"Oof, tough luck kid. So what was your punishment? Did you get suspended or something?"
"Worse..."
"Worse? Don't tell me you were expelled? If so, I can go to the school and give them a piece of my mind. They shouldn't have kicked you out of school over something simple like this! I am telling you, I have done way worse stuff than this during my high school years but I still graduated just fine. You japanese are always too uptight!"
Seeing that Kyle was having a misunderstanding Tsukito felt like he had to clear it up. Also he might not have noticed but he had just insulted Tsukito's whole race of people but he still wanted to thank him.
"No, no, no. My punishment was to join the literature club..."
***
"...Excuse me?"
Tsukito thought he had heard something wrong. Why would he be forced to join a club as a punishment? Isn't getting kicked out of a club something in more line with a punishment?
Oh no!
Were they torturing people secretly in there? Maybe it was just a front for some twisted club!?
"Yes, you heard me right Ikehara-kun. You will be joining the literature club"
"...Why?"
Fine, his thoughts were silly but he still wanted to know why he was being forced to join a club.
"Okay, let me explain the situation to you a little. You see, our school used to have a prominent literature club. There were even a couple famous authors among our alumni but along with time, the quality of our members have fallen. Let alone raising famous authors, we can't even win any competitions anymore-"
Hol' up a minute!
"Sensei, if you want me to join so that I can win awards or something, I would like to refuse. I don't think I am talented when it comes to writing"
Seeing Tsukito's firm refusal Ms Endo just squinted her eyes in doubt but explained herself nonetheless.
"You don't need to sell yourself short like that Ikehara-kun. I have seen the pieces you wrote for my class assignments. Of course, they need some polishing but you definitely have talent. You can even become a light novel author and write things like 'I have become the Dungeon Lord!'. I haven't read that myself yet but I heard it was pretty popular among the kids your age-"
"Sensei, again, I would like to refuse-"
"Ikehara Tsukito-kun, need I remind you that this was a punishment? Secondly, the reason I want you to join is not because I want you to win an award or anything like that. Even though if that happens it would be a good thing, it is not the main point. You see, the current literature club is about to be abolished."
Sh*t, he had forgotten for a second there that this was not a suggestion but an order. But what did Ms Endo mean by the club being abolished?
"Can you elaborate more sensei?"
Seeing Tsukito interested in the club Ms Endo smiled like a kitten that found herself a new toy.
"That's because we don't have enough members. In order for the club to be active, they need to have at least seven active members and with the graduation of our third years, currently, we are short of members"
"So you want me to join to make up the numbers? Okay, I am alright with that as long as I don't have to do anything"
"Sorry Ikehara-kun but as long as you are a member of this club, you will have to participate in its activities. But your punishment is not just joining the club. You will also have to recruit the remaining members"
"Wait, you are telling me, even with me joining there are not seven people and I still need to rope in other students?"
"I don't like your choice of words like 'rope in'. After all, we are not some sort of a cult. But yes, you will need to recruit additional members as well"
"*Sigh* How many?"
"I am glad that you have decided to get on board. As for the number of students you will have to recruit... It's five"
"I got it I will recruit five more stu- WAIT! Are you telling me that there is only a single student aside from me in this club!"
"Unfortunately yes. So work hard young man. Your deadline is one week. If you can't find enough students to join, I will have to suspend you and that will be in your permanent record. It would definitely affect your college applications in the future so I would suggest you find a way to 'recruit' new members for our little club. Also, I am the adviser of the club so when you find a willing student, you will only need to bring them to me. I will be handling the rest. You can leave now"
"*Sigh*... Yes..."
Tsukito got up from his seat and left the teacher's lounge, like a general that was defeated in battle. He felt like he had just eaten some sh*t.
WTF!
Why did he have to 'recruit' members for a club he didn't even want to be a part of?
Also, he needed to recruit five people!? They couldn't even be ghost members as well since Ms Endo said they would have to participate in the club activities.
That meant all the second and third years would be out of the picture. I mean, if they were interested in after school activities they would have already joined a club. If they weren't that meant they were more interested in going home... like himself.
That would only leave the freshman but the club fair was still a month away. Before then, he wouldn't be able to convince any freshman to join since they would want to check other clubs and decide at the last possible minute. He didn't have that much time!
Also, who even reads paper books in this day and age where everything was digitized? The freshman would be more interested in computer games or sports clubs rather than this measly literature club.
*Sigh*
Tsukito sighed to himself again.
F*cking Haruto!
Just you wait! He was going to make sure that they would have green bell peppers for tonight's dinner.
***
"Sounds harsh kid. I guess you won't be able to frequent this place as much as before then?" Kyle said as he was finally done with the clean up of the range. He was getting ready to close up his shop as it was getting close to six o'clock.
Normally, he would close at five sharp, but on the days Tsukito would come to visit, he would prolong it by one hour.
"Yeah... Actually, I am seriously debating whether to just give up and get the suspension. I don't really want to go to college either so I don't think this suspension would affect me much"
"Don't be like that kid. It's only finding five people and you have a week ahead of you. Even if you don't want to go to college now who can speak about the future? Maybe you will want to go but will not be accepted due to this suspension. So it's always better to leave the doors open. Also, I shouldn't be saying this but you shouldn't be interested in guns so much at your age... unless you are planning on?"
"God no! I have no intention of doing such a thing. Don't even joke about it, uncle! That's a sensitive subject that can get you cancelled in this SJW age!"
"You brat! How many times have I told you to call me big brother instead? I am not old enough to be an uncle just yet"
Kyle caught Tsukito and started to give him a noogie until he tapped out.
"Tell that to your three-year-old daughter. She is already telling me that she is going to marry me in the future"
"I knew that letting you guys meet was a mistake! She will not be marrying anyone in the future. She will always be daddy's little girl!"
*BEEP*
[Sender: Aoyama Torajiro]
[Subject: U Free?]
[Hey man! Sorry for bailing on you today. So why not let me make it up to you? Me and some boys are going to hav a gathering today and there will be hot chicks everywhere! I already asked Haruto but he said he had plans with Yahiro tonight. Unless you are planning on joining them I think you should come and finally stop being a virgin lol. Anyway let's meet at the usual park at 8]