18. Various Agitations at the Club Information Session!
"Aragaki-kun, don't tease Chihiro-chan just because she's cute. You'll be disliked by girls if you do that."
Shiranami Chihiro's surprised voice carried to the next desk.
Ichinose Honami, her deskmate, leaned over with a strange expression, giving Aragaki Shun a somewhat reproachful eye roll.
"Well, I'm sorry. I don't seem to be very good at getting along with girls. But I don't think any girl has ever particularly disliked me for it."
Looking at the young man saying this with that handsome face, Ichinose Honami was rendered speechless.
"...In short, it's better not to say such frivolous things to girls casually."
"Then I'll try my best. I also know that sometimes I can seem overly casual. If you think there's anything wrong with my behavior, just say it directly... though I don't guarantee I'll change."
Hearing only the first part, the two, who originally thought Aragaki Shun was very reasonable, were at a loss for words after hearing the latter sentence.
But this was probably Aragaki-kun's style.
If he didn't have such a self-willed side hidden beneath his gentle exterior, how could he have challenged senior clubs on the first day of school?
And it was even less likely he would directly promise the future to everyone in Class B.
Just as the few of them were lost in thought, music sounded from the school broadcast.
"Another announcement: today starting at 5 PM, a club information session will be held in the first gymnasium. Students interested in clubs, please gather in the first gymnasium. I repeat, today..."
A cute female voice came through the broadcast.
Actually, the notice about the club information session had already been broadcast several times during lunch break, and now it was about two hours until 5 PM.
"Aragaki, want to go check out the clubs together?"
Kanzaki Ryuuji and Shibata Sō walked over together.
Yesterday, they had gone with Aragaki Shun to challenge various clubs.
In their eyes, Aragaki Shun shouldn't miss this opportunity to learn about various club information.
"Naturally, I want to see what other interesting clubs this school has. I'll note them down and find time to investigate them one by one."
Japan placed considerable importance on club activities.
Ordinary high schools usually dismissed classes around 3 PM every afternoon, precisely to allow students more time to participate in club activities.
Therefore, students confident in their talents would basically join clubs they were interested in.
If one wanted to test the quality of senior students, one only needed to challenge each club once, and that would be about it.
"Then everyone in the class who's interested in clubs, let's go together," Ichinose Honami suggested enthusiastically, her eyes fixed on Aragaki Shun.
"Most people from other classes should also be interested in clubs. It's good for everyone in our class to gather together for support."
This wasn't a group fight, was it necessary to make such a big fuss?
Although he wanted to say that, seeing that everyone else in the class seemed to agree, Aragaki Shun didn't pour cold water on them, but simply walked ahead, signaling others to follow quickly.
"Just like that... I, I didn't say you couldn't pat me..."
Seeing the young man leave so casually, the topic that had been interrupted by Ichinose Honami earlier had no follow-up.
Shiranami Chihiro mumbled, her somewhat dejected voice gently scattered by the wind.
"What are you still saying, Chihiro-chan? Let's go to the first gymnasium together now."
Ichinose Honami called out to Kobashi Yume, Amikura Mako, Ando Sayo, and other friends.
Seeing Shiranami Chihiro still sitting in her seat for some reason, she hurriedly extended a hand to pull her up.
"Wait a moment, Honami-chan, I'm coming."
Ugh~ I still feel like Honami-chan is gentler.
But Aragaki-kun is also so handsome and gives such a sense of security. What should I do?
...
Although it was said that those interested could go to the club information session.
But with Class B's characteristics, when most people chose to go to one place to gather, the remaining others, even if just to fit in, would inevitably follow along to join the fun.
Therefore, this full team of forty people, jointly surrounding Aragaki Shun, Ichinose Honami, Kanzaki Ryuuji, and a few other core members, appeared somewhat large and conspicuous as they walked along.
It even led to an interesting incident.
That is, when they passed by the Year 1 Class A area, this group of people, for reasons unknown—perhaps they thought Class B going to the first gymnasium in a group had some deep meaning, or perhaps it was just for comparison—anyway, the result was that all of Class A also followed Class B's example, gathered together, and rushed towards the club information session in a menacing manner.
However, because there was a girl in Class A's core team with inconvenient legs who needed to be taken care of, they couldn't even manage to overtake Class B and walk in front.
A group of people could only silently follow behind Class B's team, enduring Sakayanagi's low spirits.
Finally, under the influence of herd mentality, some people from Class C and Class D felt that since Class A and Class B had both gone in groups, it would be wrong if they didn't go.
Although they didn't know why they were doing this, and not everyone came, most people still arrived at the first gymnasium in twos and threes, and following Class A and Class B's example, found an area for their entire class to gather.
The senior students in the first gymnasium, who were preparing their respective recruitment methods, watched this scene with surprise.
If the broadcast hadn't already stated that participation in the club information session was not mandatory for everyone, they would have thought an opening ceremony was being held here.
However, after the surprise came solemnity.
The second and third-year students, who had already spent a year or two at Advanced Nurturing High, were long familiar with the school rules and knew that this first month of school was still the code of conduct examination period.
Theoretically, all new students should not have been informed of the truth of the exam yet.
Let's not talk about the riffraff from Class C and D, who looked chaotic at a glance.
What was going on with Class A and Class B, neatly lined up next to them?
It was only the second day of school, and these two classes had already been consolidated?
Wasn't this too ridiculous!
In the center of the gymnasium stage, a certain glasses-wearing man who was directing the members of various clubs and arranging their positions, saw this scene.
An inscrutable color flashed in his eyes, and then he instinctively glanced in a certain direction towards Class D.
As if seeing the person he wanted to see, or as if seeing a reality he didn't want to see, in short, the expression on the man's face was inexplicably strange, perhaps only he himself could understand it.
Gently pushing up the glasses on his nose, this man with a slender body and refreshing black hair, as if he hadn't seen anything before, immersed himself in his work again, completely ignoring that long-awaited, fervent yet timid gaze.
"Suzune, why did you follow me here?"
...