"JOIN THE CLUB!" The big message was announced by the main school board. Featuring multiple club descriptions and introductions of their representatives. The keen students gathered around the board filling the school's atmosphere with exciting chatters. Shouichi was also interested in this clubbing, he did have a fair share of it during his time aboard.
"Yo! Shouichi-kun!" The light tap on his shoulder was followed by a greeting. His unmistakably silver hair made Shouichi recognise him right away. It was Aoyama Shinji, his best mate.
"Good morning, Shinji!" He greeted back.
"Any interesting club in mind?" Shinji put his arms around Shouichi's shoulder. Despite the sporty look, he surprisingly smelled sophisticated and distinctive with a hint of spice and cinnamon. It might be one of those men's expensive colognes.
"Yeah…I was thinking of joining something similar to my old club…"
"Which sport did you play over there?" Shinji asked, his height towering over Shouichi.
"It's Australian rules football… um… it's similar to rugby but goaling is different." Shouichi eagerly explained.
"Ohh! There's none of that here. What a bummer." Shinji swept his eyes around, replied and put his hands on the back of his head.
"Why don't you join the rugby club then? I know the captain, Ito Toru-san. A great man with an undying spirit."
"I'll think about that. I might join that one." Shouichi hesitated.
"Ummm… Aoyama-senpai… Could I ask you to join my club?" A tall, slightly chubby girl politely approached Shinji. Standing next to both of them made Shouichi look like a child.
"And who are you?" Shinji asked nonchalantly.
"Sorry! I forgot, um, I'm Ito Emi from Class 1-1. I'm the candidate manager of the rugby club. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Emi introduced herself as she bent her waist to bow as low as possible to signify politeness and respect toward the seniors. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, fingers intertwined in a gesture of humility. Her brown eyes matched her brown hair, her ponytail fell gracefully. Shouichi couldn't help but notice her huge dynamites aka chuckas hanging down with gravity. He pretended to avert his eyes away. "Not a good time to be a perv." He recalled Ayane's words of wisdom the other day.
"Ohhhh! It's Ito Junior. Toru's sister. Did he put you up for this?... C'on, you can tell me the truth." Shinji persuaded her with a charming smile.
"Your assumption is correct, senpai. He said if I could convince you to join our club, I'd be promoted to a real manager." She responded truthfully. As it turned out, Ito Emi, the tall thick girl was Ito Toru's real sister.
Suddenly, Shinji put his arms around her shoulders playfully and softly tapped her prominent nose with his finger. The girl didn't object to him at all and remained fairly submissive. Toru's sister was slightly shorter than Shinji but they appeared to be a good match, at least height-wise. "Shinji does have that charisma in him where he could captivate any girl with ease," Shouichi observed.
"I'd have to decline. Ito Junior." Shinji replied nonchalantly and walked off.
"Please, senpai! I'd do anything." Emi insisted as pulled up her supposed trump card., her adorable canine glinted every time, she opened her mouth.
"Anything?... Like Anything anything?" That sentence intrigued Shinji enough. He turned back to her. Emi nodded with innocent puppy eyes. Shouichi as a third wheel started to get a second-hand embarrassment from his friend.
Shinji claimed he was inexperienced with the girls, zero girlfriends, and zero exes. It seemed contradictory to what was happening at the moment.
"Will you be my girlfriend then?" Shinji asked clearly with a sudden, serious expression.
"What the flip?!" Shouichi exclaimed, and thought, "One does not simply ask someone you just met to be your girlfriend." The crowd erupted in whispers and gasps. Emi's face immediately turned a deep shade of red as she stood there, momentarily stunned. But then, she's determined to respond.
"Well… I… Um… " Emi was lost for words but she quickly gathered herself. She's back with her unwavering will.
"Hahaha! I'm just kidding. Sorry sorry. Did I scare you there?" Shinji burst out laughing and the crowd's babbling continued in the background.
"Senpai! Would you please stop joking around? People are going to get the wrong idea!" Emi was slightly annoyed. "Man… I wonder if Ito-chan was gonna say 'yes' there. It's indeed a hot bargain." Shouichi imagined.
"For real this time. I'll join if and… only if Shouichi here joins. " Shinji proposed and pointed at Shouichi.
"Eh? Why me?" Shouichi asked. Then Emi instantly directed her attention toward Shouichi. Her huge chest was staring at his face, he couldn't look any else so he had to look up.
