"I-Is this t-the Literature.....Club?"
The boy shyly asked us as the girl beside her waited for him. I knew that girl because Brother claimed that she is his first friend in here.
Fujimoto Aki...was it?
The other club members were certainly not happy at their presence, especially with that girl.
"Yes, and who might you be?"
Since no one responded to the boy's question, I took the initiative which bewildered the others.
"Ah y-yes, my name i-is Ki-Kinoshita Ken..."
"Kinoshita...Okay, my name is Kaburagi Reika. Nice to meet you."
I retained his name as I displayed an etiquette by slightly bowing. Kinoshita too made a bow but lower than mine.
"N-Nice to meet you t-too."
I guess he was just nervous meeting with new people. Is he the anti-social type? Well, I did not continue the conversation since I was just a member of this club.
So I glanced at the President for this Literature Club. A third-year girl who snapped out of the astonishment she received and caught on to what my glance meant.
She had a black bob hairstyle which went well with her chubby cheeks. She was a bit taller than me.
She adjusted her black-rimmed glasses and spoke with respect despite knowing that Kinoshita boy is affiliated with the delinquent girl Fujimoto Aki.
"Hello, my name is Fuwa Hijiri. The President of the Literature Club."
She bowed slightly, just like a replica of what I did moments ago.
"H-Hello to you too. My name is Ki-Kinoshita...Ken."
The nervousness crept in Kinoshita's voice and Fuwa grasped his personality a bit with this small introduction.
The girl beside Kinoshita tapped him on his back and whispered something in his ear. Then she proceeded to exit this room.
"Sorry for intruding."
Fujimoto slid open the door behind her and closed it, leaving Kinoshita on his own to deal with us.
Fuwa, the Club's President, started the conversation as it was her authority to do so.
"So Kinoshita, do you need anything from us?"
"Ah yes..... I wish to j-join the Literature Club."
"...This late?"
I also found it strange that he would try to join a club this late. There must have been something that compelled him to do such action.
Fuwa-senpai also had the same doubt. She asked for the cause.
"Kinoshita, why do you want to join this club? That too at this time?"
Kinoshita, a bit flustered by the question, decided to divulge the reason. He stuttered as he embarrassingly replied to us all.
"I-It is a bit of a.....selfish reason. Umm..... it was to stop people from having the intention to persuade me to join....their club."
"Huh?"
Fuwa-senpai was appalled and disappointed at Kinoshita's answer to his question.
I did not think that he was lying so I believed him to some extent. But still, joining a club for the sole reason of obstructing other people to make him join a club...
Listening to the cause, it was quite harsh for me. I don't know about the other members but I was certainly disappointed and hurt.
"...Y-Yes, there was quite a number that tried to recruit me but I do not want to enlist in a club. So i-"
"So you thought of going into a club that does particularly nothing to halt the recruiter's persistence..... Am I right?"
The one who intervened with a slight furious tone was the sole boy member of this club.
Matsuoka Takeo. That was his name.
He is a second-year, an upperclassman of mine who I was with good terms. Even though he had a decent looking face, he was quite nerdy in his behaviours.
Out of all of the four members here, I understood that he was the one who loved reading books the most.
Is it wrong that I thought he would be the type that would play around with women?
After all, he had this air surrounding him as if he would woo any girl approaching him.
But no. After conversing with him, the assumptions that I had were completely shut down. His personality was entirely different, far away from what I envisioned.
He loves books and if someone berates his hobby, then he will get angry, that's why this scene was unfolding.
"...Yes, that....is right."
Matsuoka-senpai turned his sight away from Kinoshita as he was disgusted by him.
"Worthless."
".....Eh?"
Kinoshita was genuinely confused by Matsuoka-senpai. He returned back to reading a book that he was previously holding in his hands.
Another girl beside Matsuoka-senpai was worried about both of their interactions. So she frantically looked at the boys with concerned gazes.
She is Oshiro Misumi. Another second year.
From when we talked, I could conclude that she was the timid type, even with people who were close to her. But there was an exception which applied to Matsuoka-senpai.
Oshiro-senpai is the childhood friend of Matsuoka-senpai, which explains the lack of shyness when she would talk to him.
Well, she is pretty beautiful and on top of that, she is smart. If her socializing skills would improve then I'm sure that she would be popular in the school.
"By the way, just to make myself clear. I'm against it." Matsuoka-senpai nonchalantly declared to the other members.
Oshiro-senpai beside Matsuoka-senpai reluctantly nodded alongside his announcement.
We were silent and Kinoshita felt awkward as he stared at all of us. Fuwa-senpai coughed and made Kinoshita's sight retract to her.
"Well Kinoshita, I'm sorry but it seems that the majority here does not accept your participation in our club."
"...Eh...?"
Kinoshita did not want to hear this type of answer so he made a last push.
"...B-But, I can help you. From what I have heard, this club is lacking members. I can f-fill in the missing spot."
A tad bit of anxiousness slipped in his voice but the assertion he sprouted were indeed true.
For a club to receive funds and stray from the path of disbandment, there need to be at least 5 members and a teacher who would take on the role of an advisor.
With me as an addition to this club, currently, there are already 4 members.
Fuwa-senpai told me that last year, they were not in a dire state but when her seniors graduated, there were now fewer members.
I wonder how the others would react to Kinoshita's attempt to help the club.
Matsuoka-senpai was the one who replied to him.
"So you want us to accept you for namesake? What a bloody joke." He continued to antagonise Kinoshita.
