"Hikigaya-kun, there's something I wanted to discuss with you..."
Totsuka's tone was quite serious.
I see. Of course, if he wanted to discuss a secret, he had to get closer. That was why he was standing so close to me.
"Something you wanted to discuss?"
"Yeah, it's about our Tennis Club. We're weak, right? And we don't have many members. Once this National Tournament ends and the third-years leave the club, we'll become even weaker. Most of the first-year members only started playing tennis in high school, and a lot of them still aren't used to it... Since we're so weak, we can't raise everyone's morale at all. And if there aren't many people, everyone naturally gets to become a regular player."
"I see."
Totsuka was right. Weak clubs often faced this sort of problem.
Weak clubs had a hard time recruiting new blood, and clubs with few members never had anyone competing for regular positions.
Even if they took leave or skipped practice, they could still participate in the National Tournament. As long as they got to compete, they felt like they were involved in club activities, and even if they lost, they were satisfied. There were definitely plenty of people like that.
People like that could never improve, and if the club didn't improve, it couldn't recruit new blood. Thus, the vicious cycle continued.
"I was thinking... if it wouldn't be inconvenient for you, could you join the Tennis Club?"
"...Huh?"
How had it come to this?
I asked with my eyes. Totsuka hugged his knees and curled up, occasionally shooting me pleading looks.
"Because you're really good at tennis, and I feel like you could improve even more. That would give everyone some stimulation, and... if you were there, I think I could keep trying too. I-I don't mean anything strange! I-I just want to get better at tennis."
"It's okay if you're a little frail... I'll protect you."
"...Eh?"
"Ah! Sorry, that came out wrong."
Totsuka was just too adorable. For a moment, I really got my words mixed up. No, no, he was far too cute. I had almost agreed to join without a second thought. Like raising my hand at lightning speed to claim the extra pudding from the school lunch.
However, no matter how cute Totsuka was, I couldn't agree to this request.
"...Sorry, I can't."
I knew my own personality well.
I didn't understand the point of participating in club activities every day, and I didn't really understand the habit of exercising first thing in the morning either. The only people who did that were old men practicing Tai Chi in the park. My motto was to imitate Koro, the samurai robot from the Kiteretsu Encyclopedia, and say, "I cannot keep at it, indeed~," so I would definitely quit the club later. The first time I tried working part-time, I quit after three days too.
If I joined the Tennis Club, I would definitely disappoint Totsuka in the end.
"...I see."
Totsuka seemed genuinely disappointed. I thought about something to cheer him up.
"But I'll help you think of another way."
Though I probably wouldn't be much help.
"Thank you. After talking it over with you, Hikigaya-kun, I feel a little better."
Totsuka smiled at me, but I knew it was only temporary comfort. Still, if Totsuka was even a little happier, that was enough.
× × ×
"Impossible."
Yukino said that right off the bat.
"How can you—"
"Impossible is impossible."
She rejected me again in an even colder tone.
I had brought the matter Totsuka had discussed with me to Yukino, and that was where it began.
If things went well, I could leave the Service Club with a perfectly legitimate excuse, pretend to transfer to the Tennis Club, then quietly fade away later. However, Yukino immediately rejected my brilliant plan.
"But I think Totsuka's idea of asking me to join the club isn't wrong. As long as I can pose some kind of threat to the Tennis Club members. A new member joining would be like a shot in the arm, wouldn't it? They should change a little."
"Do you think you can fit into group activities? A creature like you would never be accepted by them."
"Ugh..."
She was right, it was impossible. That would also be why I quit the club. Seeing everyone else happily enjoying club activities, I might end up smashing them with a racket.
"Hah."
Yukino let out something like a sighing laugh.
"You're an expert on loneliness. You don't understand group psychology at all."
"That's not for you to say."
She ignored my objection completely and continued.
"It's possible that they would unite against you as their common enemy. But that would only be to eliminate an enemy, not to improve themselves, so the problem still wouldn't be solved. That comes from personal experience."
"I see... Wait, personal experience?"
"That's right. I returned from abroad and entered middle school here as a transfer student. Back then, the girls in my class—no, every girl in the school—wanted nothing more than to get rid of me. Yet not one of them tried to improve herself in order to surpass me... What a bunch of idiots..."
A black flame seemed to rise behind her.
Oh no. Had I stepped on a land mine?
"Oh, come on. A cute girl like you transferring in, it can't be helped that something like that happened."
"...Y-Yes, you're right. In terms of appearance, I was far superior to them. My mental strength wasn't so weak that I would bow my head to them over something like that. In a sense, that outcome was only natural. Still, Yamashita-san and Shimamura-san were actually rather cute, and they had a certain amount of support among the boys. But that was only their appearance. When it came to grades, sports, art, even manners and mental fortitude, they were ultimately far inferior to me. Since they could never defeat me no matter what they did, it was understandable that they would do everything they could to drag me down."
Yukino was momentarily at a loss for words, but she quickly recovered and showered herself with elaborate praise. Calling her eloquent didn't even begin to cover it; even Niagara Falls would pale in comparison. I admired how she could say all that in one breath without getting her tongue tied.
