Ch.428IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (125)

In my previous life and in this one, I’ve never been particularly fond of after-school activities.

In middle school, there were club activities I could have joined if I wanted to. I probably could have found friends to participate with if I’d looked.

But sometimes I had other things to do after school, and I didn’t like having to explain myself to the other kids every time.

In a way, maybe it was a bit bothersome. Staying at school even after classes ended.

In middle school, the school was nearby anyway, and almost all the students lived within walking distance. It was probably natural since the school itself wasn’t one you had to study extremely hard to get into—it was closer to average.

But here, the story is a bit different.

I wouldn’t say it’s very far, but it’s far enough to be somewhat inconvenient to commute. After all, I have to take the train to get there.

If I go to a friend’s house and stay late, it becomes awkward to return home, and conversely, if friends come to my house, wouldn’t that be a waste of time in its own way? They’d be spending time on the train coming over.

So what I came up with was to find a sort of hideout at school where I could stay for longer periods.

Ideally, a club activity that wouldn’t pry too much if I skipped occasionally and that didn’t have particularly active activities normally. Surely I could find something like that if I looked?

Well, I was planning to join a club activity when I entered high school anyway. The kind of club I was considering was something like the literature club where I wouldn’t have to move around much.

“Club activities?”

When Yuka heard my story, she initially responded as if it was a bit absurd.

But within less than 10 seconds, her expression quickly became quite serious.

Yuka had never done such activities before.

She hadn’t even properly attended a single school all the way through, let alone joined club activities.

Both in the original work and here, Yuka had a longing for normal school life. I thought she would react this way if I brought it up.

“Do you have any idea where you want to join?”

“…I’m still thinking about it.”

I answered vaguely.

The real purpose was ultimately to secure a place where it wouldn’t matter much if we stayed late at school to hang out.

But I didn’t want to be too honest about that with these kids. Even though I’ve spent my whole life in this world and have developed a somewhat high school-like way of thinking, or rather, because of that, I felt a bit embarrassed.

If I specifically mentioned the literature club from the start, they might ask why I chose it.

Not because there’s anything wrong with the literature club, but because I’ve never been particularly immersed in books before. I liked reading well enough, but only about average for people in this era.

If smartphones and all kinds of streaming sites had developed like in the 2020s, I probably would have just spent time on those instead.

“Oh, really?”

Yuka didn’t press further.

“Well, let me know if you find a club you want to join.”

That’s all Yuka said.

It was clearly an indication that she wanted to join too.

She doesn’t even get embarrassed saying these things anymore.

Seeing how Yuka had grown, I felt strangely proud, even though it wasn’t my doing.

“…What?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

Yuka seemed to sense my feelings from my gaze and asked somewhat accusingly, but I shook my head.

That feeling was also difficult to explain in words.

*

I was planning to visit the literature club, but no matter what, barging in as a group from the start might be inconsiderate.

I thought it would be easy to approach, but they might be quite serious about literature, right?

So first, as soon as the homeroom ended, I went with Koko, just the two of us.

Today, it would have been fine to go home first, but since everyone said they’d wait in front of the school, we decided to just quickly check the atmosphere, say hello, and leave.

“…”

With that in mind, when I actually stood in front of the door, I felt a bit nervous.

Until now, I’d only hung out with peers, but there would surely be seniors in the club.

It’s a bit strange that I’m thinking this way even after getting into a fight in the bathroom recently.

“Kotone?”

“Yeah, I’ll go in now.”

I gave a slight wry smile to Koko, who was tilting her head beside me, and raised my hand.

And before I could knock on the literature club room—

“Aah!?”

I was startled by someone shouting loudly from the end of the corridor.

“Whoa?”

The same was true for Koko.

We both looked in the direction of the sound at the same time.

At the end stood, well, someone who looked incredibly active.

Among my friends, Harumi had the most energetic impression, but even Harumi didn’t overtly look like the athletic type. She preferred dressing up, so her skin tone seemed more like a fashion element.

