"It's finally over. Come on, Hikaru. Let's go."
"Okay."
After homeroom was over, Masachika gathered his belongings and looked up at his two best friends. As it was after school hours, the classroom was very relaxed.
"Hmm? Takeshi, you're going to band today? What happened to baseball?"
"No baseball today. The schedule's a little irregular at the moment."
"Oh."
Takeshi and Hikaru played in the band club together, but Takeshi was also in the baseball club. His reasoning was very Takeshi. It was simple and showed just what kind of pervert he was: "I' gonna do both sports and music to double my chances of becoming popular with the ladies."
"You going straight home, Masachika?"
"Yeah,I've got nothing else to do."
"You should join a club, then. You're a little late, but they'll still accept you."
"Rather not waste my time."
"Dude, you're only young once. This is your time to live."
Takeshi shook his head at his friend's laziness, then gazed up at the ceiling in an exaggerated manner.
"Clubs strengthen the bonds of friendship! The smell of mud, sweat,and tears after countless days of hard work together...and burning feelings of love as pure as the vast blue sky!"
"Friendships die due to differences in opinions... The smell of metal, blood,and tears after countless days wasted...and a burning jealousy as dark as night when the top players on the team steal all the girls for themselves."
"Quit it! Stop bringing up only the negative things! Our clubs are nothing like that!" "Yes...Friendships are fleeting."
"See?! Look what you did to Hikaru! Now he's joined the dark side!"
"Sorry, Hikaru. I shouldn't have said that. Go enjoy your club."
"Love hurts far more than it helps..."
Masachika and Takeshi panicked as the light in Hikaru's eyes suddenly went out and his shadow darkened. After finally managing to purify Shadow Hikaru's tainted soul, Masachika said his good-byes and headed over to the shoe lockers.
"A club, huh...," Masachika muttered unenthusiastically as he watched the soccer club gather in the schoolyard.
Masachika had plenty of free time to join a school club now, unlike in middle school when he was extremely busy with the student council. It wasn't that he didn't feel conflicted when he saw his friends having fun in their clubs,but none of the clubs spoke to him. He didn't feel moved. Joining a club would be more of a pain in the ass than it was worth. Starting something new was exceptionally exhausting to Masachika.
"I'm probably going to keep letting opportunities slip byuntil I eventually end up doing nothing...," he muttered in self-deprecation. But all he felt was frustration. There was nothing that inspired him.
"Oh."
All of a sudden, his smartphone began vibrating in his pocket. After making sure there weren't any teachers around, he took out his phone and gazed at the message on the screen.
Masachika sighed softly before turning on his heel.
After making his way down the hallway, he knocked on the door to the room he'd been asked to stop by, opened it, and met the eyes of Yuki Suou, the person who'd sent him the message. Yuki, who was squatting before the shelf and organizing the equipment, cheerfully smiled at him like a flower, held her skirt down, and stood up.
"Masachika! Come here, come here!" she proceeded to say in the sweetest of voices while running over to him. She put on a cute act and really played it up -far different from her usual elegant, ladylike self. If anyone else at school had seen her, they would have fainted in shock while wondering if she had eaten something funny, but Masachika simply smirked and played along.
"Sorry, my dear. I hope I didn't keep you waiting!" he shouted in a coaxing voice, prancing toward her as well. Yuki would most likely get a pass if caught in the act due to her beauty, but what Masachika was doing was objectively disgusting. At any rate, Yuki didn't seem to care, and she continued:
"Well,you did! I've been waiting for you for sooo long!"
"Hey! You're supposed to say, 'Not at all. I just got here,too.'""You two sure are close."
Masachika froze the moment he heard the cold voice drifting from the other side of the shelf. His expression remained frozen. He looked in the direction of the voice, where he saw the blue eyes of a reproachful glare peeking between the gaps of the equipment stacked on the shelf.
"Oh, Alya. Didn't know you were here."
"Well,excuse me for being here."
"No,you're fine.Ha-ha..."
Masachika forced a smile at Alisa while sending Yuki a protesting gaze, but Yuki simply tilted her head to the side as if she had no idea what was going on and smiled gracefully like the gentlewoman she was.
You filthy little...
Masachika had a strong urge to flick Yuki's forehead in retaliation, but he knew he couldn't in front of Alisa, so he just cleared his throat and moved on instead.
"Ahem...So...? You wanted my help organizing the equipment?"
"Yes, it's far too much for us to do alone. Do you think you could help us?"
"Sure, I guess...I feel like I'm being used, though."
"It's just your imagination."
"Yeah,I'm not so sure about that."
Masachika and Yuki continued to joke around as they headed to the back of the room.
"Ready to get to work,Alya?"
"Ready," replied Alisa without even looking away from the equipment on the shelf. Masachika smirked while taking the equipment list Yuki handed him.
"Anyway, do you think you could start helping out with these?" Yuki asked.