"Is there something in the sky, senpai?" Emi asked with a question mark on her face.
"I'll be lonely, of course!" Shinji simply interrupted them.
"You are Seito Shouichi-senpai, right? My pleasure to make your acquaintance." Emi inquired politely. Shouichi was a bit surprised that she knew his name already.
"Pleased to be your acquaintance, Emi-chan. I'm still thinking about it. Is it alright if I hold you on to that for now? I'll need to sleep on it for a bit." Shouichi reasoned with a gentle tone.
"That's understandable. Please let me know once you have reached your decision. However, I'd not accept any refusal from Aoyama-senpai, I'll do anything to get him on the team." Emi stood her ground. Shouichi was baffled by her persistence.
"Undying spirit like her brother. " Shinji whispered to Shouichi after the girl left. He was always so proud of his smartass remarks.
A moment later, the school bell chimed, followed by the announcement of the Journalism and Broadcasting Club.
"Good Morning, Seihei student! The homeroom will start in 15 minutes. Today's weather is sunshine with an average temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. What a fantastic day to start the lecture. This is Wanabe Ririku speaking as the Journalism and Broadcasting Club's representative. I welcome you all to Seihei and please enjoy the youthful life while you are here. The front mainboard has been updated with a "Join the club" event, there are various interesting clubs to select from… " The female announcer spoke with a clear and cheerful voice. She was as professional as an anchor that you would see on the news.
The duo arrived at the class on time. But unexpectedly, it was Ayane who greeted and waved at them first. Her ice-cold demeanour had inexplicably softened.
"Good morning, Ayane-chan." "Good morning! Morimura-chan." Shouichi and Shinji greeted her with a smile respectively.
"By the way, I've seen you guys were approached by Emi-chan. You guys gonna join her club?" She asked, nonchalantly.
"We still think about it, what about you?" Shouichi responded flatly and grabbed Shinji's shoulder, he nodded accordingly.
"Yeah, I'm joining the going-home club." She answered gleefully, they giggled and laughed. It seemed like three of them started to get along better.
After the class finished, Ayane, Shinji, and Shouichi decided to visit Yoko Sweet Shop.
"Welcome back! Oh, My! you three are together today, Yoko couldn't be happier!" Yoko greeted them as they entered the cafe. It was Tuesday evening when there weren't a lot of customers since it was still early into the week. As a result, Yoko's cafe would be closed early at 4.00 PM every Tuesday.
"Good evening, Yoko-san" "Hey! Mom." "Good evening, Yamamoto-san." The trio greeted back in unison. They took the table in the corner, which was supposed to be more private.
After the last customers left. Yoko headed toward their table with a gentle smile. She tied her long silky black hair up in a single ponytail with a curly tip. Yoko appeared as elegant and captivating as ever.
"What can I get you, guys?" Her cinnamon-brown eyes lit up as she spoke. With Yoko's natural beauty and light makeup, she seemed way younger than her actual age, one could easily mistake her for one of those high schoolers or college students.
"Ice coffee, please!" Ayane replied while lifting her index finger. Yoko nodded and looked at the striking duo.
"Green tea for us, please," Shinji answered politely.
Ayane and Shouichi started reading novels and exchanged each other's ideas and thoughts while Shinji was playing some mobile game on his smartphone. After some time, those two left and Shouichi remained with his mom at the cafe.
"Phew! Closing the cafe was quite tough. I still don't know how you have been managing all these years, Yoko-san." Shouichi praised her after he just finished stacking all the chairs and mobbed the floor clean.
"You are helping me lots, Shou-kun. I can do this forever with you." Yoko spoke as she appeared from the back of the store. She grabbed his hands and gently rubbed them with a cold towel, leaving Shouichi puzzled.
"Feel better? Is it too cold?" Yoko spoke with a soft tone, almost like a whisper. Her face was a light shade of red. The boy just nodded submissively.
"Mom… It's fine now I can do the rest myself." Shouichi eventually objected, he couldn't hide his embarrassment.
"Just a bit more." Yoko insisted gently and used a cold towel to tap slightly on his cheeks. She was overly close to him and he could feel her warmth.
"All done. Good boy." Yoko patted his head lightly. His graphite hair two-block cut started to get a bit longer, and the tips of his bangs slightly were underneath his brows.