But the person at the end of the corridor was a bit different.

Short hair, no signs of dressing up. While Harumi made me wonder if she had deliberately tanned, this person looked like they had genuinely spent time running around outside under the blazing sun.

So I was a bit puzzled.

Sports clubs generally receive good treatment. Popular and successful clubs had their rooms on the lower floor of the newly built wing, and even less popular ones had rooms on the lower floor of the old wing, so they wouldn’t need to climb all the way to the 4th floor while drenched in sweat.

The clubs gathered on the 4th floor of the old wing were mostly either not very popular or didn’t require much physical movement. …I suppose those two reasons might often overlap.

Anyway, the person who had shouted energetically from the end of the corridor upon seeing us literally charged toward us.

Screech.

Strangely braking on the floor with indoor shoes, that person looked at both of us alternately with incredibly sparkling eyes.

“Um, hello…?”

“Hi!”

When I felt I should say something, they responded with a bright smile.

“Hey, hey, I’m curious, are you two twins?”

Hmm.

Many people are surprised to learn that we’re twins. Teachers are surprised, school kids are surprised, and above all, even passersby sometimes turn to look at us.

But it’s rare for someone to ask so excitedly and directly.

“Yes, we’re twins…”

Are they not in our grade?

I’m somewhat famous. There was also that fight in the bathroom recently.

After that, there were a few kids who stopped approaching us, but it wasn’t a big problem for now.

“Wow…!”

Their eyes sparkled even more as they looked at us.

“Hey, hey, can you two use telepathy or something?”

“…”

Hmm.

How should I answer?

They look so incredibly expectant, should I say we can…?

But before we could continue the conversation, the sliding door beside us opened with a drrrk sound. It seemed not very well maintained, as the opening sound was a bit rattly.

“…Kaoru.”

The person standing beyond the sliding door had much paler skin compared to this person called Kaoru.

That is, they gave the impression of someone who extremely dislikes going outside. They wore thick glasses on their face, and their hair was parted and braided on both sides, giving the exact image of a literary girl. Yes, anyone would see this person as belonging to the literature club. Or maybe a library committee member. If not, I’d feel betrayed.

“What are you doing to the literature club’s visitors right now?”

“Huh? I wasn’t going in or anything?”

“No, I was listening to the footsteps, you know? They clearly stopped in front of this door. And they hesitated for a moment.”

“Wow, what? Were you secretly listening to sounds from outside the door? Izumi, that’s creepy.”

So this person’s name is Izumi.

In this case, whether it’s because she’s annoyed by this Kaoru person or simply because she has no prejudice, she doesn’t seem particularly surprised to see the two of us.

“Who’s creepy? The content of the books you always read is much creepier.”

“If the occult is creepy, then all religious people are creepy?”

“…Don’t put occult and religion on the same level…”

Izumi pressed her forehead with her hand as if she had a headache.

Then, with her eyes closed, she took a deep breath, exhaled lightly, and looked in our direction.

“Um, are you first-years who want to visit the literature club—”

But those words didn’t continue to the end.

Izumi looked back and forth between Koko and me standing side by side, and slightly opened her mouth.

“Oh, are you two twins?”

We’ve been standing here the whole time.

So she really didn’t see us.

I couldn’t see any other club members inside the literature club room yet. Or maybe there aren’t any members?

“Ah, no, what am I thinking.”

Seeing me tilt my head, Izumi brushed her hair up.

“…I’m Izumi Ikeda, the president of the literature club. I’m a second-year. Did you come to see what kind of club the literature club is?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Good. We always welcome new students.”

Izumi seemed to be trying to appear somewhat senior-like.

As the two of us followed Izumi inside, Kaoru also entered along with us very naturally.

Since Izumi didn’t say anything special, is this person perhaps also in the literature club?

“Hey, how about the occult club instead of the literature club? We’re actively recruiting members.”

“Ka-o-ru!”

Hmm.

Apparently not.