Somewhere in the bustling city of Tokyo, drinking black coffee while going over his phone, a man was wearing a long-sleeved beige shirt and black slim jean.
The sleeves were rolled to the elbows showing the muscle definition of his forearm. It definitely confirmed that the man exercises his arms on a daily basis.
The face of the man could easily be judged as handsome if people take Japan's beauty standard into consideration.
Alas, not many customers were here in the café to appreciate the man's handsome face.
It was too late at night and even in the ever-busy city of Tokyo, people would be least likely to visit a café at this hour. But the man did not seem to care about the absence of people since he wanted this empty space.
He was fiddling around with his smartphone as he went over some information on some individuals.
Scrolling down on his smartphone, his eyes fell on a good amount of information. He scrolled up and did the same thing over and over again until he sighed.
To reduce his fatigue, he took 2 sips of coffee that he ordered. In the end, he turned off his smartphone and put it in his pocket.
He observed his surrounding silently. Only one waiter and what seems to be the manager of the café was standing behind a wooden stall.
He finished the coffee and left money on the table he sat to. Exiting the establishment with an apathetic expression, he began mumbling to himself as he walked down the streets.
"Zaizen-sama is a freaking lunatic....."
Approaching a bus stop and waiting for the last bus, he took the time to contemplate on the pieces of information that he went over at the café.
There was only him at the bus stop so he muttered what he thought.
"Every single one of them are either sociopaths or psychopaths."
He scoffed as he smiled helplessly and ruminated on what he just blurted out.
"Ha....That does not even make a difference. In the end, they are all twisted in the head."
The bus arrived and he went in. Sitting near the window as the lit city of Tokyo passed by his view, he took out his phone again.
He yet again went over the same information that he previously covered. But this time, he slowly scrolled through the data he read.
"And I am supposed to persuade them?"
The mumbling continued but no one took an interest, or even heard of what he said. It was because as seen previously at the café, the same atmosphere was here on the bus. No one in particular was present, except for the bus driver.
After a moment, he equipped a tired expression then scoffed again.
"Well, who should I 'recruit' first?"
As his hands stopped moving, his eyes were glued on his phone's screen. The indifferent stare did not budge from the small screen.
It took him about a few minutes to avert his sight and look outside through the window.
It seemed like he has made up his mind as he announced in a low voice about his move.
"I guess I'm going to randomly choose who to begin with."
....
"Senpai."
"Harue-senpai."
Two boys entered a spacious foom filled with people wearing a patient's attire. It was obvious that they are in a hospital. They called out to a particular boy so as to catch his attention.
He was busy doing something, that was the reason the 2 boys uttered his name for Harue to look in their direction.
Harue was sitting on the edge of the bed. He was stitching some cloth with amazing speed and marvellous precision. His handwork was neat and beautiful and it was obvious that Harue was engrossed into what he was doing.
He was interrupted by 2 boys who wore the same school blazers which had the emblem of Fujiidera High School, the school Harue go to.
The instant Harue knew who came today, his face enlightened more with joy compared to the day before.
"Daisuke-kun! Seita-kun!"
To Harue's calling the 2 boys walked near him and bowed slightly. They were the other club members of the drama club. He dropped all the materials and tools that he had in his hands, on top of a little desk nearby.
"My two little Kouhais!"
The two of them were tall, taller than Harue who was a 3rd year. In the first place, it is Harue's height that was peculiar. Most 2nd year students are taller than Harue and he himself did not like that fact.
During any first encounter, Harue would be labelled as an equal if an underclassman was addressing to him. He or she would not address Harue as 'Senpai' but as their same age.
Hishimi is an example of that. She does know that Harue is older than her, regardless, she addresses him as he is the same year as her.
But this was different from Seita and Daisuke.
When those two first met Harue in the drama club, the word Senpai came out of their mouth and that sold Harue. He treated them better than others.
Not that Harue treated the other member less but he comforted and stick to those two even more than others.
But little does Harue know that Seita and Daisuke were informed about Harue's age before getting to know him. All because Paro, the President of the Drama Club, spoke with those two.
Seita and Daisuke went along with it as they enjoyed getting Harue's help.
"Are you better now Senpai?"
"Never been so better since I have seen you both."
""Hahahaha...""
Those two laughed heartily.
But deep in their minds, there was always this thought that flashed their mind whenever Harue talked with them.
'If Harue-senpai was a girl, I would have fell in love with her."
