Chapter L: Comradery
As Class 2-A gets dismissed, Kana and Takeshi stop Kota and Asahi before going out of the gate.
"Hey, what's this all about?" (Kota)
"There's a general meeting for the club literature right now!" (Kana)
"Oh yeah, we almost forgot about it" (Kota and Asahi)
"Almost? You two were about to go out the gate, what do you mean?" (Takeshi)
"Well, we did have a lot of requirements lately, so yeah" (Asahi)
They then go to the school auditorium. At the auditorium, the adviser and the club president are on stage, making the attendance. As soon as the adviser puts away the pen, he then tells them,
"Ok, students of the literature club, there are many things I have to discuss with you all. First of all, check your behavior, most particularly the Junior high school who made some inconsiderate stuff these recent days. Second, next week, there will be a teambuilding as well as a sportsfest starting from Friday and will end on Sunday. No one will be going home, you all willbe sleeping in school for two nights. Understand?"
The boys from the junior high school then laugh making a joke about sleeping in the same room. The adviser then says,
"Of course, boys and girls will be separated. We'll be using the Class 2 classrooms eventually since the venue we'll be using is the auditorium. Any questions or clarifications? Ok, so I know it's getting late so club dismissed."
The different club members including Asahi and Kota go home after that.
After their class on Friday, Kota goes home to get his stuff for the teambuilding. On the venue, the students line up for the registration and attendance. Though once he registered and getting his soft ID, he goes to his assigned room. At some point, he sees Asahi having fun with most of the club. From that, he goes to the comfort room and overthinks since he isn't close to anyone at the club than Asahi. It just so happens that the adviser goes to the Kota. He sees him and asks him if he's ok.
During their dinner, Asahi and Kota goes to the senior high group. As they finish, they requested Asahi to sing as an intermission. Out of the blues, Eri hands him the mic and they begin to sing as a duo. Later that night, at the restrooms, while they are washing themselves, Asahi says to Kota,
"You know, it's been a weird night you know, haven't you noticed anything?"
"Hmm, just a bit like Eri begins to talk to you again" (Kota)
"Yah, and btw, after the singing, she told me goodnight, like nothing happened in the past." (Asahi)
"Yeah, but glad it's all settled now since this is an event of cooperation as a club" (Kota)
"Hey, what you guys talking about here?" (Takeshi)
"Nothing!" (Asahi and Kota)
After that, that all go to their assigned room to sleep.
The next day commences and the club president makes them do exercises to warm them up for the preparation of the teambuilding proper. He then divides them into four teams. Kota is in the Blue team and Asahi is in the Red team. Before they properly get into the first game, they need to produce a yell for their team. Blue team asks Kota if he know any yell and he tells them about the unison song of a British band since it is a number song for yells. They all complied while on the other hand, the Asahi suggest a song but since the club president is part of their team, the latter makes a new yell instead. The adviser then comes up on the stage to hear their yell. Blue team gives a powerful aura with their yell and the same goes with the other teams. When Red team comes up, they shout but the timing of the beat becomes odd. It is no contest but the real contest begins.
The club adviser reads his opening remarks and after that the objective,
"Good morning to each and every one of you. Today, we will be commencing our Teambuilding program. I hope this will not be factored by hatred or any negative feelings, but in this teambuilding, it is all about cooperation and comradery. So everyone, give your best shot in helping each other out. In this first game, you need to insert the tire on the pole with these wooden chunks of wood. Whose team will get to put it first will win."
The four teams then gets ready and as the whistle blows all of them comes up with a tactic to show the tire but Blue team's tire drop. Another attempt but it still the same. The Red team eventually wins due to their cunning speed and agility.
Their next game is the obstacle course in which participants from each team will be blindfolded and would be commanded or instructed by their team to make it through. Blue team goes smoothly with the coordinates by Kota. However the other team loses due to conflicting directions. While going out to get some fresh air, Kota hears someone calling his name. He looks outside the gate and it is Gin.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" (Kota)
"I just wanted to dropped by at school wondering how y'all doing" (Gin)
"Yeah, we're doing fine. If you're looking for Asahi, he's there looking kinda busy" (Kota)
After the activities, they all go for lunch and as they finish, they go back for the sportsfest and more activities until the clock strikes 6pm.
They go around the campfire and tell strange stories they experienced.
"You know, this school was once a burial place for Samurais during the Heian Period. From time to time, a wealthy businessman purchased the area and built a school on top of it. Although there were some Christian persecutions occurred on the site during the Tokugawa shogunate, rumors say that they still haunt this place to this very time." (Club adviser)
The lights suddenly flicker in a classroom and then it dies. Asahi goes check up on it and eventually sees a strange silhouette at the door. Just seconds later, it vanishes into thin air. As soon as the campfire is finished, they then go to their rooms to sleep.
At the rise of dawn, Kota wakes up at 4am. He looks around the room and sees a foreboding figure.
"Wait a minute, i-is that a nun?", he thinks to himself.
He slowly approaches it but it actually turns out to be a white blanket. Since he can't sleep anymore, he goes outside. While going outside, he sees Asahi sleeping-facedown. When he gets into a corner, a strange silhouette who has a blank face and a white attire is seen standing in front of a door. He slowly walks away until he bumps into the club adviser.
"Hey, can't sleep anymore?" (Club adviser)
"Yes, sir" (Kota)
"In that case, come with me to the auditorium" (Club adviser)
At the auditorium, Kana is seen sitting in the corner. From there, she flashbacks of what has happened before until she's interrupted by Kota. Since they are bored, they look at YourBook posts on his phone, and a post got Kana intrigued.
"You know, this post reminds me of what happened back then." (Kana)
"Yeah? You can tell me if you want to, your secret is safe with me" (Kota)
"Ok, so there was this one guy that I have been with before I know Mr. Moody-pants there- *points at Asahi*." (Kana)
"Hmm, can you give me some clue? It's hard to illustrate who this person is while capturing the story." (Kota)
"Sure, it's one of the guys here in the club. So even though we had a history, he would often text me. Like he still wants to be together but why? We don't have any connection and I don't like him anymore." (Kana)
"You know, it's really hard to move on but from my perspective, just bug him off. Guys could get really clingy when it comes to girls. It's just like me from junior high school. In the 1st year, I didn't know what love means but I only understand this when a certain somebody just friendzoned me. At that time, I didn't know how to act as my eyes were opened to the harsh reality and I realized that it was my clinginess that affected it. Many events then took place as I accept, then the pandemic, lost connection, and I tried. At the third chance, she made it a go. And that is how I ended up with her again. To love a person comes within your heart and not your brain. It only take matters when intervening factors tries to get in. Listen to your heart who you really want and what you want." (Kota)
"Hmm, yeah. I will stand up to that guy that I no longer need him, although he is one of the assistants to our class rep." (Kana)
"Just simply ignore him" (Kota)
"Thanks for your advice. To be honest, I didn't know you're this talkative person. You may be silent but knows a lot" (Kana)
"Well it's no biggie, I get that a lot" (Kota)
They then talk about anime until everyone were awaken. As soon as everyone gather at the auditorium, they go straight to the shrine to pray. After that, they then all go home.