Chapter 299

"Welcome, prospective students! I am Nanase Chinami, the manager of the Kendo Club. Are you enjoying the peaches?"

"Yes..."

Hmm... I wonder what Chinami wants to be in the future. Just looking at her now, I'd guess a kindergarten teacher. She has a natural talent for leading a crowd.

"Please enjoy them while you listen to us. Our Yeboni Academy Kendo Club is..."

While Chinami continued her explanation in a friendly tone, Renka jabbed my ribs with her elbow. Then, she spoke in a very quiet voice.

"Say a few words yourself once Chinami finishes."

"Why should I?"

"Just do as you're told."

"I have nothing to say."

"Just think of something nice to say. Is that so hard? Do it before I give you a penalty."

"Why are you acting up? Do you want to get in trouble?"

"..."

Flinching, Renka took a step away from me. She had been getting much cheekier in places where I couldn't openly discipline her, which was actually quite cute. Not that I was going to let her off the hook.

"Then at least crack a smile instead of making that stupid face."

"Crack a smile? Can't you ask nicely?"

"...Just smile. Not that vulgar smirk, just a gentle smile..."

"Understood."

While Renka and I bickered in barely audible whispers, Chinami finished her explanation. She turned around with a bright smile and gestured for Renka to step up to the podium.

"Now, our Kendo Club President and my close friend, Inoo Renka. Please come up here and say a few words."

"Got it. Just a moment..."

Renka nodded and stepped to the center of the podium. She cleared her throat a few times before speaking.

"The manager has already explained things well, so I'll keep this short. The members of our Kendo Club share a very deep bond. We operate on an equal footing rather than a strict hierarchy..."

An equal footing, my foot. She was the most hierarchical and authoritarian person here.

Still, having Renka speak was a solid strategy to secure the girls who were genuinely serious about Kendo. Honestly, those types probably never planned on joining any club activities other than the Kendo Club anyway, but it couldn't hurt to soften Renka's icy image even a little.

"On days without special training, we hold free sparring sessions every day under the supervision of senior members and the coach. You will see your skills improve daily. If anyone wishes to participate in tournaments, regardless of whether you are a freshman or not, we will assess your suitability through thorough interviews and add you to the roster. This is definitely not a rigid club, so please feel free to drop by."

Our Renka really shouldn't give speeches. She claimed the club wasn't rigid, but she sounded so stiff right now that she was making the audience uncomfortable. At least her sincerity seemed to be getting across.

When Renka wrapped up her explanation of the Kendo Club, Chinami glanced at me before turning to the intrigued prospective students.

"Is it our junior assistant manager's turn next? We would love to hear a few brief words from you."

Was there even an assistant manager position? That was the first I had heard of it. I figured I should just say a few words, exactly as Chinami requested.

"Understood."

Renka's face instantly soured. She had to be fuming inside, seeing me scoff at her demands while obediently complying with Chinami's. She really should have treated me better on a normal day. Hiding a smirk at her disgruntled expression, I stepped up to the podium and thought about what to say.

"Hmm..."

Since Chinami and Renka had just covered everything, I really had nothing left to add. Should I just tell them to join and call it a day? That felt a bit lacking in impact...

With a bright and bubbly manager, and a stiff but kind-hearted President, having one dependable person in the mix wouldn't be a bad idea. What could I say to fit that persona?

While I was deep in thought, I jolted when Renka lightly pinched the small of my back, silently urging me to hurry up.

"I hope you all join the Kendo Club so we can have a great time together."

That was an incredibly tame line, at least coming from me. This much should be... perfectly safe.

"I see. It seems our assistant manager plans to welcome all of you with open arms and love. Thank you for those determined words."

Chinami twisted my words to her own liking and concluded the first information session. She personally saw off the prospective freshmen, telling them to head back safely, before helping Renka and me clear the empty bowls left on the desks.

While we were setting up for the second session, I stepped outside for a moment to stretch my stiff body. Just then—

"Oh? Matsuda sunbae-nim!"

Hiyori, who had just walked out of a nearby classroom as another session ended, spotted me and called out cheerfully. Judging by the pamphlet in her hand with water drawn on it, she must have attended the Swimming Club's information session.

I'd noticed it before, but our Hiyori really had a loud voice. It perfectly captured her free-spirited nature, completely unbothered by what others thought. And seriously, how could a person be so flawlessly pretty from every angle? The more I looked at her, the more I felt like my eyes were being cleansed.

She walked over to me alongside Miho and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm running the Kendo Club information session."

"Huh? Sunbae-nim is helping out with the sessions too?"

"Yeah. I'm the mana... I mean, assistant manager."

"Oh really? You're a manager?"

"Not a manager, an assistant manager."

"Same difference. I was actually just about to head to the Kendo Club session. Can I go in?"

"Of course. Go grab some peaches."

"Peaches?"

Hiyori widened her eyes, and so did Miho. Mentioning peaches out of the blue had clearly puzzled them.

While I was trying to figure out how to explain it, Chinami stepped out, having finished setting up the second session, and was about to call me back in.

"Junior! You can come back inside... Oh?"

Spotting Hiyori and Miho standing in front of me, she practically sprinted over.

