Club Fair

Next day at the end of class.

"At five PM Japan Standard Time today, we will be holding a student club fair in Gymnasium No. 1. Students interested in joining a club, please gather in Gymnasium No. 1. I repeat, at—"

Hearing this, Ayanokouji looked at Izumi and Horikita.

"I am not interested in any clubs." (Horikita)

"I heard Student Council President Horikita Manabu will be present there. Do you know him, Horikita?"

Hearing this name, Horikita jerked slightly and then looked at Izumi. It was the first time her cold and aloof expression fell.

"How do you know about this?"

"Every year he gives a speech. Wanna go and see it? It seems you really know him. Perhaps your brother."

"It's none of your business."

Saying this she stood up and started to walk. When she was about to reach the door, she looked back and saw us with an expression saying, 'Are you two coming or not?'

Both Izumi and Ayanokouji sighed at her antics and Kushia who had seen this had a strange gleam in her eyes.

They all reached the Gymnasium No.1 and did small talks in between.

Neither of them was interested in joining the clubs and both Izumi and Ayanokouji were there to check things out while Horikita was here to see her brother.

As the upperclassmen finished their introductions, they walked off the stage and headed toward an area where some plain tables had been set up.

Probably a reception area designed to accept new members. Eventually, everyone walked off until only one person remained. Everyone focused their attention on him, and they both realized that Horikita had been staring at that specific person this whole time.

He appeared to be about 170 centimeters in height, so he wasn't very tall. He was slender, with sleek black hair. He wore sharp glasses and had a piercing, calculating gaze. Standing in front of the microphone, he calmly looked around at the first-year students. What was his club, and what in the world was he going to say?

He didn't say a single word. Maybe he was drawing a blank? Or perhaps he was so nervous that he couldn't speak?

"Did you forget to bring your notecards?" "Ha ha ha ha ha!"

The first-year students hurled comments at him. However, the upperclassman stood on the stage calmly, without trembling. The laughter and comments didn't seem to faze him. When the laughter had reached a crescendo, it suddenly died. He wore an apathetic expression.

"What's with this guy?" remarked an astonished student. The gymnasium buzzed with people talking, yet the boy on the stage still did not move. He simply stood there, quiet and motionless, staring fixedly at the crowd. Horikita stared back at the student with an intense gaze, not breaking her line of sight even for a second.

The relaxed atmosphere gradually changed, and things took an unexpected turn. It was as if some chemical reaction had taken place. An unbelievably tense, quiet mood gripped the entire gymnasium. Even though no orders had been given, the silence was so terrible that it seemed to have gagged everyone. Not a single student looked able to open his or her mouth. The silence continued for about thirty seconds or so…

Then, the student started his speech, slowly scanning the crowd.

"I'm the student council president. My name is Horikita Manabu," he said.

"The student council is looking to recruit potential candidates among the first-year students to replace the graduating third years. Although no special qualifications are required for candidacy, we humbly ask that those considering application not be involved in other club activities. We generally do not accept students involved elsewhere."

He spoke in a soft tone, but the tension around us was so thick it felt like you could cut it with a knife. He had managed to silence over a hundred new students in that spacious gymnasium. Of course, it wasn't his position as student council president that granted him this deference. That was simply Horikita Manabu's power. His presence dominated everyone around him.

"Furthermore, we in the student council do not wish to appoint anyone who possesses a naive outlook. Not only would such a person not be elected, he or she would sully the sanctity of this school. It is the student council's right and duty to enforce and amend the rules, but the school expects more than that. We gladly welcome those of you who understand this."

He didn't pause even once during his eloquent speech. Immediately after finishing, he hopped off the stage and left the gymnasium. None of the first-year students could utter a single word as we watched him go. They didn't know what would've happened if they had tried to talk. Everyone in the room shared the same thought, apparently.

"Thank you all for coming. The club fair has ended. We will now open the reception area to anyone interested in signing up. Also, registration will be open until the end of April, so if any student wishes to join at a later date, we ask that you please bring the application form directly to the club you wish to join."

Thanks to the laid-back organizer, the tension in the air dissipated. Afterward, the third-year students who'd introduced their respective clubs started taking applications.

Izumi went close to her and said in a soft voice, "Do you want to reach out to him?"

Horikita was jolted out of her stupor. She looked at Izumi for a few minutes before saying, "What do you mean?"