Was this how she hid her embarrassment? She did have a cute side after all.
She had probably said too much at once. She was panting now, short of breath, and her face was a little red.
"...Don't say strange things to me. You're scaring me."
"Ah, what a relief. You really aren't cute at all."
If we were being honest, Totsuka was cuter than every girl I knew. What was up with that?
Right, Totsuka's problem.
"For Totsuka's sake, is there any way to make the Tennis Club stronger?"
Yukino widened her eyes at me and asked:
"How unusual... You worry about other people too?"
"No, it's just that someone asked me for advice for the first time, so..."
Being relied on did feel nice, after all. And Totsuka was so cute, so... As I thought that, the corners of my mouth rose on their own.
After hearing that, Yukino spoke as if to contrast herself with me.
"People often come to me with romantic troubles."
She proudly puffed out her chest, but her expression gradually darkened.
"...But discussing relationship problems with girls is usually meant to restrain the other person."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Once you tell them who you like, the people around you become cautious, don't they? It's like declaring ownership. If you know who someone likes and still pursue that person, you naturally become a public enemy among women. Even if that person confesses to you first, it's the same. Why did they have to talk about me like that..."
Black flames rose behind Yukino again. When I heard girls discussing romance, I had expected something sweet and sour, but it was nothing but a bitter story.
Why did she always ruin a boy's innocent dreams? Was that her hobby?
As though trying to shake off unpleasant memories from the past, Yukino gave a self-mocking smile and said:
"What I mean is, not everyone who comes here for advice can solve their problems just by being listened to and helped. Didn't the ancients say, 'A lion pushes its own child into a deep valley and kills it'?"
"You shouldn't kill it."
The correct saying was, "Even when hunting its own child, a lion gives it everything it has."
"Then what would you do?"
"Me?"
Yukino blinked and began to think.
"Make them run until they die, swing their rackets until they die, and practice until they die."
She said that with a smile. Terrifying.
I was so scared that I actually took a few steps back. At that moment, the clubroom door opened with a clatter.
"Hellooo~~"
A cheerful and idiotic greeting came from the doorway, in stark contrast to Yukino.
Yuihama still wore her foolish smile, looking as though she had no worries at all.
But the person behind her wore a troubled expression and looked completely drained.
He lowered his eyes without confidence, weakly clutching the hem of Yuihama's jacket with his fingertips. His snow-white skin looked so fragile, as though it would vanish like a bubble the moment sunlight touched it.
"Ah... Hikigaya-kun!"
In an instant, color returned to his skin and a smile blossomed across his face. Only when I saw that smile did I realize who it was. But why had he looked so gloomy just now?
"It's Totsuka..."
He ran over lightly and grabbed my sleeve. Hey, hey, that was unfair... Too bad he was a boy.
"Hikigaya-kun, what are you doing here?"
"We're doing club activities... What about you?"
"I brought you a client, hehe."
Yuihama puffed out her large but useless chest and said proudly. But I hadn't asked you. I wanted to hear Totsuka answer with those cute lips of his.
"Well~~ how should I put it? I'm part of the Service Club too, so I wanted to help out. Then I saw Saika worrying about something, so I brought him here."
"Yuihama-san."
"Yukino, you don't need to thank me. As a club member, it's only natural."
"Yuihama-san, you aren't technically a club member..."
"I'm not?"
She wasn't? That surprised me too. I had thought she had automatically become a member already.
"That's right. I haven't received your club application, and without the adviser's approval, you can't be considered a member."
Yukino was strangely strict about rules like that.
"I'll write one, I'll write one! I'll write as many as you want! Please let me join!"
Yuihama was almost in tears as she pulled out loose-leaf paper and wrote "club application form" in round handwriting. Please at least write it in kanji...
"Then, you are Totsuka Saika, correct? What can we do for you?"
Yuihama scribbled away on the paper while Yukino looked at Totsuka. Pierced by her cold gaze, Totsuka's body trembled instantly.
"C-Could you... make my tennis... better?"
At first, he looked at Yukino, but by the end, he had turned toward me. Because of the difference in our heights, he looked up to gauge my reaction.
Don't look at me like that... My heart will start pounding. Don't look at me.
Then Yukino spoke in my place, though she probably wasn't trying to help me.
"I don't know how Yuihama-san explained it to you, but the Service Club is not an all-purpose solution. We can only help you become independent. Whether you can become stronger depends on you."
"I see..."
Totsuka lowered his shoulders in disappointment. Yuihama had probably boasted carelessly and made him expect too much. Meanwhile, Yuihama muttered, "Stamp, stamp," to herself while rummaging through her bag. I glared at her, and she looked up as though she sensed it.
"Eh? What's wrong?"
"You're asking what's wrong? Your irresponsible words have crushed a young boy's tiny hope."
Yukino said that mercilessly to Yuihama, but Yuihama merely tilted her head and replied:
"Hm? But Yukino and the shut-in guy should be able to do something, right?"
Before you continue