"Hello! Are you perhaps interested in the Kendo Club?"

Was Chinami a bit too overwhelming as she closed the distance in a flash with sparkling eyes? Startled, Miho replied in a timid tone.

"Huh? Yes..."

"You've come to the absolute right place! I am the Kendo Club's manager, Nanase Chinami. Why don't you come inside first and have a slice of peach?"

Brought up out of nowhere yet again, the peaches made the two girls exchange bewildered looks. When Chinami eagerly waved them inside, they looked up at me as if asking for permission. They looked exactly like suspicious victims getting cornered by a cult's street evangelist.

"Can you two just head in and wait for a moment? It'll be a bit before the next session starts."

Nodding, the two girls followed Chinami inside. They looked relieved when I gave them the green light, but maybe that was just my imagination.

In any case, it was highly unlikely that Hiyori would actually join the Kendo Club. While the atmosphere in the Club Room was relatively relaxed, martial arts inherently demanded a certain baseline of solemnity. It simply didn't suit a free spirit like her.

The hallway buzzed with noise as prospective students poured out of other clubs' concluded sessions. I was standing quietly by the back door, offering brief greetings to anyone entering the Kendo Club, when my brow furrowed at the sight of a bulky guy approaching. He was wearing a white Training Uniform and a black belt.

He was wearing a judo uniform... Was he the jerk who covered up Chinami's posters? Given that he was attending the sessions, it was highly likely. I really wanted to slap that bald head of his, but I decided to hold it in.

I ignored the Judo Club member and kept stretching, but my eyebrow twitched when he threw an explicitly confrontational comment at me as he walked past.

"Class 1-D was running the Kendo Club, right? What's your name?"

I could totally understand his sudden aggression. Just as I suspected him of covering up our posters, he likely assumed I was the one who tore theirs down.

I was technically the one who provoked this reaction. Wait, no. Wasn't that conceding a bit too much? None of this would have happened if the Judo Club and basketball club hadn't plastered over the Kendo Club's posters in the first place.

I wasn't saintly enough to just bow my head and take that kind of attitude. Keeping my chin raised, I motioned toward my pinned nametag with my eyes and spoke.

"Can't you read the nametag?"

Clearly displeased by my borderline arrogant tone, the guy scowled viciously and dropped his gaze to my nametag.

"Matsuda Ken... Wait, are you that guy? The punk who caused trouble in that circle playing yakuza?"

The stigma of that childish Superi circle was still trailing me. It couldn't be helped, but it still felt a bit unfair considering I hadn't joined the circle of my own free will. Still, having fragments of those memories brought up after so long felt somewhat novel.

I remained silent, left speechless by the sudden blast from the past. The guy scoffed and demanded, "You're the bastard who trashed our club's posters, aren't you?"

He totally knew. One wrong word and I'd probably get shoulder-thrown on the spot. Desperately hoping he wouldn't drag this out with more useless banter, I replied.

"Nope."

"Like hell you aren't... The Kendo Club has seriously lost its mind, letting trash like you in."

The Judo Club member was spitting the exact lines I had imagined. I had suspected he might, but to think he'd actually use such an outdated, cliché provocation... It wasn't even funny.

The foul-tempered, hot-headed extra from a rival sports club was a classic cliché character—one you'd honestly miss if they didn't show up. But wasn't Doki-Aka supposed to be a romantic comedy? Had the genre suddenly shifted into a sports drama with a rom-com subplot ever since I entered the Kendo tournament?

Now that I thought about it, Tetsuya had also run into a similar situation. Judging by that event alone, Doki-Aka truly was a garbage game.

If a game relying on outdated events that wouldn't even make the cut for a shōnen manga wasn't considered trash, then what was? Actually, maybe the real trash was me for playing it despite knowing all that.

What should I do here? If I tried to resolve this with violence, I'd have to worry about my affection level with Hiyori dropping, and I could even face disciplinary action for making a scene in front of the new students. But simply letting it slide after hearing all that didn't sit right with me either.

Tap. Tap.

Caught in a massive dilemma and lost in my own thoughts, I was suddenly snapped back to reality by a rather heavy sensation against my cheek. The Judo Club member was slapping my cheek with just enough force to be thoroughly insulting, a nasty smirk plastered on his face.

Acting exactly like an extra. If we went by the textbook, this would be the moment I launched a counterattack... but maybe if we had an audience it'd be worth it. However, the Judo Club member's massive bulk was completely blocking us off from the crowd, so no one was paying any attention to us.

No matter how I ran the numbers, it wasn't worth the risk. If this was an event arranged by some god, I'd have to say that our old-fashioned deity had absolutely zero sense of pacing.

"What!? What are you doing right now!!"

Having just stood there quietly taking it, my eyes lit up the moment I heard Chinami's furious voice; she had clearly just spotted what was going on. Ah, so this was one of those cliché events where Chinami and Renka would praise me for acting so mature. Finally, I felt a little more at ease.

It was a bit predictable, but Hiyori—who would be officially enrolling soon—would likely see this scene and think, Wow, that sunbae-nim has incredible patience... It might just boost my score in her heart, so it wasn't a bad setup at all. Since this event was nothing but an absolute win for me, I decided to just stand there and take it.