Vol 2 Chapter 37 – Toudou’s Problem-Solving Counseling Room

After about two hours of sketching, we took a break.

The five of us got together, had an elderly couple take a photo of us with my smartphone, and etched our youth into a permanent record.

I sent the data to everyone, and we all smiled.

And with that, the morning came to a close.

Next up was a fun picnic lunch.

We spread out the lunches we’d each brought and exchanged items.

Who made what?

Which one do you think is the best, Kajiwara-kun?

We were fully enjoying a brilliant, blue youth—not one tinged with gray.

As I nibbled on the octopus-shaped sausage that Kajiwara-kun had apparently made, I was content with the simple act of eating a boy’s home cooking.

Completely and utterly content.

But then, a doubt suddenly surfaced.

And so, realizing I had monopolized him for the morning, I decided to be considerate.

In the afternoon, I’d have him sketch with Segawa and Emma.

With that thought, I shooed the three of them off to a bench a little ways away.

“So, you wanted to talk about something?”

Chihiro was as perceptive as ever.

Knowing she wouldn’t get to be buddy-buddy with Kajiwara-kun today, she allowed Segawa and Emma to have their time with him and sent them off.

Now, my best friend and I were talking in hushed tones.

Well, I doubt the three of them could hear us from that distance even if we didn’t lower our voices, but it was just in case.

“So, what’s the real story?”

“What’s what?”

“The future of the society now that Kajiwara-kun has joined. Have you been getting a lot of prospective members, or people complaining?”

During our conversation this morning, I had puffed out my chest and answered confidently, telling her not to worry, that Chihiro was handling everything perfectly.

It’s Chihiro, after all, right? She can handle anything.

I didn’t doubt it at the time.

But the more fun I had with Kajiwara-kun, the more anxious I became.

Is that really true? Is Chihiro really handling everything on her own?

“…”

“Tell me the truth. Come to think of it, I just assumed you could handle anything, Chihiro. So I thought it was fine to not worry and leave it all to you, but I was wrong.”

Yeah, I was wrong.

Sure, Chihiro is capable, and she’s the club president. She has to be the public face of the club, protecting our hopelessly clumsy Segawa and Emma, who has trouble interacting with people in the first place. But I’m different, aren’t I? This Toudou Hatsune is different. I’ve been Takahashi Chihiro’s best friend since middle school. There’s no way it was okay for me to just leave everything to her.

“Let me apologize first. I’m sorry. I took you for granted. I got carried away.”

“No, no, really, don’t worry about it. Thank you for your concern.”

Chihiro nodded with a gentle smile. Her silver-rimmed glasses glinted, and behind them, her eyes were smiling. She was a Warrior of Light, as always.

“—Is what I’d like to say. No, I really do appreciate your concern, Hatsune. I’m sorry. I was just about to vent my frustrations. You saved me.”

Chihiro let out a heavy sigh.

“Honestly, it’s so annoying! They’re all so damn irritating.”

BOOM.

An on-screen sound effect might as well have appeared behind her as Chihiro let loose.

Looks like she was really stressed out. I’m so sorry, Chihiro.

“Is it really that bad?”

“No, the polite ones are fine. Kajiwara-kun’s classmates, for example.”

“Yeah.”

I nodded.

For now, I decided to become a nodding machine.

I needed to be there for Chihiro’s rant.

“His classmates are polite. I guess they don’t want him to hear anything bad about them. Kajiwara-kun’s class president? And some gyaru who looked like she was high up on the school food chain came to apply, but I turned them down. I told them we weren’t accepting new members anymore. They understood and said it couldn’t be helped.”

“Yeah.”

So that wasn’t the problem. Which means the problem was something else. That’s what was stressing Chihiro out.

“First off, the upperclassmen and the students in our year are annoying as hell.”

“Wait, not the underclassmen?”

I expressed my confusion.

Students in our year who had heard of Kajiwara-kun—basically, first-years who hadn’t joined a club yet—wanting to join?

That I can understand.

