COTE: Koenji What if

Vol.1 Chapter 4.3 - Club fair

"Wowee, there sure are a lot of people here!" Kushida proclaimed.

"I wonder if this school has any famous clubs. I'm just hoping that there aren't any Karate clubs."

"Eh? Why not?" Kushida asked.

"O-oh, um, it's nothing." I replied.

"So what clubs are you interested in, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Hmmm, well the swimming club could be interesting, as well as the track and field club. But I haven't really given it enough thought yet. Or maybe a quiet, peaceful club like tea ceremony or  calligraphy if they have it here. How about you?"

"Well I am not really sure either. I have thought about the student council though."

Kushida is very easy to talk to. A social expert like her talking to me really does make things easier for me. I then spotted in the distance Sudou, Ike and Yamauchi. They have very recently been labelled the idiot trio.

"Yo, Ayanokouji. You came, huh? Wait wait wait? Why are you with Kushida-san?" Ike cried out. Did I do something wrong here?

"Oh hey there Ike-kun, Yamauchi-kun, Sudou-kun!" Kushida responded. "I was just exploring around the club fair with Ayanokouji-kun."

Both Ike and Yamauchi appeared to be glaring daggers at me. Sudou appeared to be doing just fine.

"So Sudou-kun, did you join a club?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. I joined the basketball club, been playin it since elementary school. I thought I'd join the team here."

"How about the two of you?" Kushida asked Ike and Yamauchi. They appeared to take their death glare off me and changed it up when looking at Kushida.

"Oh, umm, I was just checking around, but it looks like I would have been too good for these clubs anyways" Ike replied.

"Same here man!" Yamauchi said, while wrapping his arm around Ike's shoulder.

During this conversation, something was going on. On the stage there were upperclassmen taking in new members, but now there is only one student left.

He was 170cm in height, slender, 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. He didn't say a single word. My interest piqued.

"Oi, did yah get cold feet?"

"Did you forget your notecards?"

"Ha hahah ha!"

The first year students made a mockery of him, hurling comments. Howver, the upperclassmen present stood calmly, without trembling. When the laughter died down, eventually it reached silence. A deafening silence. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Nobody could speak during this moment. This continued on for about 30 seconds.

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

Horikita? I glanced to Kushida. She also appeared to be suprised. They have the same surname, so maybe...

"The student council is looking to recruit potential candidates among the first-year students to replace the graduating 3rd years. Although no special qualifications are required for candidacy, we humbly ask that those considering application not to be involved in other club activities. We generally do not accept students involved elsewhere."

"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 the school. It is the right and duty to enforce and amend the rules, but this school expects more than that. We gladly welcome those of you who understand this." 

He didn't even pause a single time during that speech. He then hopped off immediately after finishing, but even then none of the 1st years could utter a single word, until the laid-back organizer spoke up.

"Wow, that was intense man!" Ike shouted. Yamauchi and Sudou both nodded in agreement.

"Hey guys, I have something I have to go to, it is a meeting with friends now, so bye~!" Kushida left in a hurry.

"Aww man, well there she goes. Now now now Ayanokouji. I don't think I've made this clear enough, but I'm the one aiming for Kushida! You hear me?!" Ike shouted out, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Dude, don't worry, I don't plan on getting in your way. In fact, how about we trade contacts, so that we can help you out with Kushida? Afterall, I was the one who managed to bring her along to here in the first place, right?" C'mon, take the bait!

Ike's eyes shined up. "Look's like we have a deal, pal! Actually, how about you join our groupchat?" Yes!

"Yes!" I replied. My contacts list has been going up quite a bit now.