In a spur of the moment, Yoko pulled him close and hugged him tightly. Shouichi was hit by the sweet aroma of her elderflower fragrance.
"After all these years, your father took you away from me… Please don't leave me ever again, Shou-kun. I don't wanna be alone… Could you promise me that? " Yoko sounded sentimental while holding him tightly in her arms. "This must have been a mother's love..." Shouichi reasoned in his mind. He no longer felt foreign to Yoko's unusual affection.
"I promise you, Mom. I'll be by your side until the day I die." Shouichi replied wholeheartedly, wrapping his arms around her. There, they stayed in that cherished moment for a while.
"Umm… It's getting hot and I'm sweating again." Shouichi spoke up and broke the silence.
"My bad, hahaha." Yoko apologised and let go. Her beautiful eyes glistened with the onset of tears. She wiped them out with a towel. They both giggled gleefully in unison. The bond between mother and son became strengthened as Shouichi could understand her personality better.
Two days later, Shouichi had decided to join the rugby club. After class, Shouichi and Shinji arrived at the large club room with its respective sign "Rugby Club".
"Welcome to the rugby! Aoyama-senpai and Seito-senpai. Please come on in!" A tall chubby girl ran out to greet 'em with a big smile. She knew instantly that her prayer had been answered.
"Yo! Emi-chan! Where's your brother?" Shinji asked while casually patting her head like she was a little kid. She pointed out to the big man standing at the doorway.
"Looking for me? You brat!" A muscular man with spiky hair in the black & blue tracksuit spoke up. He got a big smug on his face like Shinji did.
"Hey! Toruuuuuuuuu. How are ya?" Shinji spoke joyfully. Shouchi instantly noticed the sudden dense in the air.
Two men stood and confronted each other as if they were going to fight. Then they lunged, with their hands collided and interlocked; The contest of the mighty began.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Shinji appeared to be able to hold down Toru's incredible strength despite the differences in physique. But soon Shinji started to lose his balance and step back. Now the cunning silver wolf shifted his weight and tackled Toru's waist! Shouichi and Emi were perplexed by the sudden strategy.
"Argh!" Toru lost his footing and fell to the ground. He sat down for a bit while wearing a grin. Later, Shinji held out his hand to offer help.
"Amazing! You still got it in you, you smartass brat!" Toru accepted his hand and pulled himself up.
"Onii-san, are you okay?" Emi asked out of concern, sweeping her eyes up and down. Toru didn't answer her.
"Shinji, you are incredibly stronger than you look." Shouichi complimented his junior. In response, Shinji rubbed his nose with a pointer finger proudly.
"By the way, why are y'all here?" After a while, Toru questioned their motive.
"Are they joining our club?" Toru quickly turned to ask his sister before the duo could respond to which she nodded vigorously.
"Shinji, you never joined us before despite our multiple attempts in the past. What exactly did Emi do to change your mind?" Toru spoke firmly.
"Nothing… " Emi raised her voice to answer but Toru dismissed her with his cold glance.
"I've sent Emi to do the impossible task 'cause I don't want everyone to think that she got her position just because I am a captain of this club. The girl needs to prove her worth." Toru explained nonchalantly. The captain was a coarse masculine man but reasonable, and level-headed. "Now it made sense why Emi was super keen on getting Shinji on the team," Shouichi noted.
"I also heard you tested my sister's resolve by asking her out as a trade. That snitch happened to see you three the other day." Toru continued with an indifferent expression then he pointed out to a muscular, short boy with curly hair, Shouichi learned that his name was Naggi shortly after.
"Wow… the captain's so blunt and way too honest," Shouichi remarked internally.
"Haha. I'd like to apologise for that too. It's just a joke." Shinji bowed his head apologetically.
"Apology accepted. Hahaha." Toru put out a roaring laugh. The coarse man seemed pleased with the results whatsoever.
"Good job, Emi. You really impressed me this time." Toru turned to praise his sister which made Emi genuinely happy. Shouichi just witnessed a heartfelt moment between a brother and a sister of the Ito family.
"Umm… and you are?" Toru eventually acknowledged Shouichi's presence, he might have been too small to be noticeable.
"I'm Seito Shouichi, I'm here to join your club today. Pleased to meet you, Ito-senpai!" Shouichi responded respectfully with his raised voice.
"Seito Shouichi, I'm Captain Ito Toru. A pleasure to meet you." Toru shook Shouichi's hands firmly.