Chapter 15: Producing Yukari Tomonaga
We had only just met, but Yukari Tomonaga was easily swayed.
She was quickly moved by the passionate encouragement of the film club members and declared, "I want to change!"
And right away, she signed the film club's pledge form and agreed to play the lead actress in the documentary movie.
...Taking advantage of someone when they're down...!
Tomonaga-san is a chubby girl.
She followed the refreshing handsome guy who once helped her to the same high school, confessed to him over summer break, and got completely rejected.
...I happened to pass by, and she was turned down pretty bluntly.
So, in despair, while she was grilling me about how much I saw yesterday, she ended up getting caught in the film club's clutches.
Then, come back here again tomorrow morning! Bring your tracksuit and plenty of drinks!
Tomonaga-san kept bowing her head as she went home.
The film club is a den of weirdos. Will she be okay?
I talked things over with Tanaka-kun on the way home.
Tanaka: "But you know, not every girl is like Mishima-san. ...Kousuke-kun's working really hard, but you can't just avoid girls forever, right?"
Tanaka-kun worries about me almost as much as Sho does.
But I...
Tanaka: "Hey, even Sho-kun was producing a girl who was left out in class, right? That smart girl with the long black hair!"
"...Wasn't she the sickly beauty?"
Sho looks plain, but he's a kind and straightforward guy. He's got main character vibes and has solved all sorts of problems as my best friend.
He's built up a lot of memories with the top girl in our year.
But I'm just the silent, expressionless supporting character guy.
Tanaka: "...And Kousuke-kun, you were always next to Sho-kun, right? You led the charge in the class battles at the third-year sports festival and culture festival, and helped Obata-san win!"
Back in my third year, Obata-san, the class rep, wanted to beat her rival, so she got the class fired up, and we clashed with Sho and the rival girls' team.
See the other story, "Fell in Love with the Class Rep" for the sports festival—culture festival in third year.
"...But we only won the culture festival."
Tanaka: "You still won in the end! Against your rival and best friend Sho-kun, and Kashii-san too! Kousuke-kun, you'll be fine!"
After laughing, Tanaka-kun got serious,
Tanaka: "But if you let me or the film club seniors handle it, they'd probably do something like sexual harassment or make her wear knee-high socks, so it's gotta be the gentlemanly Kousuke-kun! Stop by the clubroom before basketball practice tomorrow."
We both got off at Shinkawa Station and went home, chatting about nothing in particular.
Tanaka-kun seemed unable to hide his excitement about the long-awaited documentary project.
The next day, Hokusho High School, 8:00 am
Club practice starts at nine, so I'm here earlier than usual.
The full film club lineup was already assembled.
Girls... There are girls here... I can hear someone muttering.
Even the members who weren't there yesterday had gathered.
Yukari: "I'm Yukari Tomonaga. Nice to meet you."
""Nice to meet you!""
Did their voices just sync up?!
Tomonaga-san's self-introduction began.
"I'm in Class 1-6, from Tsukigata Junior High. I live with my parents and little sister."
Tomonaga-san answered each of the club members' questions properly.
She's a serious kid.
"Huh? ...I'm 158 centimeters tall and weigh 69 kilograms..."
Hey! Tomonaga-san looks like she's about to cry!
Club member: "We'll check the measurements later and take your stats, okay? If you fudge the numbers..."
Tomonaga-san, teary-eyed,
Yukari: "...72 kilograms..."
See? She fudged it! Hey, you!
That club member was immediately thrown out of the room, and everyone apologized.
We don't want to embarrass her—the concept is to record her transformation like a before-and-after on a TV shopping channel!
How will she change in the process?
It's up to me, Tanaka-kun, the president, and the production team to decide that.
The regular members will interview her now and document the "before."
After some discussion, the plan was set.
"Yukari Tomonaga Wants to Change"—that's the title.
Starting from Tomonaga-san's confession,
Her declaration that she wants to change.
Then... the training arc! We've been doing a lot of those lately.
First, over summer break, she'll slim down as much as possible!
After summer, we'll surprise everyone with her changed figure!
After the September sports festival, we'll finish things up by the November culture festival!
We should be able to screen it on the first day of the culture festival, so we'll wrap things up there!
And maybe she could enter the beauty contest on the second day? If the screening goes well, she might even place high!
My big sister's a hairdresser!
My cousin's a makeup artist!
My mom's a nutritionist!
So what about your own looks and fashion, huh?!
So many things to call out!
We've got a lot lined up! The biggest challenge is still the diet, though...
I plan to take her to basketball club and have her move around where I can see her.
Maybe I'll ask Nagase-san or Airi-senpai for help?
Well, we have to get her moving today, or nothing will start.
The plan is set.
First, build her confidence! Build muscle to lose weight!
Let's go, Tomonaga-san?
Tomonaga-san blushed deep red and started to sweat.
"Number of experiences?! ...I don't have any..."
Club member: "What color is your unde—"
This isn't an adult DVD! What kind of interview is that?!
Tanaka: "See? Our club members aren't bad people, but... they're weird, right?"
My smiling best friend is kind of scary.
Anyway, it's time! I'm taking Tomonaga-san to club practice.
Yukari: "..."
Tomonaga-san looks nervous,
Kousuke: "...It's okay. Everyone's nice."
I ended up saying something that could refer to either the film club or the basketball club!
As I hurried to continue,
Yukari: "Yeah, I know. Thank you."
Tomonaga-san smiled with a plump, happy face.
(What a lovely smile. She looks like she'd be a great subject.)
I headed to basketball club's practice court with Tomonaga-san.
How should I explain this?
Should I ask Airi-senpai or Nagase-san?
As I wondered who to ask, we ran into the one person I least wanted to see.
...Satsuki again...
I made a bitter face.
Satsuki looked back and forth between me and Tomonaga-san and started laughing.