Those two kept it as a secret but, whenever Harue spoke some lines that would make boys fluster if he was a girl, then they would twitch upon it and endure the cuteness he emitted.
Nevertheless, they continued conversing normally. Seita sat on the edge of the bed beside Harue, and Daisuke sat on a stool in front of Harue.
"I heard you were trying to entice some freshmen into the club. Well? Did it work?"
"No. We are still trying. Today it is Paro-Senpai's and the other's turn to do it."
The one replying to Harue was Seita.
Itsuki Seita was this dashing and elegant 174 cm boy that was popular with the girls and boys at school. We could say that he was like Kouki but the difference is that Kouki is a perverted boy.
He is also the Vice-President of the Drama Club. He is a hard worker, has good grades and above all, he is ambitious.
While we were discussing the topic of the recruitment of freshmen, Daisuke was looking a slight more sad.
"What happened Daisuke-kun?" Harue enquired, noticing his weak gaze.
"Ah, it's nothing Harue-senpai."
He brightened his face in response to Harue, hiding his true feelings.
Harue, who detected and caught up on what is going with Daisuke's odd behaviour, he somehow could know what was the problem. He remembered what Paro said to him yesterday.
Paro thought that Daisuke's face would be a problem in recruiting the freshmen. Harue guessed that something must have happened of that sort.
He brought both his hand and pinched Daisuke's cheeks. He pulled them apart which resulted in him showing all his teeth forcefully.
Seita and Daisuke were surprised by Harue's action.
Seita watched Daisuke's distorted face and started chuckling as he saw such a comical scene.
"Whaw awe wou woin Hawue-Swenwai!?"
"Pfft!!"
Harue was grinning cutely as he continued playing with Daisuke's cheek. He used different ways to stretch his cheeks which further encourage Seita to laugh more openly.
Daisuke felt abashed and quickly grabbed Harue's hand to stop his atrocity.
"Harue-senpai! Why are you doing this!"
Daisuke's ears turned red from the embarrassment he was feeling. The nearby patients and a nurse who was passing by witnessed the playful duo.
The nurse suppressed her laugh and just smiled at them. The patients did not just silently watch the funny scene. Their laughter slipped in Daisuke's already red ears.
Seita's eyes were moist due to the amount of amusing time that he experienced which involved Daisuke.
"C'mon. Cheer up Daisuke-kun. You have such a cute face too. It will go to waste if your visage adopts a sad expression."
Daisuke retorted to Harue in his mind. He was blushing because other people saw his shameful act.
But, he did not ignore Harue's attempt of encouragement. He expressed his gratitude towards his Senpai.
"Thank you for trying to cheer me up, Harue-senpai."
"It's nothing Daisuke-kun. So? What exactly happened?"
Harue questioned for Daisuke's saddened face which did not go undetected by Harue.
"Many of the freshmen....they did not even consider checking this club out since I was.....present there."
"Ah, I get them. You are too handsome for their likes so the first time those freshmen got to see such a fine-looking boy, you were unapproachable."
Harue put his hand on Daisuke's shoulder and put on a face that seemed like he comprehended the situation perfectly.
"I understand how they felt because I too was entranced by your handsomeness."
"The feeling is mutual, Senpai." Seita too joined in on cheering up Daisuke.
Daisuke had a worried and confused stare.
"You two should stop averting from reality."
"Huh? It's the truth though?"
He had a satisfied look that was happy with what was happening right now. He gently took Harue's hand off his shoulder and stared at him with a bit of a sorrowful gaze again.
"No matter what, people will always misunderstand me."
Seita could not contain his sympathy and tried to stray from this topic. But as he glanced at Harue, he saw that he was still maintaining his gentle smile.
So he aborted his mission from 'changing the flow of the conversation' to 'wait'.
Seita knew that his Senpai would not back down from this topic if he is not thinking about drifting away from this sensitive subject.
"Daisuke-kun, why don't you look on the opposite side of the matter."
Seeing that Harue has not given up, Daisuke stared at him, himself expecting for something that he wanted to hear.
"What do you mean Harue-senpai?"
"You said that no freshmen got recruited and the cause was you, or your face to be precise. That's why you were getting all sullen?"
"....Yes."
"Then, I say that I am glad that no one got into our Drama Club just because of that reason. In fact, you could say that you helped the Drama Club."
"...Huh? Senpai....Why are you saying this?"
Seita too was confused about what Harue was blabbering. He was scared that Harue was further dropping Daisuke into a pool of sadness, but then he confidently stated.
