Vol 1 Chapter 23 – Club Activities Resume

I’m scared to go into the clubroom.

My mom, Kaa-san, scolded me for my selfish behavior, and though I ultimately received her permission for all my otaku activities, she was very stern. She made it clear that my actions had caused trouble for President Takahashi, and that if Kaa-san had blamed her for it, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to come to hate me.

But anyway, I have to come to school.

With Kaa-san practically kicking me out the door, telling me not to mope around forever, she lit a fire under me.

I went to my classes like usual, dodging the occasional normie who tried to talk to me—they probably have no idea what I did at the fan convention.

Even if it became a topic on social media, it was probably just within otaku circles.

In any case, my classes were business as usual.

The problem is the club.

I’ve caused everyone so much trouble, but the one thing I want to avoid is being disliked by President Takahashi and the others.

The thing is, I have no idea what to do about it.

I’ve already blown it.

I’m standing in front of the clubroom, but for some reason, I just can’t bring myself to open the door.

In, out. I steadied my breathing.

It was right as I went to open the door.

“—Knowing Kajiwara-kun, I’m sure he’s feeling terrible about it. We have to find some way to comfort him.”

I heard President Takahashi’s voice from the other side.

My hand froze.

“I knooow, okay? That was my fault. It’s because I, Toudou Hatsune, thoughtlessly called Tsukishima-san over and started a photoshoot—yeah, it was my bad. I regret it.”

Toudou-san replied.

She seems to be worried about it, but I was the one who showed up in cosplay and agreed to the photoshoot.

“That’s right, it was Toudou’s fault.”

“It was Toudou-chan’s fault.”

I could hear Segawa-san’s and Ema-san’s voices, too.

No, the one most at fault is me, for my careless otaku behavior.

“You should apologize to Kajiwara-kun later.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will.”

President Takahashi and Toudou-san spoke with a casualness that hinted at a long friendship.

Their frank concern for me made something in my heart loosen its grip.

Oh, no. I think I’m going to cry.

I have to open the door.

“Thank you, everyone.”

With a rattle, I slid the door open and spoke my thanks.

I have to be composed at times like this.

Composed and polite as I express my gratitude.

“Whoa, Kajiwara-kun. Did you hear that? Chihiro suggested we get this cleared up before you came to the club.”

Toudou-san looked flustered for a second—before realizing it wasn’t really a conversation to be embarrassed about anyone overhearing.

She asked me with a cool expression.

“I heard. Thank you. Really, thank you so much.”

I bowed at a sharp forty-five-degree angle, offering my thanks as politely as a businessman.

I don’t even know how to properly thank them anymore.

“Please don’t, Kajiwara-kun. It really wasn’t your fault at all.”

“…I think Toudou-chan was the one who was completely at fault.”

Segawa-san spoke to me gently.

Beside her, Ema-san, though timid, was also talking bad about Toudou-san.

No, really, it was my fault.

“Alright then, Kajiwara-kun. Like we were just saying, sorry we weren’t more considerate! But, you’ve officially gotten permission from your mother for future doujin activities! So let’s keep working together, just like before!!”

Fwip! President Takahashi shot me a cool thumbs-up, a huge smile on her face.

Fwip! I returned a thumbs-up of my own.

“Yes!”

What wonderful people.

Toudou-san, Segawa-san, Ema-san, every single one of them is so kind.

And I can’t thank President Takahashi enough.

“Okay, let’s go over the results from the fan convention. Thanks in part to Kajiwara-kun, we sold out of both the new and old issues, so we need to do another print run. Can you handle the order, Segawa-chan?”

“Yes. Speaking of which, Kajiwara-kun, do you plan to continue cosplaying in the future?”

Segawa-san asked, her braids swaying as if to say, this is important.

I’ve been thinking about that.

“Um… Kaa-san seemed sort of resigned, and said I could just do whatever I want now.”

“Does that include the photobook?”

“The photobook, too. I’ve already given Tsukishima-san permission to sell it.”

Though I have my doubts it will actually sell.

I really don’t think anyone will buy it.

“Well, I was thinking that cosplay would be fine as a hobby I do through the club. That’s what I’m leaning toward, but…”

“So you mean, as long as it’s just something like cosplaying to help sell things at the fan convention booth?”

“Yeah, that’s about right.”

Hearing my words, Segawa-san gave a casual reply. “Okay, I’ll increase the print order, then.”

My cosplaying couldn’t possibly affect sales that much—well, it probably does.

“We’ll cover the cost of your outfits with the club budget, you know.”

“Are you sure?”

“Consider it something we’re asking you to do for us.”

Toudou-san took out her smartphone, wondering what kind of costume would be good and tapping away at the screen.

“It should probably be from the series we’re publishing for the new issue, right? It’ll have to be store-bought, though. I’ll talk to Tsukishima-san about it. We should at least have the right to ask for that much.”

Well, we can’t exactly get a custom-made outfit every single time.

Even so.

…

This is nice.

This club, the Modern Culture Research Club, is so comfortable.

That’s what I thought.

Everyone here is so kind to me.

No, everyone is kind to each other.

I still feel like I’m just intruding, but I hope I can become a real member of their group from now on.

“Okay, okay, so about next month’s issue—well, it’s probably too much to suddenly ask you to create something, Kajiwara-kun.”

“That would be a bit much.”

I do want to become a creator, and I’ve talked about maybe trying to draw some illustrations.

But those illustrations would probably be clumsy at first.

As for what I can do—I thought for a moment.

“Should I be an assistant? I mean, I don’t know if I can do it, but…”

“Let’s do that! I, Toudou Hatsune, will teach you everything from the ground up!”

Clap! Toudou-san smacked her hands together.

Then, she started rummaging through a shelf.

It looked like she was trying to pull out a big box.

“Chihiro, you had that old drawing tablet, right? Is it okay if I give it to Kajiwara-kun?”

“Of course. Well, we can figure that out as we go. For now, the fan convention is over, so…”

President Takahashi watched Toudou-san with a smile.

Then, she looked me right in the eyes.

“First, let’s all get to know each other better. Let’s do all sorts of things. Card games are fine. Tabletop RPGs are fine, too. Or hey, it might be nice to go hang out somewhere. We’re otaku, so we probably won’t be able to party like normies. But that doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to have our own youthful fun.”

She spoke so gently.

I took in her words in silence.

“Let’s take it slow. Let’s learn more about each other. Let’s talk about all kinds of things. Let’s mess around, laugh, and do a ton of fun stuff. Once we become better friends, things will get even more fun.”

President Takahashi held out her hand.

I knew what I had to do.

I reached out my own hand and gently squeezed hers.

Whoosh, whoosh, President Takahashi shook our clasped hands vigorously up and down.

“I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Me too.”

I felt like I was going to cry.

That’s honestly how happy I was.

I looked around the clubroom, meeting the eyes of Toudou-san, Segawa-san, and Ema-san, and nodded deeply.

This club is the best.