Chapter 15 – A Harem on the Walk Home

I’ve been in the Going-Home Club ever since my junior high days.

Now that I’m in high school, I’ve finally made my club debut.

And the club I decided to join was, of all things, the Going-Home Club. I have mixed feelings about this.

“Aki-kun, you’re finally here.” 

Nee-san, who’s usually waiting for me at the bus stop, was in the shoe locker room.

She’d already taken out my shoes and was standing by to let me change into them with maximum efficiency.

With me were Hinami and Chifuyu, my fellow club members.

Constantly aware of the awkwardness of my ex-girlfriend’s presence, I changed my shoes.

“Hey, Aki-kun?  This bitch… she wouldn’t happen to be your ex, would she?”

Don’t call her a bitch.

“Yeah, well.”

“What is she doing here? Did she come to apologize to me? For hurting my dear Aki-kun? “

“I’m also a member of the Going-Home Club,” Chifuyu  said with a standoffish expression, grabbing my arm.

Nee-san’s hatred for Chifuyu  has been building up for a while now.

Seeing her pull a stunt like this in her current state, Nee-san’s  murderous intent towards her must be completely maxed out.

“Hinami-chan?  I’ll let you slide, by a very generous margin, but why did you let this woman join the Going-Home Club?”

“Matsumaru-sensei let her in, Karin-sama.” 

I’m moved that they’re apparently on a first-name basis now.

Still, I can’t help but feel like there’s a feudal lord-vassal relationship between them. I can only hope Nee-san  is a good boss.

“Hinami-chan, I’m disappointed in you. The only reason I approved your membership was to meet the minimum number of members. It was a reluctant choice, you know? It’s definitely not because I found you surprisingly honest and cute after we talked a bit, or because I grew fond of you, or anything like that.”

You’re letting your true feelings slip, Nee-san. 

Honestly, I’m just glad they seem to be getting along.

“Um, can we please just leave the school for now?”

It’s great that they’re getting along, but we haven’t moved a single step from the shoe locker room.

This is a crisis for the continued existence of the Going-Home Club.

A Going-Home Club with a long preamble before it actually gets to the going-home part has no right to exist.

“I was just thinking, Chifuyu, are you okay with this?”

“What do you mean?”

Our first club activity ended up being a stop at a convenience store on the way home.

We were supposed to take the bus to the stop right by my house and then buy snacks at the convenience store at Sasebo Station. A classic, youthful event.

The problem is the “walking” part.

Nee-san  started spouting some nonsense about how “walking home is what the Going-Home Club is all about,” and then there was no stopping her.

So now we’re walking the route we usually take a bus for.

This isn’t going to be a daily thing, is it…?

“Your house is in the opposite direction, isn’t it, Chifuyu?  We’re walking in a completely different direction right now.”

“Akira—  Akira, I’m the vice president of the Going-Home Club. That means the president’s house is my house.”

“You don’t have to force yourself to call me without an honorific, you know? And more importantly, please don’t come to my house.”

Please, just go off somewhere with some refreshingly handsome guy.

“You… just because you’re Aki-kun’s  ex-girlfriend, don’t you think you’re getting a little carried away? To dump a wonderful guy like Aki-kun  and then act so selfishly—”

“I’m still Akira’s  girlfriend!”

“No, you’re not.”

Let me explain the current situation.

On my right is Nee-san, linking her arm with mine as if we were a couple.

On my left are Chifuyu and Hinami.

Hinami is holding Chifuyu back on Nee-san’s  orders, but if she weren’t here, I’d be in a full-blown harem.

Though, just walking with three beautiful girls gives off a bit of a harem vibe anyway.

It takes about twenty minutes to walk from school to my house.

I used to walk a similar distance to and from school in my elementary and junior high days, so it feels kind of nostalgic.

Of course, back then, Nee-san  was by my side 365 days a year.

It seems that hasn’t changed, even in high school.

“Aki-kun, I think this girl is a bad influence on you. So let’s expel her by presidential order, okay?”

“Akira?  I don’t have a boyfriend right now. So, that means… the spot next to me is open.”

“Akira-kun, please teach me about being a shojo.” 

I wonder if I can expel myself by presidential order.

“I want to quit the Going-Home Club.”

“Aki-kun, that’s the one thing you’re not allowed to do, okay? Onee-chan  made this club for you, so you absolutely can’t quit.”

“There’s no rule that says the president can’t quit. Surely.”

At least, it wasn’t written in the student handbook I got at the entrance ceremony.

“Didn’t you see the application form for creating the club? You’re the president until you graduate, Aki-kun. And if you were to quit as president, it would be treated the same as dropping out of school.”

Oh. Well, I guess I can’t quit then.

“—As if that’s—”

“It is. Karin-sama  and I made the application.”

“So my entire life hangs on whether or not I quit the Going-Home Club?”

“That’s right.”

Then why are you looking so unfazed?

Hinami was still firmly restraining Chifuyu.

Hinami was much stronger, so the small, animal-like Chifuyu  was easily rendered immobile.

Come to think of it, Hinami  apparently did gymnastics in junior high. That’s why she’s got a decent amount of muscle, and it’s no exaggeration to say it enhances her great figure.

“Aki-kun, we’re going all the way to Gobangai today after all.”

“Huh? I thought we were just stopping at the convenience store and going home—”

“We can’t get soft just because it’s our first day. We won’t be able to beat the powerhouse schools that way. It’s my dream to win the Inter-High with you, Aki-kun.” 

As Nee-san  dragged me along by the arm, I found myself pondering what exactly a “powerhouse school” of going home could possibly be.