and turned back in surprise to find Horikita hiding behind her.
"Don't move. Just stay like this."
Amane lifted her head and looked towards the figure standing in the corner in the distance.
Horikita-senpai? Horikita Suzune's brother?
Amane instantly understood the reason.
"Don't worry. I'm here. If you're scared, just hide behind me."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.