Bai, Bai-kun! Come Back Quickly, the Service Club Is in Danger!

In the middle of the classroom, three standard desks and chairs were arranged in a triangular formation. The layout resembled a job interview, projecting an atmosphere of rigorous, serious confrontation that instinctively made one feel solemn as well...

That was, if not for the snacks, tea leaves, coffee cups, and light novels piled on the other table.

Horikita Suzune withdrew her gaze from the suspicious sign above the door. With an investigative attitude even more rigorous than she applied to her studies, she stepped into the clubroom.

"Ah, welcome to the Service Club."

A polite, pleasant greeting came from a girl who entered through the front door almost at the same time as her.

Shiina Hiyori had just finished an impromptu class gathering. When she arrived at the clubroom, she had happened to miss the two people who had left earlier. As she closed the door behind her, she offered the visitor a warm, welcoming smile.

"Hello."

Horikita Suzune returned the greeting politely, then moved to one of the desks and began observing her surroundings.

"Do you have some difficulty you need help with?"

Shiina Hiyori naturally walked over to her usual seat, set down her bag, gave the visiting girl a cursory look, and sat down.

"Are you a member of the Service Club?"

"Mm."

"What do you need help with?"

"Need help..."

Horikita Suzune studied the smiling girl before her. Surprisingly normal—completely unlike those other two. For a moment, she wondered whether she had entered the wrong classroom, disrupting the rhythm of the conversation somewhat.

"I don't have anything I need help with," she corrected herself after a moment.

"Huh... Then why did you come to the Service Club?"

Why?

Horikita Suzune hesitated. Her gaze briefly shifted away. Just as she was thinking over her response and turning back toward the other girl, she caught sight of a figure walking straight this way in the corridor outside.

"Hello."

A knock interrupted their conversation. Horikita Suzune and Shiina both looked outside, and a graceful girl immediately came into view.

"Excuse me, is this the Service Club?"

"That's right. Please come in."

The energetic, polite question collided with the gentle welcome. Horikita Suzune once again marveled at how poorly this girl's temperament suited this den of trouble, while Shiina Hiyori rose to welcome her.

"May I ask what you need? I'm the only one in the Service Club at the moment."

"I see... Oh, you're Shiina from Class C, right? And you're Horikita from Class D?"

The girl with long pink hair like cherry willow branches openly looked back and forth between the two of them, smiling as she made her judgment.

"That's right. And you are?"

Friendliness and goodwill showed in Shiina Hiyori's relaxed expression.

"Ichinose Honami, from first-year Class B."

Horikita Suzune cleared things up for Shiina Hiyori beside her.

"Ah, so you're Ichinose. Sorry, I'm still not very familiar with students from the other classes. Then you must be Horikita."

"Mm."

Horikita Suzune gave a simple nod.

Unintentionally, Ichinose had saved her the trouble of introducing herself. Still, judging from Shiina's reaction, this did not seem to be the first time she had heard her name... Perhaps those two had mentioned her during the club's usual activities.

"Did Ichinose come to the Service Club because of some trouble?"

As she was lost in thought, Shiina Hiyori invited Ichinose Honami to sit in the seats the other two had occupied before. She herself stood and walked aside to make tea.

"Well... I really don't know how to put it."

The smile on Ichinose Honami's face was tinged with a measure of distress.

She walked over and sat down, politely placing her clasped hands on the tabletop. "Actually, there's someone in my class I'm fairly close to. Recently, she's been especially clingy with me, and I don't know what to do about it."

Horikita Suzune felt this deeply. She could not help thinking of her own situation, and instinctively said, "Ignore her. Keep your distance appropriately. Once she realizes she's only making herself look foolish, she'll back off."

"Huh? Is that really okay?"

"That's my own approach. You can use it as a reference."

Why did Horikita's words somehow sound a little like Bai Yu?

Shiina Hiyori, who was making tea nearby, could not help speaking up. "That doesn't seem very good. Ichinose's situation may not be the same as what you're imagining, Horikita. And she did say they were rather close friends."

Horikita Suzune pondered this. "How close?"

Ichinose Honami smiled bitterly. "Probably the kind of relationship where you can talk about anything. Like best friends."

"Talk about anything... I find that hard to understand. What meaning is there in laying bare your innermost feelings to someone else?" Horikita Suzune said solemnly.

"Well, I think most people enjoy making friends with others," Ichinose Honami said brightly. "I'd also like to be friends with the two of you."

Shiina Hiyori brought the freshly brewed tea before them. After handing it over with both hands, she returned to her seat and said gladly, "It would be my honor to be friends with Ichinose. So, what is your request?"

"Ah, I almost forgot."

Ichinose Honami set down the cup after taking a sip and smiled gratefully. "Actually, I only heard it from other classmates, but it seems this girl has recently been planning to confess to me. I just don't know how I should respond to her feelings..."

A confession? The kind of confession in a romantic relationship?

Horikita Suzune's pupils contracted slightly. She could not help remarking, "So you two are that close."

"Ahaha..."

Shiina Hiyori gave a polite little laugh. "Everyone is quite open about these things nowadays. Even in novels, there are often plots where several male protagonists fight side by side, come to admire one another, and finally confess their feelings."

"Of course I know that."

Horikita Suzune briefly stated that she was not so old-fashioned.

Still, encountering it in real life inevitably surprised her, though not to the point that she would gossip about it.

After a pause, she asked seriously, "From your tone, it sounds like you want to reject her... Forgive the impertinence, but are you also part of the same group as her?"

"Huh? No, not at all! I'm a traditional girl!"

Ichinose Honami's voice rose somewhat, as though she were deliberately stressing the point.

"Ha... I don't think Ichinose is in the sort of situation Horikita is imagining."

So it was not simply that she disliked this person, but that the girl's gender was outside her consideration altogether.

Horikita Suzune gained some understanding and said evenly, "So you want to reject her without hurting her?"

"Mm." Ichinose Honami nodded. "She's rather sensitive and not very good at interacting with people. If I don't handle this well, I'm afraid it could affect her future interpersonal relationships."

"I understand." Horikita Suzune sorted out her thoughts. Since they were not of the same persuasion, this would be much easier to handle.

There was nothing wrong with an instinctively determined preference in partners. Even if she rejected the other girl, she could reassure her by explaining that their genders did not match. But given the girl's delicate, sensitive heart, she might take it as an excuse deliberately fabricated to reject her. Therefore, it would be best to make that reason concrete and real.

After pondering for a moment, Horikita Suzune looked up at the troubled girl before her. "I have a plan, but it will require Ichinose's cooperation to carry out. I wonder whether you would be willing to accept it."

"Huh?"

Shiina Hiyori, sitting nearby, was completely bewildered by now. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at Horikita Suzune, who was earnestly laying out a strategy.

What was Horikita doing? Was she stealing their work?

Why did she look as though she were naturally handling the Service Club's business now?

Bai, Bai Yu, come back quickly! Someone's here to challenge the Service Club!