Joining the Literature Club was a bad idea.

[Kenji] Third Meeting: Coffee and Unexpected Deaths

Wednesday afternoon.

I was the second person in the clubroom today, the first being Satsuki Murakata. She was sipping brown coffee from a mug that I guess came from the cupboard at the side.

"Yo." I said as I sat on my seat. She looked up from what she was reading and waved at me. "Good morning, Master Nishimura." She laughed.

"First, I'm not a Master." I glares at her. "Second, it's the afternoon."

"I know, I know." She said with a smile. "How'd your free day go?" I suddenly remembered how I almost choked on my ramen because of the sudden entrance of a certain brown-haired girl.

"It went fine, I ate ramen a-"

My reply to Murakata's question was abruptly interrupted by a sudden hot to the head. I looked up and saw the girl that I tried to avoid the other day looking at me with her arms crossed, a thick hardcover book in her right hand. "...hi, Akiko." I said.

"-nd got scared shitless when Akiko entered my mom's ramen shop." Akiko continued what I was saying as she took a seat in front of me. "Aunt Kizune was confused because of you, Nishii."

...again wondering why I don't know this girl even though she knows so much about me and my life. She knows that my mother's name is Kizune, I'm guessing she probably even struck up a conversation with her yesterday. "Okay then." I told Akiko. "Who else are we waiting for?" I asked Murakata.

Murakata looked at the other empty chairs in the room. "Shimada-senpai and Asakura-senpai." She took a sip of her coffee and continued reading. I moved to Shimada's seat and pointed at Murakata's coffee. "Where'd you get the water?" I asked. Murakata looked up and smugly smiled at me. "Senpai, I am a swimmer. I am the water."

"I hope you evaporate."

"Don't be like that." Murakata laughed at my comment and looked at the cupboard. "There's a bunch of large water bottles in the cupboard." I stood up and walked over to the cupboard to open it. Inside were a bunch of mugs, coasters, packs of instant coffee, an electric water boiler and five large bottles filled with water.

"Now I want coffee." I muttered as I brought the boiler out. Akiko stood beside me holding the packs of instant coffee. I almost jumped in surprise because I was shocked that she had appeared there all of the sudden. "What kind of coffee do you like?" I asked her as I took the packs from her.

"Coffee in bed with you." She said with a straight face.

"Fuck no."

"That was a joke, Nishii." Akiko giggled a bit. "I'd have whatever has the most creaminess." I felt myself blush because of the stupid innuendo that the girl in front of me used. "Fine." I said in an annoyed way as I poured water from the bottle into the boiler.

In a few minutes, Akiko and I had our own mugs of coffee. "When are those two going to arrive?" I asked nobody in particular as I took a sip. Akiko looked up from the light novel she was reading, Eromanga Sensei, and shrugged at me. Murakata, who was silently reading a book suddenly screamed out like a fangirl. "FUCK ME THIS SHIT IS TOO GOOD-" She threw the book towards the table.

I looked at it and cringed. It was another yaoi novel, one without a title on the front. I sighed and went back to looking out the window.

The door suddenly opened, all of us turned our heads to the girl who entered. She had black hair, safety goggles, a lab coat, and was carrying a skeleton. "Your club president is sad to announce that..." She held out the skeleton by the shoulders to show it to us. "Your clubmate..." She taped a piece of paper onto the skeleton's skull that read Shimada-kun. "Atsuyuki Shimada-kun is dead."

She walked over to my side and put the skeleton onto Shimada's chair. Then she walked to her desk and sat down.

The atmosphere in the room was weird and creepy in a way. I shivered in fear that the skeleton actually is Shimada. Akiko was staring at the skeleton in a creeped-out way. "Asakura-senpai, what the hell...?" Murakata asked.

Asakura-senpai laughed as she took her goggles off. "Of course he's not dead. He approached me earlier lunch and asked if he can attend the meeting later than usual because he had something to do today."

"Where'd you get the skeleton!?" I asked. She looked at me with her eyes seemingly closed then at the skeleton labeled Shimada-kun. "Forensics Club."

"Senpai, how many clubs are you in?" Akiko asked. Asakura-senpai looked at her while folding her lab coat. "Err, there's this club, the drama club, the forensics club, the photography club and the track-and-field team." She answered as she started taking her vest off.

"How do you even balance them?" Murakata asked in surprise. Asakura-senpai laughed. "I have no idea either." She shrugged and stood up to put her lab coat into a box. "Almost nothing happens in the forensics club, I'm a lead actress in the drama club, I'm the vice-president of the photography club, and also the third-fastest runner on the track."

"This room is my safe haven." She stifled a yawn and sat down on her chair again. "So, what's our club activity for today?"

I looked at the bookshelves and then at the others. "We made a chain novel when you were gone last week." I told Asakura-senpai. "Oh, that's nice." She smiled. "Can I read it?"

"It's lost." I sighed. Asakura-senpai's eyes opened for a bit, giving me a glimpse of her yellow eyes. "What a bummer." She stifled another yawn. "Okay... today... we're going to..." She didn't say another word as she suddenly started snoring.

Murakata stood up and looked at me. "Do something." She told me. I looked at Asakura-senpai and stood up as well. "I don't know what to do!" I said. Akiko stood up and poked Asakura-senpai's shoulder.

"That could work." Murakata and I said at the same time.

Asakura-senpai suddenly sat up straight. "-AS I WAS SAYING." She said loudly. "We're dismissed for today!"

Murakata and I looked dumbfounded at her statement while Akiko just laughed. "Nishii, say the adjourned stuff!" She looked at me enthusiastically.

"But we haven't even done anything!" I said. Murakata nodded, putting her hands on the table. "Shouldn't we be more produc-"

"Swimming team starts tryouts in five minutes." Asakura-senpai interrupted her.

Murakata immediately shut up and grabbed a sports bag from below the table before running out the clubroom. I looked at the door like an idiot and turned back to Asakura-senpai. "That was fast."

Akiko was holding placed her school bag on the table. "Nishii, are you free tomorrow?" She asked me. I was confused with what was happening and just nodded. Asakura-senpai stood up from her chair and had a hand on the rolled futon at the room's corner. "Come on, I don't have all day." She stifled a yawn for the third time.

"Alright, fine." I sighed. "Meeting adjourned."

An hour later...

The clubroom door slid open, an androgynous redhead stepped into the room with his schoolbag behind in one hand. "Okay guys sorry I'm late-"

He was greeted by silence...

...and a skeleton with his name on it sitting on his chair.

He let out a girly, high-pitched shriek loud enough for anyone in the building to hear.

"WHAT THE HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLL?!"