Interest Club Briefing Session

Itozawa, Ichinose, and Kanzaki recovered from the shocking display of Tachibana Akane's ability and began ringing the bell to order. The tense atmosphere from earlier still lingered in the cafeteria, but it was soon replaced by the aroma of lunch and the sound of students chatting.

They ate and talked, discussing what had just happened.

Just then, the cafeteria's speakers suddenly crackled to life. "Attention, everyone." The voice began, calm and firm. It was enough to make everyone in the cafeteria stop what they were doing and turn their attention to the unexpected announcement.

"At five o'clock this afternoon, the school's main gymnasium will host the Interest Club Briefing Session." The voice continued, each word ringing clearly in every corner of the cafeteria, as if the speaker were whispering right in their ears. "We warmly invite all interested students to come and attend this afternoon." The enthusiasm and anticipation in the voice seemed to kindle a tiny flame in everyone's heart, making them eager to explore the unknown.

"Please remember: five o'clock this afternoon, at the school's main gymnasium. We'll see you there."

The announcement repeated three times. Itozawa looked around but couldn't see any obvious speakers in the cafeteria.

He quickly realized that this must be the result of an ability, though he wasn't sure whether it was a creation or simply the effect of someone's ability.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible to broadcast the message so widely while making it sound as though everyone were right there in the middle of things.

But...

"The person speaking must be an Ability User, too. They probably couldn't have made the speech so persuasive without a Mind-Type Ability."

Kanzaki voiced his suspicions outright.

"Why don't we go check out the gym together this afternoon? I'm really curious about what kinds of ability-related clubs the school has."

Ichinose invited them, and they readily agreed.

There was nothing interesting about the afternoon classes, so there was no need to go into them.

After school, Itozawa, Ichinose, and Kanzaki headed to the gym together.

They arrived fairly early. There was hardly anyone at the entrance, and there didn't seem to be any volunteers keeping order.

But the moment they stepped into the gym, a booklet appeared in each of their hands. The three of them were surprised, but they also realized that, despite the lack of visible staff, someone was still keeping things organized behind the scenes.

They opened the booklets and began looking through the clubs on offer. The clubs listed in the first few pages seemed much like those at an ordinary school: literature, basketball, music, and so on.

But when they turned to the last two pages, they found some unusual names: Dream Magic Club, Miracle Circus, and Mind Combat Club. They clearly weren't ordinary clubs; they were obviously related to abilities.

Itozawa nodded as he read. The school seems to have separated the ordinary clubs from the ability clubs. That makes sense, though. When it comes down to it, aside from their abilities, they're no different from ordinary people.

Ichinose's eyes skimmed quickly over the booklet. She was especially interested in the ability clubs. "These ability clubs sound so cool! Let's go check them out!"

Kanzaki was more composed. He studied the booklet carefully. "We should choose carefully. Joining the right club would definitely help us improve our abilities."

The three of them discussed their options as they entered the gym. Some students had already gathered inside, chatting in small groups or stopping by the various club booths to take a look. As time passed, the crowd grew until more than a hundred students had gathered. Most were curious about the clubs the school offered, and the lively buzz of conversation filled the gym.

Just as the crowd had nearly filled out, a figure suddenly appeared onstage. The purple-haired girl with a bun was clearly, just as in the Original Work, Tachibana Senpai, the Student Council secretary, hosting the Interest Club Briefing Session.

But that wasn't what caught Itozawa's attention. He had clearly sensed an energy fluctuation just moments ago. It seemed Tachibana Akane had used her ability to appear onstage.

He was puzzled. At noon, Tachibana Senpai had demonstrated an ice-based Object-type Ability. But this Teleportation Ability seemed more like a body-type or Spirit Ability.

He looked around, but couldn't detect any other energy fluctuations. In other words, Tachibana Senpai had definitely activated the ability herself.

Could she have two abilities?

He turned to Kanzaki and quietly asked whether one person could have two abilities.

Kanzaki hadn't noticed the energy fluctuation, so he was curious why Itozawa was asking.

"What? Does someone have two abilities?"

As he spoke, he glanced around, looking to see if he'd missed anything.

Ichinose, standing nearby, had also heard the question and turned to look at him curiously.

Itozawa began to explain. "Do you remember the ice ability Tachibana Senpai showed at noon? She could control ice, which was obviously a type of Object-type Ability.

"But what she just showed was Teleportation, which seemed more like a body-type or Spirit Ability. I was wondering if one person could really have two abilities."

Kanzaki frowned as well. His gaze shifted from Itozawa to Ichinose, as if seeking her agreement.

"That's a good question. I've never heard of anyone having two abilities at the same time."

He scratched his head and continued, "As far as we know, each person can only awaken one ability. That's the rule. But if Tachibana Senpai really can do it, then she's an exception."

If even Kanzaki didn't know, Ichinose was even less likely to. Still, she was curious about the question and decided to find a chance to ask Tachibana Senpai herself later.

Of course, she'd ask discreetly. If it was something difficult to answer, she wouldn't press her for an answer.

They didn't have much time to dwell on the question, so they waited for the briefing to begin.

The first to take the stage were representatives of the ordinary clubs. They introduced their clubs one by one, including basketball, soccer, and music.

However, for these new students who were Ability Users, the ordinary clubs held no appeal at all, except for those who had been passionate about sports since middle school.

The students below grew restless and urged the speakers to hurry up and make way for the ability clubs.

They were clearly more eager to hear about the ability clubs.

The representatives of the ordinary clubs understood this, too. Although they'd made some adjustments to the sports to better suit Ability Users, they still seemed dull compared with the genuine ability clubs.

So they quickly wrapped up their introductions in a sentence or two and handed the stage over to the representatives of the ability clubs.