Hirata Yosuke

As Konoe walked back to the classroom with Ayanokoji after lunch, he heard music from the school broadcast.

"Starting at 5 PM today, a club information session will be held in the first gymnasium. Students interested in joining a club, please gather at the first gymnasium. I repeat..."

The announcer's voice was quite cute.

"Konoe-kun, do you want to go check it out? The clubs," Ayanokoji asked.

"Just call me Konoe. It's fine if I call you Ayanokoji directly, right? I plan to try and invite Hirata, and if possible, I'll share some information with him then."

Hirata has likely been interacting with girls lately. Today, he seemed to want to invite Ayanokoji to lunch. Perhaps he also wanted to make some male friends. In that case, he might not refuse Konoe's invitation.

Ayanokoji nodded. "Then I'll try inviting Horikita."

Konoe also nodded, then returned to his seat, intending to observe Hirata for a while. He seemed to be organizing the textbooks needed for the afternoon classes, appearing to be a very diligent student.

The attractive girl who had been holding Hirata's arm earlier, her name was... Karuizawa Kei, was now chatting with Hirata again. She might be trying to invite him to the club information session.

Seeing that Hirata was about to be snatched away, Konoe stepped forward to strike up a conversation with him.

"Hello, Hirata-kun, Karuizawa-san." Konoe directly interrupted their conversation.

"Hello, Konoe-kun. Is something wrong?" Although being approached by a classmate he didn't know well, Hirata seemed quite happy.

"...Hello." However, the attractive girl here seemed displeased at being interrupted.

"I wanted to ask if you'd like to go to the club information session together, Hirata-kun? I'm quite interested in the Soccer Club."

"Really? Then let's go together! Sorry, Karuizawa-san, I'd like to go with Konoe-kun. Besides, you're probably not interested in the Soccer Club, right? Thank you for inviting me, maybe we can go together next time?"

Konoe had thought they might go as a group of three, but he didn't expect Hirata to directly reject Karuizawa. However, he could probably guess the reason.

Because Hirata's image as a promising young man, combined with the impression of the Soccer Club, had left a very good impression on the girls, Hirata had been surrounded by girls for the past two days. Although the boys also greeted him, once a boy wanted to be friends with Hirata, they would be driven back by the girls' hostile glares. Hirata seemed to want to avoid getting too close to any particular girl while also wanting to befriend the boys.

Karuizawa showed clear displeasure, even glaring at Konoe with hostility.

"I understand, Hirata-kun, and Konoe-kun. Please take care of me." Karuizawa stared fiercely at Konoe.

However, she then realized that although Konoe's self-introduction was unremarkable, his appearance was actually quite handsome. His aura was different from Hirata's sunny and cheerful disposition; Konoe possessed a kind of intellectual inner beauty. But could this guy really play soccer? He didn't look like someone good at sports...

Karuizawa sighed softly and returned to her seat.

"...I feel a bit sorry. Thank you for inviting me." Hirata scratched his head. "Speaking of which, Konoe-kun, you didn't seem like you'd been involved with soccer before. Are you looking to try it out?"

"I apologize, Hirata-kun. While I'm interested in the composition of the Soccer Club, my invitation to you is more out of interest in you."

"That's great too! Just call me Hirata or Yosuke. It's fine if I call you Konoe, right?" Hirata beamed his sunny smile again.

Konoe nodded. "Let's exchange contact information? We'll go to the club information session together this afternoon. Oh, and it's best if it's just the two of us. Actually, there's something about the class I wanted to tell Hirata."

Hearing it was about the class, Hirata became serious. "No problem."

As usual, during class, every student in Class D had their own tasks. As for the red-haired Sudo, he simply didn't show up.

After school, Konoe and Hirata arrived at the gymnasium. Konoe noticed that Ayanokoji and Horikita had also arrived at the gymnasium not far away, which surprised him. He had thought Horikita would refuse Ayanokoji.

"There are quite a lot of people. It seems most of them are first-year students," Konoe casually started a conversation.

"The club standards at this school should be very high, so first-year students should be very interested. Does Konoe have any other clubs you're interested in?" Hirata took two brochures from a senior and handed one to Konoe. They seemed to contain detailed information about the clubs.

"The standards are indeed high. There seem to be some national-level clubs and athletes," Konoe said, looking at the introductions in the brochure.

"And the facilities are extremely complete. Look, there's even an Aviation Club with flight simulators. It's so luxurious. But it seems some clubs don't exist. I don't see a Karate Club," Hirata said with great interest. This way, the Soccer Club he was aiming for must also be of very good quality.

