Instead, he had wasted time on something pointless.
Two in the afternoon, auditorium.
Sunlight slanted through the auditorium's stained-glass windows, casting colorful shadows across the wooden floor.
Recruiters from numerous clubs had already set up their promotional materials.
The booths of thirty-seven clubs stretched along the red carpet like miniature city-states. The air was filled with the scent of fresh ink from the flyers and the sweet, toasted aroma of sample cookies.
The Kendo Club had claimed the loudest spot, the crack of bamboo swords drawing a crowd. Two third-years in protective gear were sparring.
The wooden floor trembled with every Thrust, and the watching freshmen kept bursting into cheers of "Men!" and "Dō!"
The tea ceremony club, meanwhile, favored stillness over noise. A senpai in an autumn-colored kimono knelt on a cushion, turning her wrist as emerald ripples stirred in the matcha. She had written the words "one chance, one meeting" on the bottoms of the tasting cups.
In front of the light music club's tent, the bassist deliberately plucked her strings, showing off the tattoo on her collarbone. The sound system played last year's school festival-winning original song, "Bronze Gallows," on repeat.
"Join now and get a limited-edition life-size standee!"
As several girls blushed and filled out applications, a loud crash rang out behind them—the space battleship belonging to the neighboring model club had been knocked over by a cheering stick. The club president raised a tube of superglue and shouted, "That's a one-to-two-hundred-scale Yamato that could compete in the national championship!"
Amid the chaos, Karuizawa Kei was pulling Tanaka Yukishin along between the club booths.
"Yukishin, which club do you like?"
As they walked through the crowd, Karuizawa Kei asked, watching the lively performances nearby.
She didn't have a club in mind.
So she planned to join whichever one the person she liked chose.
Tanaka Yukishin felt a little awkward and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
For the right to leave campus, he had already joined three clubs. In the end, he would have to join around fifteen.
Technically, a person wasn't allowed to join multiple clubs, since it could be seen as an attempt to cheat the system for funding and resources.
But he was destined to join teams and compete, so he had joined as a core member.
Once he proved he had the ability to back it up, the school had granted permission.
After all, if they absolutely refused, he could still join and leave clubs in a flexible rotation according to his schedule.
The school had considered that possibility too, so they had readily accommodated him.
"My situation's a little unusual..."
Tanaka Yukishin suddenly grabbed Karuizawa Kei's wrist. He leaned down to whisper, drawing a few girls nearby to stop and sneak a look.
After explaining the details, Tanaka Yukishin offered a compromise.
He was joining other clubs for the right to leave campus, so he wouldn't actually spend time in them.
Since Karuizawa Kei wanted one, why not have her start a club? It could serve as their regular meeting place.
"But if you're not going to the club, why should I start one?"
Karuizawa Kei turned to him, raising an eyebrow curiously.
If he wasn't going, she could just spend time with Tanaka Yukishin directly.
There was no point wasting effort on something meaningless.
"There are three reasons."
Chapter 41: 42—Restless Hearts Are Easy to Stir, Hard to Settle
Tanaka Yukishin was starting a club.
The first reason was to have a fixed base.
There would inevitably be gatherings and discussions in the future.
Tanaka Yukishin wasn't willing to bring classmates he wasn't close to into his big house.
By comparison, a club room he had carefully decorated and furnished would be comfortable and pleasant, perfectly suited to his tastes.
He could use it whenever he wanted.
It would also offer much more privacy than a dorm room or a private booth.
The second reason was the sort of fantasies and surging hormones that came with being a teenage boy.
A harem club, for example.
And then there was that stubborn girl last night.
Her stamina was just too low.
He had only just gotten in the mood before forcing himself to stop.
He couldn't exactly pause every half hour or hour and have her go eat something.
That would be ridiculous.
It would be as miserable as being a male adult-film actor.
Some people thought being a male adult-film actor was a great job.
You got to have fun and make money at the same time.
But that wasn't the case.
1. It was bad for your health.
The saying that one drop of essence was worth ten drops of blood wasn't a joke.
