Komi Komi Literature Club!

Chapter 20: The Guy Friend

It was the end of another school day – regular classes were getting out and students were either exiting the building or making their way to after school clubs. Then there was Tadano sitting alone in his classroom finishing up his class president work.

Tadano wiped his brow and stood up, taking a moment to stretch before gathering his things and leaving, "Whew, I'm tired. Why do I have to be the one who gets stuck with all this work?" He thought to himself as he made his way downstairs.

"Hey there! Tadano, right?" Alex asked as he passed by Tadano on the steps, going up while he was coming down.

"Hmm?" Tadano stopped and turned to look back up at him, "Oh hi, Alex!"

"Hey. Where ya headed?" He asked.

"Um...home...?"

"Not anymore. Come on. You're coming with me to the Literature Club." Alex said, grabbing him by the sleeve and pulling him back up the stairs. Tadano turned and followed, allowing himself to be dragged along.

"Whoa! Um, alright then!"

So just like that, Alex and Tadano were in the classroom for the Literature Club – in fact, they were the first ones to arrive.

"The others should be here in a few." Alex said. He set his backpack down on a nearby chair and removed his uniform jacket and tie. He set them down on the desk.

"The others?" Tadano asked absently, unsure of what was going on as he watched Alex take his clothes off.

"Yeah, for the club meeting?" Alex responded, looking at him strangely with an eyebrow raised.

"Hiii! I'm here!" Sayori grinned, announcing her presence as she ran into the room and did a little hop. She planted her feet when she landed and stood up straight with her arms outstretched as if finishing a gymnastics routine.

"Hey, Sayori. This is Tadano. He's Komi's friend. We just got acquainted the other day." Alex introduced them.

"Oh hello! Are you here for the Literature Club meeting?!"

"I suppose I am." Tadano answered, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"Ooh! Well it's a pleasure to have you here in our little Literature Club, Tadano!" Sayori said with a grin.

"We have a visitor?" Monika overheard her, entering the room with Natsuki coming in right behind her.

"Oh, another boy this time. Well, at least he seems less stupid than the one we currently have." Natsuki said teasingly.

"TBD," Alex said with a chuckle. "The short one is Natsuki. And this here is Monika."

"Hello. I'm Tadano Hitohito. It's nice to meet you both!" He greeted them with a wave and a respectful bow, "The girls in this club are...cute. I gotta keep my head on straight." He thought to himself.

"Nice to meet you too, Hitohito." Natsuki nodded in his direction. Tadano's eyes widened a little at hearing a girl say his first name so casually. It was an indescribable experience for him.

"What an amazing club." He thought to himself.

"Hi, Tadano," Monika smiled at him and offered a handshake. "My name is Monika. I'm the president of the Literature Club. Thank you for stopping by! Please, make yourself comfortable!" She invited, gesturing to the desks before folding her hands down in front of her.

"O-Oh, thank you, Monika. I will." Tadano nodded, rubbing the back of his head again.

"We're just waiting on two more people now. Oh! Never mind." Monika said, noticing Yuri and Komi coming into the classroom together.