But for second-years like us and third-year upperclassmen to want to join is a different story.

Why would they be interested in a first-year like Kajiwara-kun?

“Kajiwara-kun’s gotten a little famous.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’? He cosplayed, and it trended on social media!”

Ah.

It finally clicked.

Right, the time Kajiwara-kun cosplayed to cover for Segawa’s blunder. That’s how people found out about him.

“I wouldn’t normally say this, but if she knew, it would seriously make Segawa-chan worry herself sick. We got a flood of applications from students in our year and upperclassmen to join the club. And they were pretty aggressive about it.”

“Of course, you turned them all down, right?”

“If I hadn’t, would the five of us be here freely like this right now?!”

Good point.

That aside, I had left all that annoying business entirely up to Chihiro. As her best friend, I seriously regret that. I’m truly sorry.

“Ah, that’s fine. It’s fine. It’s over and done with, so it’s fine!”

“Yeah.”

I went back to being a nodding machine.

Since it was in the past, all I could do now was listen to her vent.

But she said it was fine.

The problem was—

“There’s something else that hasn’t happened yet?”

I cut in.

Something that even Chihiro would have trouble solving?

“The student council! Those guys are the annoying ones!!”

Chihiro’s voice grew louder.

I glanced over at the other three in the distance.

They were still sketching together peacefully.

Emma looked like she was timidly giving Kajiwara-kun advice on how to improve his sketching.

It’s fine, they can’t hear us. I’d rather the three of them didn’t hear this, if possible. This is a problem for me, the club president’s best friend, and Chihiro to solve together.

“Okay. Chihiro. Let’s calm down and talk. What’s wrong with the student council?”

I gently rubbed Chihiro’s small back to calm her down and listened patiently.

“They want us to upgrade from a society to an official club. We’re going to have a meeting about it soon, but they’ve already sent a written notice.”

“Huh?”

Chihiro, now calmer, spoke with a look of utter disgust.

I was floored.

“Why should we have to take orders from the student council on something like that?”

And then I stated the obvious.

We were a society, so we didn’t even get a budget.

At first, we all chipped in from our own allowances to publish our doujinshi.

Once the doujinshi started selling, we used that money for our club expenses.

“They’re going to tell us what to do without giving us any money?”

“They said they’d give us a budget if we become a club.”

“We don’t need it.”

I refused.

Of course, Chihiro intended to refuse as well.

But the fact that she was worried meant they had some kind of leverage over us.

“But you can’t refuse?”

“Because they’re letting us use a clubroom.”

It was true.

We didn’t have an advisor or a budget, but they had arranged for us to have a clubroom.

But still, that’s—

“It’s just a spare room in the old school building!”

What I blurted out was also true.

The clubs run by the so-called popular kids at the top of the school food chain—baseball, soccer, basketball, and the like—were given practice space on the grounds and in the gym, in addition to prefab sheds to store their equipment.

In contrast, what were we, a cultural club, a society of nerds, given?

An unused classroom in the old school building.

There were plenty of those to spare.

“The student council can’t be serious…”

“That’s what I thought, too. But it’s also a fact that we, a mere society, have been given a clubroom. Right?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

That doesn’t mean we have to upgrade to a club.

If we did that…

“If we upgrade from a society to an official club, we’ll be flooded with new members who are only interested in Kajiwara-kun! It’s different from a society! As an official club, we won’t have the right to refuse applications!!”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Chihiro looked genuinely troubled.

She had been angry.

I had been angry, too, but now that my best friend Hatsune was angry, I needed to be the calm one.

That’s the look she was giving me.

Don’t worry, Chihiro. My anger is just an act to help you calm down.

“…You said you were summoned. Were you planning on going to the student council alone, Chihiro?”

“That was the plan.”

I stopped Chihiro in her tracks.

“That’s not a good idea. If they try to overwhelm you with numbers, it’ll be tough, even for you, Chihiro.”

“Yeah. I think so, too. I’m sorry, Hatsune, but…”

“Of course, I’ll go with you.”