"We don't need people who judge other people based on only outer appearances."
That put Daisuke entranced by Harue's direct yet beautiful message.
"Earlier, when I said that you also got me bewitched by your handsomeness, I was not talking about your face, but about your heart. Your heart should be the one which is charming and pleasing, not your face."
That was the last push that fade away any hint of sadness that was still laying on Daisuke's face and mind.
He looked down with satisfaction but suddenly he felt like something was flawed about Harue's thinking. He reinstated his sights to him as he asked,
"Are you not denying the fact that I do have a scary face?"
To which Harue simply said,
"Do not worry about the details. You just have to work on your smile and then things will be completely alright."
".....Okay?"
They wrapped up the matter with Daisuke being greatly alleviated of the sorrows he was burdened with.
Daisuke could not thank Harue for what he has done to help him mentally. As he was about to voice out his gratitude, Harue suddenly turned ghastly.
He immediately covered his mouth and exclaimed to his two kouhais with a muffled voice.
"Take me to the toilet!"
Both of them knew something was wrong and acted straight away. As Harue still felt pain in his left knee, he needed support to walk. Daisuke and Seita hurriedly took him to the toilet which was really close to them.
Upon arriving, those two boys released their support. Harue hastily got on his knees, while being careful of his injury, and vomited inside the toilet vase.
The noises that Harue made deeply concerned Seita and Daisuke.
"A-Are you okay Senpai?" Seita asked worriedly.
".....Haa....It's okay...Thank you for your help. It is just the side effect of the concussion..." Exhausted, Harue reassured them.
Harue got up and washed his mouth with water. He dried all the moisture remaining in his face with a tissue and turned towards his anxious Kouhais.
He flashed them a smile and energetically said,
"Shall we go back?"
....
"Ah! It is the cute Onii-san!"
A 13-year-old boy exclaimed as he saw Harue who was about to enter his house. A week has gone by since the day Harue first got admitted.
Fortunately, no complications popped up during this period of time. It is after all just a minor concussion and the Harue and the others were relieved.
"Hello Miyauchi-kun. How are you?"
"I'm fine Onii-san! And you?"
"I'm also fine."
"Onee-san, good afternoon!"
The little boy looked in the direction of Kana as he said that. Kana accompanied Harue from the hospital to come home in case something happened to Harue. Akane had work so she was not available.
It is in the afternoon so they were both returning home. The reason that Kana was not busy was because she said that she is not in any club. That worried Harue.
Miyauchi stared at Kana who indifferently glanced at him.
She greeted the boy apathetically and proceeded to enter her house.
"I see that Onee-san is boring as always."
"It's not like that Miyauchi-kun. She is in her rebellious phase."
"Rebellious phase?"
"Ah, I see that you do not know the term. Don't worry, in a few years, your mother will point that out to you."
".....Okay."
Miyauchi was confused but he simply agreed to what Harue said.
Miyauchi lives next door to the Fukuyama Household so they meet frequently. His mother is really on good terms with Akane and so is Harue and Kana.
"Now that I think of it, it is quite far for you to understand that phase since you are 10 years old. You have to wait for 6 to 7 years now."
Miyauchi, upon hearing what Harue said, retorted him loudly as he tried to correct his sentence.
"I'm about to turn 14!! 14!! Tomorrow too!!!
"Ah....You are still a kid."
"Damn you Onii-san!! You look like one too!!"
Harue liked to tease so he continued playing around with Miyauchi. He was going to be a hot-blooded high school if he continues to behave like that.
Harue finally decided that he wanted to rest from all the fatigue he had. He greeted off the young teenager as he is still pissed at all the mocking.
He opened the door to his house and as soon as he entered,
"What the hell is this disaster!!!??!?"
Shirts, skirts, T-shirts, school uniforms, suits, panties, bras, towels and all types of other clothing were scattered all around this place.
Kana was drinking a glass of milk near the refrigerator. Harue looked at Kana with a disdainful stare. She averted her sight and went to her room.
He sighed exasperatingly. He rubbed his head lightly and decided at that moment. He slapped both his cheeks and energetically sprouted.
"Rest can wait. Let's get to work!"
He took off his shoes and entered the battlefield of uncleanliness. On that day, Akane and Kana received an earful from an angry Harue.
The Fukuyama Household again returned to normal.
But the sinister events that have been happening during the week that Harue was admitted, would spring chaos into the world.