I Was Unreasonably Dumped By My Girlfriend And Had My Heart Broken. When I Rescued A Beautiful Girl Who Was My Former Classmate And Idol In My Class From A Group Of Yarisa, My Gray College Life Started To Shine - Chapter 19

Episode 19: The Pairing Was Supposed to Be Hellish…

It was decided that the club meeting would take place in the audiovisual room located within the library.

As Aoba and I headed towards that space, we found that quite a number of people had already gathered inside the glass-walled room.

There seemed to be many people whom I hadn’t met yet.

Glancing at Aoba, who seemed fine, I nervously opened the door.

“Oh, here they come, the newbies!!!”

“Whoa, are these the promising newcomers?!!”

“They’re certainly cute! Looks like my status as the princess of the club is over.”

“I doubt you ever held that position even once.”

…It seemed that university students weren’t particularly reserved.

The moment we entered, we were immediately surrounded.

Though the pressure was strong, it seemed they were welcoming us, so it was quite hard to respond.

While Aoba used her natural communication skills to engage in conversation with a smile, I just managed to put on a smile and endure.

“…Okay, everyone, that’s enough. You two, step back.”

“We’ve been waiting for you, Nogami-kun and Aoba-kun!”

Vice President Shizuoka and President Katsuhiro Nagano appeared and restrained the seniors.

From behind them, the freshmen who had attended the welcoming event also popped up.

It seemed that many of the faces present at that time had decided to join the club.

Aoba and I were also among them.

Over the past week, we had visited various clubs, but the one where we felt most comfortable was the volunteer circle “Tiana” that we visited on the first day.
The other clubs weren’t bad either, but some were too sports-oriented, others too focused on humanities, or had too high a ratio of either boys or girls, lacking a decisive factor.

In contrast, everything about “Tiana” felt just right.

“I thought you two wouldn’t join since you didn’t come after the first day. I was genuinely relieved when I saw your membership forms. From now on, as members and as family, please take care of us.”

Though slightly overzealous, the president was passionate.

President Nagano had tears in his eyes as he reached out for another handshake.

Feeling bewildered by the sudden declaration of familyhood…

“Just ignore that. Freshmen, sit there. We’re starting the meeting soon.”

Vice President Shizuoka guided Aoba and me to our seats.

Her swift assistance hadn’t changed since before.

Afterward, she returned to President Nagano’s side, forcibly pulling him along by the sleeve.

As if guiding a horse with reins, she led President Nagano to the front of the room and nudged his chin.

“All right, we’re all set. Let’s begin the first meeting of ‘Tiana’!!”

…It was quite a pitiful opening declaration.

Because of that, the atmosphere wasn’t quite as tense, but the meeting started anyway.

Initially, they explained the overview of club activities and the schedule for the year, but that wasn’t the main topic for today.

“Now, let’s discuss the volunteer cleanup event we’ll be conducting next weekend.”

This was also something we had been informed about beforehand.

It seemed that every spring, as a tradition to help newcomers acclimate, the “Tiana” circle conducted a cleanup activity, a common volunteer task, this time focusing on picking up trash in the mountains.

“Last year, we cleaned up in the city, but this year, we’re changing it up and cleaning up in the mountains. There’s a small mountain in West Tokyo where trash abandonment by hikers has become a problem.”

After saying that much, the president played a video to explain the current situation.

Watching the footage, it was evident that amidst fallen leaves were scattered trash items like plastic bottles, snack wrappers, and even large items like TVs, making it far from clean.

Some club members voiced their honest thoughts, saying, “Ugh, it’s disgusting”.

“Don’t complain. You can volunteer while hiking. In a sense, it’s a good environment, right?”

Ignoring such complaints, the president meticulously conveyed details decided upon through discussions with the local government.

Surprisingly, he was good at explaining. While his earlier remarks were pitiful, it seemed he wasn’t just an incompetent president.

“That’s it for now. Does anyone have any questions?”

After summarizing the agenda in about twenty minutes, he threw out this question.

At first, there was silence, but eventually, one senior raised his hand.

“President, are we doing that event again this year?”

Event? What event was he referring to?

Not just me, it seemed that Aoba and the other freshmen were also puzzled, tilting their heads.

“Yeah, we are. This time, it’s an activity in the mountains. I want you all to thoroughly follow the buddy system to avoid getting lost.”

…The buddy system.

That word, which I had despised so much during middle school, slipped out, causing my cheeks to twitch.

But this time, there was no need to worry about who my partner would be.

Aoba, sitting in the next seat, shook my sleeve and flashed a grin.

Her mouth clearly said, “Let’s do this” as she moved.
Her smile was so cute that it made my heart skip a beat.

It was astonishing how I, who couldn’t even find someone to stretch with in middle school, ended up being invited by such a top-tier girl. If I had told my past self, he would have surely dismissed it as a fantasy.

Yet, this was undeniably reality.

I was about to nod my head when…

“Of course, we have prepared a game to determine the pairs this year as well. The venue is booked, so don’t worry.”

With the president’s words, the atmosphere immediately turned ominous.

“…A game? What kind of game?”

One of the freshmen asked, and the president smirked. Encouraged by this, the other seniors also grinned.

What were we going to be subjected to?

Was this club… dangerous in some way?

Perhaps all the freshmen were harboring such suspicions, because just then, the president announced with a loud thud on the platform,

“This is what you might call a game of darkness!”

His voice rang out loudly enough to silence the murmurs among the club members.

It was so embarrassing that no one dared to look directly at him. Since it was an old joke, the reaction from the guys was weak, and it seemed that many of the girls didn’t understand it to begin with.

“This is a slippery slope, just like a mountain.”

Someone whispered a timely retort, but the president was unyielding.

“In a way, it’s a game of darkness—”

He tried to say the same line again, but…

“Stop it. It’s just a bowling competition,”
Vice President Shizuoka intervened, blocking him.

Yeah, that was a nice assist, seriously.