Newcomers Report In
As the April school season arrived once again, Muneyoshi walked somewhat listlessly towards the Fudomine campus.
As for why she was in low spirits, it was all because of Tachibana An, who had also entered Fudomine Junior High and was serving as the manager of the Fudomine Tennis Club.
She was incredibly excited about the upcoming new school year and full of enthusiasm for the club's recruitment drive.
Yesterday, I dragged Muneyoshi and Tachibana into setting up club rules, and we didn't finish until very late...
Breathing in the fresh air, Muneyoshi's drowsiness slowly disappeared. Walking in this late spring season, with green grass swaying in the breeze and cherry blossoms vying for attention, his mood was wonderful.
Of course, in this beautiful April of another year, Muneyoshi also ushered in his first academic year of junior high school.
However, compared to the excitement and exhilaration of the new students, the second and third-year students, who had just finished their holidays, reluctantly returned to school.
On the paths of Fudomine's campus, countless boys and girls strolled about. Most of these young people, whose faces were beaming with youthful smiles, were Fudomine students who enrolled this year.
The new environment and new classmates made everything feel so new and exciting to them.
"An, do you need me to go with you to the registration?"
Early in the morning, Tachibana Kippei led Tachibana An to Fudomine.
Although it was called "leading," the brother and sister were actually just traveling together. Tachibana An, who had been there many times during the holidays, was clearly familiar with the campus and knew it very well.
"No need, brother. I have to go to the Tennis Club to recruit new members after my reporting session!"
Tachibana An shook her head, then, with her schoolbag on her back, skipped and hopped into the crowd.
Seeing this, Tachibana Kippei wasn't worried at all. Then he saw Muneyoshi stepping into the school ahead of him.
"Good morning, Muneyoshi!"
"Good morning, Orange!"
After exchanging greetings, the two went to the classroom together.
There was a lot to do today. Having just taken over the Tennis Club, he had finally managed to clean up the mess left behind by his predecessor.
Fortunately, Tachibana, An, and Hanamura Aoi assisted him; otherwise, if Muneyoshi had relied solely on himself, he probably wouldn't have finished sorting out the Tennis Club's affairs by now.
Everything was resolved before the start of the school year, preventing it from piling up into the second year. Now they can be said to be starting with a light burden.
Therefore, Muneyoshi decisively delegated all the tasks that he needed to perform within the club.
I must say, this approach, which allows me to relax while also making Tachibana Kippei and Tachibana An feel trusted and fulfilled, is really quite good.
In class, Muneyoshi looked forward to his second year of high school even more.
The first day of school wasn't too busy with morning classes, and soon it was time for afternoon club activities.
Muneyoshi first went to the vice dean's office to hand in the financial reimbursement form, and then went to the Tennis Club, but Tachibana An had arrived earlier than him.
At this moment, she was like a supervisor, directing Tachibana Kippei, Keith, and Lin Xiu to set up all the welcoming supplies.
When she saw Muneyoshi coming over, her eyes lit up immediately, and she quickly used her authority to try to get Muneyoshi to work as well.
Muneyoshi smiled slightly, grabbed her head and rubbed it hard, then greeted the others before heading to Hanamura Aoi's office to discuss the upcoming arrangements with her.
Although Tachibana An was unhappy with Muneyoshi's behavior of not doing any work and bullying her, she only stuck out her tongue behind his back.
After all, they had been together for more than two months and had gotten used to each other's personalities.
Besides, she didn't have time to care about these things at the moment. As the Tennis Club members unfurled the recruitment banner, many freshmen who were looking to join clubs were instantly attracted to it.
Before they could even set up the welcome items, the new students had already flocked over.
However, many freshmen hesitated when they saw that it was the Fudomine Tennis Club.
After all, the reputation of the Fudomine Tennis Club is quite mysterious in the surrounding area.
Perhaps it's because Tachibana An, who's in charge of recruitment, is a cute girl who seems easy to talk to, that she's accepted all the bad rumors surrounding her.
The freshmen carefully read through the newly formulated Tennis Club rules.
"Are first-year students in the Fudomine Tennis Club already allowed to play tennis?"
"It can't be true, right? Didn't they say the opportunity only comes in third grade?"
"Yes, but I heard the new Tennis Club is different from the old one; it's been reorganized and the new team isn't the same as before."
"To become Regular, you have to rely entirely on your abilities. The selection process for Regular members is held every three months through an intra-school ranking competition."
"Wow, it seems the Fudomine Tennis Club has really changed..."
"Hello, my name is Kamio Akira. This is my application for joining the company. Could you please tell me your name?"
However, while everyone else was still carefully reading the new rules of the Tennis Club, a short boy with dark red athletic hair and bangs covering one eye squeezed to the front.
He handed his application to Tachibana An, his eyes fixed on Tachibana An, constantly asking her name.
As a girl who matures much earlier than most, Tachibana An understood what this meant, but after accepting the application, she said with great pride:
"Listen up, kid, I'm Tachibana An, the manager of the Tennis Club."
Tachibana An had seen many things like this before, so she wasn't intimidated at all.
However, with Kamio Akira leading the way, the other hesitant boys also stepped forward and handed over their applications.
Soon, more than a dozen application forms were placed on the table.
"Manager, my name is Ishida Tetsu, and this is my application."
At that moment, a tall, resolute-looking boy wearing a white headscarf loudly handed over his application to join the club.
Muneyoshi, who had just come out, raised an eyebrow, then glanced around a few times, looking at the familiar boy in front of him, and the short, red-haired brat next to him who kept staring at Tachibana An.
Now that Ishida and Kamio Akira have appeared, where is Ibu Shinji?
Was it blown away by its own butterfly wings?
As the crowd thinned out, almost all the freshmen found their own clubs, and the Tennis Club's recruitment was considered over.
The new members of Tachibana An entered the indoor venue, while Muneyoshi himself began to look through the application forms.
Uchimura Kyosuke, Mori Tatsunori, Sakurai Masaya, Ishida Tetsu, Kamio Akira...
These players who were originally Fudomine contenders were all on the list.
But Ibu Shinji was the only one missing.
Muneyoshi didn't know what the problem was.
However, just as he was reviewing the application form...
"I challenge you! Stay away from Tachibana An!"
The group, who were familiarizing themselves with the Tennis Club's facilities, were suddenly drawn to a voice—it was none other than the most active Kamio Akira.
Seeing the intimate behavior between Tachibana An and Tachibana Kippei, he assumed they were rivals and his impulsive nature flared up instantly, prompting him to challenge Tachibana Kippei.
Tachibana Kippei looked completely bewildered, but when he saw the angry look in the other person's eyes, and then when he saw Tachibana An holding his hands, he understood.
"Okay, kid, I promise you, come on!"
After a brief moment of thought, Tachibana Kippei exchanged a glance with Muneyoshi and made his decision, driven by both his protective instincts as an older brother and his desire to test the newcomer.
There's always a crowd of onlookers, and when someone announced a challenge, other new members also gathered around.
P. S.: "Guys, this isn't just filler; there definitely needs to be scenes like this to depict the characters, but they don't really know how to describe them. The next round is the regional preliminaries."