Instead of replying, Izumi looked at Ayanokouji intending to ask him to explain. Ayanokouji wanted to shrug it off and keep himself lowkey but then he remembered yesterday's talk. He sighed and said, "Your face said Everything. Anger, Fear, Inferiority, Love, and Longing. All these expressions were present on your face. You probably have some relationship with him and want to prove something to him. This is what he is talking about by saying 'Do you want to reach him?'."

Horikita was stunned after hearing this, she had never expected they would know this much with just her expressions and even how much emotions she was displaying.

"You are saying I can't reach him alone."

Both of them looked away and decided to not answer but this gave her the response.

"Tell me one reason why I can't reach him?"

Both of them looked at each other and nodded.

"Your start is Class D while he was in Class A"

"You are copying him and you have no personality. You are a loner while he deals with most of the people as Student Council President."

When the two said the reasons, they glared at each other.

Horikita who heard the reasons wanted to speak but closed her mouth. After all both the reasons were right and she couldn't deny them.

Seeing her like this, Izumi smiled. He had first wanted to break her personality and barrier and let her mold herself. With her current state, she wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Let's go. Don't be down, you have 1 whole year before he leaves the school. In this 1 year, you can show him your growth. If you want help, you can ask us for help but it could cost you. Let's go and have a treat cafe. It's my treat."

Saying this, Izumi started walking and Aynokouji followed him, while Horikita also followed them but kept her head down and kept on thinking.

As they were walking, they heard a voice.

"Ayanokouji kun, Izumi kun, Wait!"

They both looked back and saw it was Kushida walking towards them.

Izumi's expression turned into a frown and Ayanokouji saw this but still kept his plain expression.

"Hah Hah! Hello Ayanokouji Kun, Hello Izumi Kun and Hello Horikita san." Ayanoukouji said 'Hello' while Izumi nodded and Horikita didn't reply as she hadn't even heard her, her mind was in turmoil as she had just been denied of her greatest wish.

"What do you want Kushida San?" Ayanokouji asked as he had seen Izumi and didn't want to bother with her.

"It's nothing, I saw you three and just wanted to greet you. So, Did you three join any clubs?"

"Not interested." (Horikita)

"Nope" (Ayankouji)

"Busy and Not Interested." (Izumi)

"Hehe! ME too, I also didn't find any interesting clubs. Are you going somewhere?"

It was Horikita who took the chance and said, "Yeah! We have something important to talk so we will be leaving, Kushida San."

Saying this Horikita started leaving and Izumi followed her. Ayanokouji who was feeling awkward nodded at Kushida and left.

Kushida was left hanging, and her expression changed a little for a second and then she changed back to being a Cheerful girl.

The next day, there were a lot of rumors about Horikita and Izumi. And this is a talk for later.

The trio went to the cafe and ordered coffee and a sandwich. Izumi asked them if they wanted to order anything else but they declined.

There was silence between them until Izumi broke and decided to advertise his app.

"Have you two checked the app known as BookArchive? It's really amazing as you buy and read most of the books, if not all there. And the price for books is cheap and you could download them and read them anywhere, instead of going to the library, searching for the book and issuing it, I think it's better to pay some points and buy it."

Hearing this they both took their phone and started checking it. Izumi smiled seeing two new customers and then checked his Points, 809,002.

He could now live his life in the school without doing anything but where's the fun in that?

"Horikita, if you want to say anything, you can say. The worse that will happen will be us not answering. Now note it down as one of your problems.

Ayanokouji also looked at her and nodded as he had been staring at both of them for quite some time.

"What do you think should I do?"

Izumi looked at Ayanokouji and said, "Let's give her one piece of advice each."

Ayanokouji nodded this time without saying anything. He had been feeling weird since yesterday and now talking with each other and giving bits of advice when needed, is this part of normal life he said? He thought of it.

"Socialize a little and try to think from other's perspective." (Ayanokouji)

"Take care of a person in the class and help her/him overcome their problems and become their friend. I will recommend starting with Sakura Airi."

Horikita thought for a moment and said, "I can understand socializing but why should I babysit her?"

Izumi groned after hearing her.

"I am not asking you to babysit her. I want you to help her. Just like how we are helping you. If you want a reason I will tell you, The class needs to work as a whole before it could even start climbing the ladder. Don't tell anyone anything now and let them suffer. Only then they will understand. I will tell you more in the future."

Saying this, he stood and left the cafe after saying 'See Ya' to both.

Ayanokouji and Horikita talked a little before leaving and with this, Ayanokouji unintentionally gained someone to talk to while Horikita also toned down her arrogance and overconfidence.

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