"But it might be difficult for students without experience to shine in a particular field, whether it's sports, aviation, or diving," Konoe said. Although the facilities and environment were very complete, he needed to seriously consider whether to join a club.

"I think it depends on each individual. If they are truly interested, even as a newcomer, by continuously working hard in such a good environment, there will always be possibilities no matter what."

Konoe absolutely would not join a club. It was time to get to the point.

"To all first-year students, thank you for waiting. Next, club representatives will begin the introductory sessions for joining. I am Tachibana Akane, the secretary of the Student Council, and I will be the host for this session. Please guide me." After the girl with her hair tied in a bun finished speaking, Konoe knew he had to start quickly too.

"Actually, yesterday..."

Konoe told Hirata about his two guesses and asked him to think of a solution together regarding the exam. He also informed him that Class D might be in competition with other classes of the same grade.

Although Hirata had quite a few questions, Konoe patiently and sincerely answered each one until various club representatives had introduced their clubs on stage and welcomed beginners.

"I understand. I think your guess is very likely to happen. I will explain it to everyone during the class meeting tomorrow morning and ask Chabashira-sensei on the spot," Hirata said seriously. His reaction was as Konoe had expected.

"Remember not to mention my name. I'm a person who dislikes trouble, please."

"Okay, but thank you very much for telling me this. It's very important for the class. So, Konoe-kun is also a good person." Hirata beamed his sunny smile again. Seeing his earnest and flawless smile made Konoe feel a little guilty.

He just wanted to find someone to act with and protect his points, yet he wasn't prepared to put in much effort himself.

"Th-thank you."

After finishing his conversation with Hirata, Konoe noticed a student standing in front of the microphone on stage, not speaking, silently gazing at the first-year students.

"Hey, did you forget your script?"

"Good luck!"

"Whose club is this, hahaha."

Regardless of the first-year students' reactions, the senior standing on stage remained motionless. He just stood there.

"What is that person doing? Where's the host?" The gymnasium instantly became noisy. Even so, the man on stage remained unfazed. He just stood there quietly.

The relaxed atmosphere unexpectedly began to shift in an unforeseen direction.

The gymnasium, which had been noisy moments ago, fell silent, filled with a tense atmosphere. This tension prevented the first-year students from being greeted, and no one spoke.

This silence lasted for over thirty seconds before the upperclassman on stage finally slowly surveyed the first-year students and began to speak.

"I am Horikita Manabu, the president of the Student Council."

Upon hearing the name Horikita, Konoe glanced over at Ayanokoji and saw Horikita Suzune staring intently at the stage with a nervous expression.

"The Student Council, along with the graduation of the senior students, will be recruiting candidates from the first-year students. The Student Council has no special requirements for candidates, but if you wish to join the Student Council, you are not allowed to join any other clubs. Students who wish to participate in both the Student Council and other clubs will, in principle, not be accepted."

Student Council President Horikita's tone was both gentle and serious. The reason the other first-year students remained silent at this moment was not because he was the president, but because the student on stage named "Horikita Manabu" controlled the situation with his presence and aura.

"We in the Student Council do not want candidates with naive ideas. Precisely because the Student Council has the right and mission to change school rules, it is highly anticipated. We hope that applicants will apply with an understanding of this responsibility."

With that, he stepped down and left the gymnasium. Even after the host took the stage, the first-year students below remained silent.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. The briefing session is now concluded. We will now begin accepting club applications. Additionally, as applications will be accepted until the end of April, you may consider carefully and then bring your application form directly to the club you wish to join."

Maruko Tou Tachibana Senpai dispelled the tense atmosphere from earlier, and the upperclassmen began accepting club applications one by one.

"Sorry, Konoe, I'm going to join the Soccer Club. Do you want to come?" Hirata asked.

"I'm the one who should apologize. I said I was interested in the Soccer Club, thank you, Hirata. I just saw an acquaintance over there, so I'll be going now."

Hirata nodded and headed towards the Soccer Club.

Konoe walked towards Ayanokoji. "Ayanokoji, how is it? Do you have any clubs that interest you?"

He noticed Horikita had disappeared at some point.

"It's okay, I still need time to think. How about you?"

"I'm pretty much decided."

"Speaking of which, Ike invited me to join the Class D Boys Only Group. Do you want to join?"

"Pass. I'm a bit tired, so I'm heading back." Konoe yawned, feeling weary.

Ayanokoji was left alone for a moment. He thought about looking for Horikita in the crowd but eventually gave up.