"Desks and folding chairs... You want me to count them and make sure none of them are broken, right? Got it," Masachika replied. "By the way, this has been bothering me since middle school, but...is this really the student council's job?" "I have no clue, but it really helps to have a good idea about the kind of equipment and supplies we have for events."
"I guess that makes sense, but this is way too much work for only two girls."
"The president is supposed to be here soon to help, but he's very busy,so who knows how much longer it's going to be."
"Ohhh.All right."
Masachika went straight to work, once again realizing just how understaffed the student council was. He made sure the number of chairs and desks matched the number written on the list while removing chairs that had ripped cushions,missing leg caps,and the like.
"I'm impressed. You've still got what it takes."
"Yeah,you know me."
Masachika made sure not to show how tired he was as Yuki showered him with praise and Alisa gazed at him from behind with admiration.
Damn, my arms are starting to hurt.
It was clear to Masachika that he had way less stamina now compared with two years ago when he was working hard in the student council. His arms and lower back were already hurting from stacking all the folding chairs.
Oh gosh. I'm beat. This sucks. I wanna go to sleep. I should have never agreed to do this. I could have at least tricked Takeshi into helping if Yuki had sent me that message a few minutes earlier. Why even ask for my help if the president is supposed to come?
Although Masachika inwardly talked a lot of trash, he converted his complaints into energy and worked quickly.
"Masachika, do you think you could give me a hand?" Yuki suddenly asked from behind.
"Hmm?"
Masachika turned around to find Yuki pointing to a cardboard box on the highest shelf with a slightly troubled expression. Yuki was small even for a teenage girl, so it would be difficult for her to lower a box off the top shelf all by herself.
Now it makes sense. She needed me to help with all the heavy lifting and grabbing stuff in high places.
He walked over, stood a bit farther down than Yuki, and lowered the cardboard box from the top shelf onto the floor.
"Thanks,Masachika." "No problem...Hmm?What are these?"
After catching a glimpse of small colorful boxes under the slightly ajar lid,Masachika curiously opened the cardboard box to find multiple tabletop games inside.
"Card games, board games...What is all this?"
"It apparently used to belong to the tabletop club before it disbanded a few years ago. So now it's the school's property, since the club bought all of it with their budget."
"Oh... So the school's still lending this stuff out?"
"Yes.Most students have no idea these games even exist, though."
"No doubt about that. When would anyone even use them?"
"Maybe for their booth during a school festival? Or for a club party,perhaps? I actually played a few games with the new student council members at the welcome party the other day."
"Oh? Who won, by the way?"
"Uh... I ended up winning, I suppose."
"Figured."
"And second place?"
"Less talking, more moving, you two."
"Oh,right.Sorry,Alya."
"My bad."
They straightened at Alisa's scolding, ended their conversation, and returned to their tasks. The only thing on Masachika's mind after that was work.Silence reigned over the room for the next long few moments. Only the sounds of boxes being moved and pencil lead scraping paper could be heard until Alisa whispered in Russian:
"
Masachika took a critical hit to the heart! It was a surprise attack, which made it super effective!
Ahhh! Wait. No. This is just Alya flashing! She's just flashing me verbally! I can't react!
Masachika clenched his teeth, desperately fighting against the irritating tingles running down his spine, while Alisa simply enjoyed the thrill. She enjoyed saying something embarrassing with the thought that no one would ever understand her. In other words, this wasn't how she really felt, and reacting to what she said would only make things worse!
"
Masachika could barely stand it as he listened to her endless singsong whispers. It was to the point that he couldn't deny that this was how she really felt anymore.
How can she even say all that?! Is she seriously not embarrassed?!Masachika mentally screamed, but it wasn't as if Alisa wasn't embarrassed,either.
Hmm?!
Alisa inwardly groaned in agony. Her heart raced for more reasons than one as she crouched in front of the shelf and tended to her tasks, constantly glancing at his back, despite thinking he didn't understand. But she felt relieved every time she saw him going about as if nothing was wrong.
H-heh. He has no idea, even though I'm making it so obvious... H-hmph.Take a hint,jerk.
They worked back-to-back while trembling in embarrassment. It was a humorous sight from an outsider's perspective.
"
Ack! N-no, I'm not going to lose! There's still no proof that she's even talking about me, either! Maybe she wants Yuki to pay more attention to her...
"Alya, is everything okay?" Yuki asked from nearby the door, even though she hadn't noticed their weird behavior. Alisa's heart skipped a beat, but she still promptly managed to change her expression and tone.
"Oh, sorry. I was just singing a little song.
""
Aaaaand it's me! I knew it, but I didn't want to admit it!
The relentless three-hit combo almost knocked Masachika out cold, and his knees trembled.
"O-oh, a Russian song, huh? What's it called?"
Alisa swiftly turned around and looked at him. Maybe it was only his imagination, but she seemed a bit happy as well. Regardless of the truth, the thought alone did a lot of damage to Masachika.
"It's called..."
"You forgot what it's called?"
"No,I remember. It's called...'A Feeling Gone Unheard'?"bashfully replied Alisa with hooded eyes.
"Oh..."
Masachika died.