Chapter 14: Appearance is the Outermost Layer of the Inner Self
Even after summer break started, I've been coming to school almost every day.
Mornings are club activities, lunch in the school cafeteria, and afternoons in the film club until evening most of the time.
Sahori-senpai is coming to club again...
He meddles a lot in practice, and the new captain hates it.
My friend Koji is in the basketball club with me, but he's one of the members who almost snapped after Sahori tore into him before.
In the new team, he's all fired up to make an impact! He probably hates how Sahori's interference brings the old team's issues back.
Actually, according to the second-years, even last year Sahori-senpai was already super annoying,
If we were losing, he'd go, "Ugh, my right hand hurts..."
Even though there's no injury.
Apparently, he's got this weird chuunibyou vibe and makes the atmosphere awkward.
On the other hand, Airi-senpai hypes up the team when we're losing, and keeps us sharp when we're winning.
She always cheers us on in just the right way for the mood, and even if we're losing, the contrast between Airi-senpai's encouragement and Sahori-senpai's chuunibyou stuff is just too much,
In the basketball club,
They say, "Airi is the sun! Sahori is just a pain."
That's what everyone says.
But, even though they have more time now after retiring, there's a rumor Airi-senpai and Sahori aren't getting along.
Even when Sahori comes, he doesn't hang around her in club as much as before.
Airi-senpai has been helping us beginners with the basics, and even after she said, "You've graduated from basics!" I kept asking her about practice routines and playstyle, which made her super happy, and she was about to give me her address, saying, "You can ask me anything anytime!" but I turned her down. I told her directly she should be more careful because she lets people get too close too easily.
...Honestly, beautiful women scare me. Also, being around girls who already have boyfriends...
If it were me, even if I was a jerk, it would hurt if my girlfriend got close to other guys.
In the afternoon, in film club, Tanaka-kun said,
Tanaka: "In the end! In the end, it's people! Humans are most interested in other humans!"
He was really passionate about it. Maybe he's right.
Tanaka-kun wants to make a documentary or movie about people.
I didn't have any good ideas for a subject, so I forgot all about it.
Then, when I was about to go home and walked past the side of the school building,
"..."
That chubby girl who just got rejected yesterday?
was there.
I thought, It's better for both of us if I pretend I didn't see her!
So I walked right past.
"...Um..."
Crap. Ignore it, ignore it!
She grabbed my shoulder firmly.
"...You're also a first-year, right? Yesterday... you saw, didn't you? Could we talk for a bit?"
"...No, I'd really rather not..."
"Sorry, but, um, you see?"
The girl started talking without caring about my answer.
That was the first time I met
Yukari Tomonaga.
She asked if I saw her confession yesterday.
(Wouldn't it be more gentlemanly to pretend I didn't?)
"..."
I shook my head to deny it.
"Eh, eeeh, hueeeeh."
Tomonaga-san suddenly burst into tears!
(Ehh! What do I do?! What should I do?!)
Curious stares were stabbing into me!
I couldn't take it, so I decided to take her somewhere to hide!
Where?! Where should we go?!
Somewhere with friends or people I know!
Basketball club
Girls' basketball club
→Film club
I made a mistake.
I picked the absolute worst place.
The film club is full of quirky oddballs who are a little different from everyone else.
They're good people, but led by Tanaka-kun, it's a group of eccentric and extreme types.
She haltingly explained why she was crying.
She said that a long time ago, she was teased by the guy who rejected her, but he helped her out, and she'd liked him ever since.
Yesterday, she finally worked up the courage to confess.
He shot her down coldly, saying she wasn't his type.
And I saw it happen.
That's how it went, apparently.
What do you do when a girl is crying over heartbreak?
Tanaka: "I just had a great idea!"
"Sho said it. When someone says, 'I just had a great idea!' it's almost always a bad idea."
Tanaka: "Makes sense, Sho-kun is sharp! Maybe you're right?"
And so, Tanaka-kun's plan was this.
Tomonaga-san's revenge
That's the theme.
Kousuke will produce? and help Tomonaga-san reinvent herself!
That way, Tomonaga-san might gain something, and Kousuke-kun can overcome his discomfort with girls!
Not everyone is like Mishima-san!
Then, we'll record it and show it at the school festival!
Let's make a documentary!
Tomonaga-san, what do you think?
Who would go along with such a half-baked plan...?
Eeeeh? Tomonaga-san? You'll do it?!
Tanaka: "Okay, Kousuke-kun! I'm counting on you!"
Kousuke: "...Me...?"
Tanaka: "Of course! None of us have ever had a girlfriend! If you leave it to us, we'd create some kind of monster, you know?"
And so, I got roped into the plan to make a documentary.
This was the first step toward trouble.