Vol 1 Chapter 3 – How About Joining a Club?

We played for about two hours, but no other customers showed up.

The power level of the decks should have been even, but the win-loss record was obvious.

He finally managed to clinch a single victory, but by then, I had already won nine times.

“Wow, you’re strong. I lost nine times before I could win even once.”

“…Well, I did build these decks. It’s only natural there’d be a skill gap. You’re fighting against a deck whose contents I know inside and out.”

I said it to console him.

But in reality, he probably didn’t need to hear it.

He was genuinely enjoying the card game.

So much so that I think he would have gotten angry if I had tried going easy on him.

“If you had asked me to point out your misplays, the score would have been more like 7-3, you know? It’s fine to get a little help when you’re not used to a deck.”

“It’s okay. I don’t play games just to win.”

Kajiwara-kun said calmly.

Is this what men are like? Able to project such a calm aura?

It was a world away from my rowdy friends and the other members of my club.

“As long as I can have fun with someone, that’s all that matters.”

Those words must have come from the bottom of his heart.

Winning wasn’t his goal.

Of course, one should aim for victory in order to enjoy a game to its fullest.

But he was different.

To put it simply, he was a casual player.

Not a hardcore one.

He wasn’t the type to think that victory is everything, that victory is glory.

He poured all his energy into how to best enjoy the game.

So there are guys like this out there, huh? The thought calmed my own heart.

My heart was still pounding out an eight-beat rhythm, but separate from that, something about him just… clicked.

“Well, it’s almost six-thirty. I should be getting home.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

He should go home.

If he didn’t, things could get complicated.

After all, here was a 15-year-old boy—a muscular one at that—who was genuinely interested in our hobbies.

The other, more typical female players might start to make a fuss.

Sigh, this is it.

No, I mean, for today.

Just for today.

“Takahashi-senpai, thank you for lending me a deck. I’d like to play with my own next time.”

“Do you have a way to get one?”

“I’ll buy single cards from this shop little by little and put one together. I’ll manage to get at least the minimum number of cards by the next time we play.”

I see. I had explained the basics to him during our match.

If he could manage that, then I had no complaints.

No complaints, but…

“Takahashi-senpai, are you always at this game shop?”

There it is.

It’s here.

I knew he’d ask that question.

During the hour and a half we were playing, I had carefully and thoroughly constructed conversational scenarios in my head.

Just like planning a strategy in a game.

“Not always. I have my own things to do, too.”

“Well, that makes sense.”

I answered honestly.

If he told me to wait here, I’d probably wait for him forever like some loyal hound, but I couldn’t do that.

I have my club, after all.

…Club?

Right, that’s it. I have to steer the conversation that way.

It was my one and only wild card.

“Kajiwara-kun, you’re a new student at our school, right?”

I stated it as a fact.

It was the color of his tie.

At our high school, you can tell the year by the tie color.

A purple tie is without a doubt for a first-year.

For what it’s worth, my tie is blue, for a second-year.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Have you decided on a club yet?”

This is the crucial part, Chihiro Takahashi.

Puff out your chest.

Even if this huge chest of yours is useless for everything else.

“Not yet. I’ve gotten a lot of invitations, but none of them really felt right. I’m not really the sports club type.”

“Not the sports club type?”

He certainly didn’t look it.

In fact, with those muscles, it’d be strange if he wasn’t doing some kind of sport.

“It’s, uh… I’m clumsier than I look, you see? My reflexes are especially bad. I hate things like dodgeball.”

“You and me both.”

I hate dodgeball, too.

What’s so fun about a game designed to bully those of us with pathetic reflexes?

I also have bad memories of being teased in middle school, with guys saying, “Takahashi has two dodgeballs attached to her chest.”

They’re not that big!

Anyway, I’m not the sports type.

“I love strength training and weightlifting, though. Even a clumsy person can get results if they work hard enough.”

“Oh, I see. But I don’t think we have a weightlifting club at our school.”

“I know, right? I was wondering what I should do.”

Tap, tap. He carefully put the cards back in the deck case.

Then he wrapped it up and handed it back to me.

This is it! Attack now, Takahashi!

That’s what the eight-beat berserker in my heart was screaming.

I know, I know!

“Since we go to the same school, how about joining my club?”

“Your club, Takahashi-san?”

“Yep. I’m the president, you know.”

He took the bait.

I felt the tug of a fish on the line and began to reel it in.

“Let me ask, are you interested in subcultures other than card games?”

“Yeah, well. I’m an otaku.”

“You call yourself an otaku?”

A guy who calls himself an otaku is also rare.

Seriously, this guy just keeps hitting all the right notes.

“A dyed-in-the-wool otaku, that’s me. I’m always watching some anime when I’m on my spin bike. Oh, and it’s not just that, of course. I read manga and light novels, too. I basically love all subculture.”

Is this guy some kind of homme fatale for otaku girls?

If you told this to anyone, they wouldn’t believe you.

I’m pretty sure if I told my club members about him, none of them would believe me.

At least, not until they saw him with their own eyes.

“You think I’m lying?”

“No, I believe you. If it’s you saying it, Kajiwara-kun, I can believe it.”

I didn’t sense a hint of a lie.

He was being completely serious.

He really loved subculture.

If that’s the case, then my wild card is live.

“My club is called the ‘Modern Culture Research Club.’ It’s a club I started in my first year with three other otaku girls.”

“Oh?”

It seemed I had strongly piqued his interest.

He smiled with amusement, and his movements paused for a second.

“But if that’s the case, wouldn’t I be a nuisance? Tossing a guy into an all-girl group never leads to anything good—”

Well, I’m certainly thinking of something that isn’t good.

I’m thinking I want to get closer to him, to Kajiwara-kun.

But, well, that aside…

“We’re fellow otaku, right? It doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or a girl. We’re all comrades who enjoy the same subculture, so let’s get along.”

This was from the heart.

So I could say it without getting nervous.

Otaku should stick together and get along!

Solidarity! Solidarity!

“—I’d like to, but I wouldn’t want to join by force if the other members are against it. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s relationships.”

“You’re a good kid, Kajiwara-kun.”

I said it to a boy 40 cm taller than me, speaking as his senior.

This was also my honest opinion, so it was fine.

Okay, here we go, me.

Don’t mess this up.

“There isn’t a single girl in my club who would reject someone who wants to enjoy subculture to the fullest. Don’t worry. Nothing weird will happen.”

Okay, so there was one little lie in there.

There isn’t a girl who would reject someone who wants to enjoy subculture to the fullest.

That part’s true.

But things might get weird.

Actually, I want things to get weird.

Mainly between me, the president, and him.

“…Are you really sure? If that’s the case, then…”

Yes! He’s hooked!

I made a small, tight fist.

“I’ll explain everything to the members tomorrow. I’ll have the club application form ready the day after, so just bring yourself. I’ll introduce you to some fun members. Your comrades in subculture.”

It was an unbelievable turn of events.

In the space of two truly unbelievable hours…

Kajiwara-kun and I had spent a little piece of our youth together.

“Well then, I look forward to it.”

He bowed his head with a little nod.

I beamed at him, a perfect smile on my face.

But on the inside, my heart felt like it was about to burst as I threw my arms around my inner berserker and screamed, HELL YEAH! TOTAL VICTORY!

Truly.

Today was truly a day when unbelievable good fortune had fallen right into my lap.