2. Filming was never something you could finish in one go.
Think about it: a romantic adult film.
They had to pause anywhere from a dozen to dozens of times.
When the cameras started rolling, you had to get hard when you were supposed to and soft when you were supposed to.
Without some natural talent,
a few shoots would leave you mentally and physically wrecked.
3. You had to sleep with women whether they were fat or thin, beautiful or ugly.
You didn't get to choose.
The third reason was that he needed a suitable excuse.
In life, there were always people you couldn't turn down directly. In those moments, having a graceful way out was especially important.
Karuizawa Kei nodded.
She didn't react much to Tanaka Yukishin's blunt words.
At that moment, she still felt a dull ache below the waist.
If she couldn't satisfy him, she couldn't expect Tanaka Yukishin to keep holding back forever.
Thinking of that, she suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, you didn't cook lunch. Don't tell me that was your roundabout way of hinting at this?"
Karuizawa Kei had picked up a special talent of her own.
She pinched Tanaka Yukishin around the waist with her right hand, bunching his shirt into little wrinkles.
There was a hint of teasing in her voice.
"Of course not."
Tanaka Yukishin had skipped cooking mainly to teach the dummy a lesson.
Karuizawa Kei was his woman. They were close, and she had his good fortune protecting her.
He wasn't worried anything would happen to her.
She'd always escape disaster.
For instance, his adorable little sister had once been followed home by a perverted stalker.
Then a righteous martial artist happened to pass by and beat the man into paralysis on the spot.
Still, after he found out, he had swept the surrounding area several times, clearing out delinquents, yakuza, perverts, and any other potential threats to his family.
It had even led to an urban legend based on his actions spreading through the neighborhood.
But that was another story.
He also couldn't deny there was a little bit of revenge in it, for Karuizawa Kei's prank when she had changed clothes that morning.
Karuizawa Kei gave a soft snort, pinching him a little harder.
Only when the muscles beneath the boy's shirt tensed slightly did she let go, smoothing out the wrinkles for him.
As she lowered her eyes, her lashes cast wispy shadows in the sunlight, and her ears flushed the color of crabapple blossoms.
"Anyway... if you're in a hurry to start a club, you can find a ghost member first."
After making her position clear, Karuizawa Kei slipped her right arm around his again.
The scent of cherry blossoms drifted past on the breeze through the hall. Tanaka Yukishin suddenly remembered Kushida Kikyo standing in the classroom on the first day of school, clutching her skirt as she spoke.
The girl who had said she wanted to be friends with everyone was probably somewhere right now, weaving a web of connections.
These days, she was focusing on their class. She'd come around in a few days.
Then he'd see whether she chose to offer herself or overcome her psychological scars and grow.
Even if she didn't,
there were other girls.
Ichinose Honami, Sakura Airi...
He suddenly felt he could completely understand the joy of the villainous bosses in the novels he'd read.
After enduring bitter training and bloody battles, they stood at the peak.
Then, after years of loneliness and utter boredom, a promising toy appeared.
It was perfect for passing the time.
Still, he was a little better than a villain.
He wasn't doing this just to enjoy the youthful, vibrant bodies of girls.
He only wanted them to overcome their shadows, pass their trials, and grow into better people.
The individual brilliance they shone with as they grew could please him too.
As the saying went:
My heart and my deeds are as clear as a mirror; everything I do is for justice.
"I'm fine with anything."
"Then let's start one. We can find someone we know who doesn't want to join a club and have them make up the numbers."
As she said it, she shot Tanaka Yukishin a look.
Yesterday, he'd splashed out far too generously, in her opinion.
Now he wanted to recruit someone too. They might as well get a little of that money back.
If the bad guy set his sights on someone,
she'd still be the big sister.
"You?"
"Let's go set up the club room first. Speaking of which, when are you moving?"
"Next week. I need to see the place in person before I decide."
The two headed toward the auditorium's entrance.
They happened to run into Hirata Yosuke and Ken Sudō.
"Hirata, why do you look like you haven't slept?"
Before you continue