Chapter 46 - 22. Friendship first (Part 2)

Yamamoto-san's eyes drifted as she glanced at me. Meanwhile, Sasai-san looked a little relieved."Hehehe, then Maki, I think you should exchange contact information with Sato-kun."At Sasai-san's suggestion, we took out our smartphones. I never thought that the time would come when I would exchange contact information with two girls from my class, and it was unrealistic that they were both beautiful girls."Then, let's go out somewhere together, the three of us, shall we?"Sasai-san said happily as we went down the stairs to our afternoon class. The fact that I was going out with these two was like a nasty prank. If I took it seriously, I might suffer later.However, having come this far, it was hard to doubt Sasai's smile, and perhaps the time would really come when we would all go out together. My thoughts were completely denied by the common sense of this world.When the three of us returned to the classroom, our classmates' gazes pierced us. Most of them were girls, but strangely enough, I didn't sense any malice in them, but rather curious eyes.In this world where boys are almost completely nonexistent, it must have been like seeing a rare animal, wondering if there was a guy who would interact with girls outside of the classroom. That's all I could think of.Sasai returned to his seat with confidence, and Yamamoto hunched over even more than usual. After sitting down, Yamamoto took out her smartphone and looked at the screen with a slight smirk on his face. That was cute, too, but my contact information shouldn't be worth that much.I didn't want to be treated badly by my classmates, and I didn't want the two people I was involved with to be exposed to misfortune. With that thought in mind, I headed to my afternoon class. While I was thinking about what to do, the time for Japanese and math passed by in a flash.After school, I headed to the literature club room with Yamamoto. We both had our entry forms in hand. Personally, I had decided to join the literature club, regardless of how much I would actually participate. When Yamamoto called out to me after school, I heard that he had the same idea, so we decided to go and submit ours together.On the way to the club room, we didn't talk much. Neither of us were the type to speak up, so we would occasionally bump into each other and apologize. Even so, I couldn't help but feel arrogant, as if Yamamoto was closing the distance between us.Convinced that there was no way that was possible, I entered the literature club room. Inside, the club president, third-year Shiina-senpai, and the small-animal-like second-year Asai-senpai were sitting there, and Asai-senpai came running over to us with a smile as bright as a flower."Oh, you two! If you're here today, does that mean you're going to join?"The face of Asai-senpai, who asked me enthusiastically, is in front of me. He always makes eye contact with me, but today he's even closer than usual. He must be expecting me to join."Y-Yes... I brought this with me with that intention..."As we both took out the entry forms from our bags, Asai-senpai pumped his fist in the air, saying "Yes!". Shiina-senpai stood up from his chair and approached us, hands on his hips."Fufu, thank you both. This year, there weren't many kids who seemed interested in joining... I was wondering what I would do if there were no students. The deadline is still a while away, but is it okay?""Y-Yes... I've decided here, so it's okay.""... I look forward to joining too!"Yamamoto-san and I gave a slight bow, and Shiina-senpai smiled at us. Her sporty, refreshing smile makes my heart skip a beat, and she has thanked me many times."Thank you so much... That said, we're not doing anything big. We're thinking of having a welcome party when the deadline for joining is over."Indeed, the atmosphere in the club room was relaxed as ever. Shiina-senpai would talk to us while working on her computer, and Asai-senpai would tell us about her thoughts on books she'd recently read.I like this atmosphere, and there are plenty of books and materials, so it's a great place to spend time. The seniors who are always there even talk to me. I was content with this club.