Fuwa-senpai beckoned Matsuoka-senpai to keep his calm. He agreed to but to an extent. Oshiro-senpai was cooperating with Fuwa-senpai to keep him in tab.
"You are well-informed Kinoshita. It is true that we are having trouble with the number of members."
Kinoshita's face sparkled slightly as he liked the way the conversation diverted to.
After much pondering and silence between us, Fuwa-senpai made her decision. I looked at her opened her mouth and announced.
"Okay, I'll accept you."
Kinoshita wore a happy face as his eyes twinkled and the smile he had was unforgettable in his own ways.
Hearing Fuwa-senpai's decision, I was also happy. If I see it like this, Kinoshita is close to that Fujimoto girl. And Fujimoto is close to my brother. So to speak, Kinoshita also must be close with Brother, right?.
Whenever I have the opportunity to see Brother at school far away, I always see those two stuck with him as they chatted.
I might know what Brother has been up to through Kinoshita.
"What? Fuwa-senpai, what the hell!?"
Matsuoka-senpai's outburst did not faze Fuwa-senpai. She calmly looked over Matsuoka-senpai.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"Of course! Why let him join us?"
"As Kinoshita said, we are really lacking one member. He wished to help us and I don't see any problems with that. Do you?"
"Yes! I admit that we are struggling but that doesn't mean we have to accept whoever we want! Especially someone who is associated with those two first-year thugs."
Matsuoka-senpai was not afraid to state the bitter facts about Kinoshita. He stayed silent as the two upperclassmen argued.
Oshiro-senpai was fidgeting scarily as she was frightened by how Matsuoka-senpai was rambling on and on against Kinoshita.
"So what are you implying? Do you think that Kinoshita is ill-mannered and violent just because he is close to Fujimoto Aki and Kaburagi Tenma?"
"Not only that, but he also came here for his own selfish reason and he is shamelessly coating it with a supposed aid to us."
From our perspective, what Matsuoka-senpai said was exactly what we felt. Fuwa-senpai felt like that too but I don't know why she would accept Kinoshita despite that.
"But it does not change the fact that we're still lacking a member. Do you really want me to dissolve this club?"
"No, but.....It should be someone else. Anyone but him."
"Why?"
"I'm sure that someone like him does not even glance at a book."
Kinoshita felt anguished at the way Matsuoka-senpai thought of him. I could easily discern what is going through his head, after all, he expressed his emotion on his face.
Right now, he had a concerned gaze and a wry smile to back up the awkward atmosphere he emitted.
"Um.....Sorry to interrupt but.....I like books."
Kinoshita broke the discussion between Fuwa-senpai and Matsuoka-senpai as he added an important factor about himself. But the way Kinoshita retorted was weird.
I guessed he could not contain himself due to Matsuoka-senpai misjudging him.
"Unbelievable."
Matsuoka-senpai scoffed as he did not believe a single word that came out of Kinoshita's mouth. Kinoshita was left in disbelief.
I saw this as an occasion and stepped in to help out Kinoshita. I don't know if what I'm about to say will be to his advantage or not but it will be up to Kinoshita.
"Then why don't you test him Matsuoka-senpai?"
He glanced at me and as if he was disgusted at me, spoke.
"So you also support that prick?"
I did not back down from his ferocious glare. Matsuoka-senpai did not distinguish on who to act so antagonistically.
If a girl, boy, old granny, old woman or a grown-up man insults his books, he will indiscriminately lash out on that person.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Test him, Matsuoka."
Fuwa-senpai backed me up. She really liked this approach so she did not reproach me.
Matsuoka-senpai glowered at both me and Fuwa-senpai. Then finally, he looked at Kinoshita properly this time as he observed his figure.
With arrogance, Matsuoka-senpai fired a difficult question right off the bat.
"Harper Lee is one of the most influential authors in the world. What book did he write?"
That caught Kinoshita off guard. He was silent and pondered on the question.
That was not fair.
Matsuoka-senpai read a lot of English books because they were interesting and dynamic.
There were few English books in here so there were not that much who were read it, except Matsuoka-senpai.
Kinoshita was taking his time and Matsuoka-senpai scoffed again.
"See? He-"
"'To Kill a Mocking Bird.' Published in 1960. It focuses on racial discrimination in America. It is really popular there."
I was shocked. The others were also appalled but Matsuoka-senpai was the most affected.
"It's been a while since I read it so.....it took me some time to remember it."
Kinoshita wryly smiled as he scratched the back of his head.
Matsuoka-senpai retaliated by asking another question quickly.
"'The Great Gatsby' is-!"
"Published in 1925. American Author by the name of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, wrote it. The story concentrates on idealism and resistance to social upheaval. Considered one of the greatest novels of all time."
Kinoshita's demeanour change as his confidence lingered in his tone which left Matsuoka-senpai in a daze.
Kinoshita continued speaking.
"Incidentally, my favourite book is a Japanese one. Published in 1914, Written by Natsume Sõseki, Kokoro. It explores the transformation of Japan's Meiji Society to the Modern Era."
We were silent as we all listened to him.
"It also concentrates on friendships, roles of women and...family..."
Kinoshita's smile was gentler as he uttered the word 'family'.
He stopped speaking as he now embarrassingly stared at all of the members of the Literature Club, including myself.
After moments of silence, Fuwa-Senpai announced.
"Does anyone have any objections?"
Matsuoka-senpai did not say anything and looked the other way. Oshiro-senpai moved her head frantically as she signalled that she was not against it.
I silently nodded towards Fuwa-senpai's direction.
She declared.
"I do have one condition though."
That caught me off guard.