Minami Yuuki returned the origami crane to his apartment and hurried to school.
It was already late, and he hadn't met Ibuki Yuko. He entered the school with the last group of students and just made it into the classroom before the bell rang.
The day's lessons were dull. There were no young, beautiful teachers like those in movies and anime. Amid the drowsy drone of lectures, Minami Yuuki pondered how to approach Ichinose Shiori and Ibuki Yuko to ask them to fold him a thousand origami cranes.
Both girls had somewhat troublesome personalities. Ibuki Yuko lacked emotions, while Ichinose Shiori intentionally kept others at a distance. Moreover, neither could be captivated merely by looks.
Approaching them might be simple enough, given Minami Yuuki had gathered some information about them in the previous life simulation. The challenge lay in establishing a stable relationship with them in reality.
This relationship wasn't just about emotional connection but about material presence.
Spiritual bonds relied on material existence, and only with a stable real-world connection could their spirits remain intertwined.
Otherwise, it would end like a long-distance relationship, with fading feelings and inevitable separation.
In his relationship with Asano Nao, Minami Yuuki was a frequent guest at her home, always appearing at meal times.
In his simulation of Ibuki Yuko's life, Minami Yuuki had initially asked the girl to be his tutor, then he became a coercive figure in her life, but eventually, they drifted apart, and Minami Yuuki became Ichinose Shiori's confidant.
Now, he needed to establish a new, stable relationship with both girls in reality.
Ibuki Yuko could be approached through her mother, but as for Ichinose Shiori...
Minami Yuuki thought long and hard until unexpectedly gaining a clue during a conversation with the homeroom teacher.
During lunch break, Minami Yuuki finished eating his bento with Chitose Kazumi and responded to a broadcast call.
He packed up his bento box and headed to the teacher's office.
"South, over here!" The homeroom teacher waved him over.
He was a man in his thirties, somewhat handsome but scruffy, with an unkempt beard.
Deep in his memory, Minami Yuuki recalled the man's name: Nakajima Yohei.
Walking past rows of desks, he approached Nakajima Yohei.
Their conversation unexpectedly hit a snag when several female teachers were drawn to Minami Yuuki's appearance and struck up conversations with him.
After asking some not-too-intrusive questions, they ran out of topics and turned their attention to Nakajima Yohei, questioning why he had brought such a well-behaved student to the office, clearly intending to defend Minami Yuuki.
Nakajima Yohei nervously dealt with them and asked Minami Yuuki to leave the office.
"You really are a troublesome guy," Nakajima Yohei sighed in a quiet corner of the hallway.
"I think the problem lies with you, teacher," Minami Yuuki quipped, suggesting that the conversation shouldn't have happened around those women who were overflowing with sympathy yet lacking in life's pleasures.
"Alright," Nakajima Yohei ran his hand through his hair, "to cut to the chase, you still haven't joined any clubs, have you? You should have known before you enrolled that all students here are required to join one. Of course, you can find a club that doesn't require much participation."
"I've already joined the 'Homecoming Club,' where our daily activity is to go home as soon as school ends," Minami Yuuki interjected jokingly.
"On the list of the 'Homecoming Club,' I didn't see your name," Nakajima Yohei replied flatly, not picking up on Minami Yuuki's humor.
"There really is a 'Homecoming Club'?" Minami Yuuki was surprised.
"There is indeed one."
"Isn't that name provoking the school? When will they round up the club members and order them to disband? Their weak point is their parents; as long as they say they will inform their parents, they will obediently obey."
"It's not that serious, and besides, the school has no way to deal with this club."
The only person who can make the school powerless is her, right?
"Is it the club that Ichinose founded?" He asked.
Nakajima Yohei looked surprised, and his messy appearance finally disappeared: "How do you know that club is related to Ichinose? However, she is not the founder, just a member of the club."
"I've decided to join the Homecoming Club," Minami Yuuki declared.
"Huh? Do you think you can just join because you want to? You need the club's approval, which means approval from Ichinose. If you just want to appease the school, joining the Go Club or the Chess Club would suffice. Both are ghost clubs," Nakajima Yohei warned, not directly addressing Minami Yuuki's statement but implying the challenges ahead.
"Teacher, do you have an application form for joining?" Minami Yuuki didn't directly respond to Nakajima Yohei but subtly expressed his determination.
"Ichinose won't agree," Nakajima Yohei discouraged him again.
"That's okay, I'll make her agree," Minami Yuuki confidently said.
Giving up on persuading him, Nakajima Yohei went to the office to get an application form and took Minami Yuuki to the laboratory building. The Homecoming Club's activity room was located inside.
"Here we are, Ichinose should be inside," Nakajima Yohei pointed to the door ahead.
Minami Yuuki knocked twice and, upon receiving permission, opened the door and walked in.
In the classroom-sized empty room, there was a leather sofa, and Ichinose Shiori was sitting on it, typing on a laptop.
"What brings you here, Minami-san?" Ichinose Shiori closed her laptop and adjusted her skirt. Her expression was flat and distant.
"I'm here to apply for membership," Minami Yuuki said, shaking the application form in his hand.
"Sorry, as you can see, this is the Homecoming Club. Because the club's name implies defiance against the school, the school administration prohibits new recruits. Even if I submit your application to the student council, it will be rejected," Ichinose Shiori explained sincerely, her logic was clear and impeccable. She used the school's decision as an excuse rather than outright refusal.
"Ichinose, you're being modest. How could the school dare reject your application?" Minami Yuuki exposed her lie.
"I don't understand what you're saying, Minami-san. How could I defy the school's decision?" Ichinose Shiori feigned confusion.
Minami Yuuki stepped forward. "Ichinose, your alarm clock in the morning is set half an hour earlier than the absolute time you need to get to school because you like hitting the snooze button. After the alarm goes off, you continue to sleep for another fifteen minutes."
Ichinose Shiori frowned.
"You're very afraid of water snakes because you were scared by your family when you were young. When you were a child, while boating on the pond in the courtyard, one of your uncles told you that water snakes would climb aboard and wrap around your legs."
"How do you know that?" Ichinose Shiori finally lost her composure, with her arms crossed and eyes sharp.
Because in the simulated life last night, you used me as a confidant and shared many of your little secrets. And I got memory fragments from the rewards in the simulated life, some of which were scenes of chatting with you.
Minami Yuuki thought to himself.
He placed the application form in front of Ichinose Shiori. "Now it's up to you to investigate, Ichinose."
"I see. A challenge, then? I accept," Ichinose Shiori took Minami Yuuki's application for membership and left the room straight away.
Her reaction was exactly as Minami Yuuki had expected. From the simulation of life, it was easy to deduce that Ichinose Shiori was a highly competitive girl with strong self-esteem.
To her, Minami Yuuki revealing her secrets while she remained unaware of how he knew them was her failure. Minami Yuuki's offer to let her investigate was like initiating a second round of competition, with the application for membership serving as the challenge letter.
So she agreed to Minami Yuuki's application for membership. Now, she should be heading to the student council to register the new club member.
Everything was going according to plan.
Minami Yuuki left the club room, glanced at Nakajima Yohei standing guard at the door, waved at him, and then left.
Nakajima Yohei watched his receding figure, then glanced in the direction Ichinose Shiori had left, his thoughts racing about the application form in her hands.
"Did he really join? Did I just get myself into a big trouble? But it should be fine. The principal won't know I leaked information about the Homecoming Club. He'll just think Ichinose is being stubborn... right?"