"Students who are confident in their abilities are welcome to apply. We'll thoroughly investigate whether you're suited to serve as a Student Council member," Horikita Manabu continued, his expression unchanged. "Applicants don't need to meet any special requirements, but please avoid joining other clubs. As a rule, we won't accept anyone who wishes to join both the Student Council and another club."
His tone was fairly gentle, yet the atmosphere in Gymnasium 1 grew tense. With just a few simple words, he had silenced the more than one hundred people seated below.
His ability to control the situation seemed to proclaim that he was a born leader, an unquestionable figure of authority.
Impressive!
Kanda had never seen anyone like him at this school. Just as that red-haired guy had said earlier, was this the man who stood at the very top of the school!?
Looking at Horikita Suzune in front of him, Shuichi Kanda's lips curled into a faint smile. "You're both Horikitas, but the difference between you is enormous."
Horikita Suzune's body trembled at his words, but, unusually, she didn't argue with him.
"Lastly, we don't want anyone running for the Student Council with naïve ideas. People like that won't just fail to get elected; they'll probably leave a stain on the school. Our school's administration has entrusted the Student Council with the right and responsibility to change its regulations, and much is expected of us. We welcome only those who understand that."
Horikita Manabu's speech ended there. At the same time, Tachibana, the student emcee, hurried back onto the stage to deliver the closing remarks.
"Thank you all for your effort. This concludes the information session. We'll now begin accepting club applications. Applications will remain open through the end of April, so anyone who decides to apply later should take their application form directly to the club they wish to join."
Tachibana's words eased the tense atmosphere in Gymnasium 1. With a superior like that, Tachibana must have—
No, was it precisely because she had a superior like that that the Student Council had a secretary like Tachibana?
After the Student Council secretary gave her closing remarks, the club representatives began accepting applications from students.
Shuichi Kanda and Akito Miyake had planned to wait until the crowds thinned out before going over, but they soon realized that not many people were actually joining clubs.
It was no wonder. There were very few people at this school to begin with, with only four classes. Compared with ordinary schools, which had seven, eight, or even more than ten classes, that was a rather small number.
Besides, the school's system was unusual. Students could find other ways to enjoy themselves besides taking part in club activities, so unless they were particularly interested, few students would go out of their way to join a club.
As a result, only two girls were standing in front of Hashikura, the Archery Club captain, asking questions. They seemed interested in joining.
In that case, there was no need to wait. They could just go over.
When Hashikura saw Miyake and Kanda coming over, a hint of joy appeared on her face. Before leaving that day, Club President Sato had specifically told her that a particularly talented boy would be joining the Archery Club.
Judging from Club President Sato's description, it had to be the boy with the short hair.
As soon as Shuichi Kanda and Akito Miyake approached, Hashikura stopped explaining things to the girls and turned to look at them.
"May I ask which of you is Miyake?"
Although she asked the question, she didn't look at Kanda at all.
Under Hashikura's intense gaze, Miyake raised his hand. "Uh, that's me."
The scene made Miyake feel a little awkward. He didn't like being singled out like that, with everyone else left waiting just because of him.
And, senpai, was it really okay to leave those two potential recruits waiting while you focused all your attention on me?
Just put yourself in their shoes. What would it feel like to apply to the Archery Club, only for the person in charge to abandon you and enthusiastically welcome someone else? Especially when you'd arrived first.
Miyake didn't care much about what other people thought of him, but no one wanted to be on the receiving end of a dirty look. If they joined the club too, then this moment might well have made them enemies.
In short, from the first moment Miyake met Hashikura, he felt that she wasn't very good at reading the room. To put it simply, she lacked social awareness. Why would Sato-senpai send a senpai like her to handle club applications?
But what Miyake worried about didn't happen. The girls who had been waiting off to the side watched Miyake, his expression awkward, with some curiosity.
They'd just heard that the Archery Club would be getting a powerful new member this year. Was this the person they'd been talking about?
"Hello, Miyake. I'm Asano Kyoko from Class 1-A, and this is Nishida Miho, my classmate." It seemed the tall, flat-chested girl named Asano Kyoko had noticed Miyake's discomfort. She immediately introduced herself to him, also introducing the companion beside her, Nishida Miho.
"Hello."
Compared with Asano Kyoko, Nishida Miho was much more reserved.
"Hello. I'm Akito Miyake from Class 1-D, and this is my classmate and friend, Shuichi Kanda."
When Miyake introduced himself, especially when he mentioned Class 1-D, Asano Kyoko didn't react, but a strange glint flashed in Nishida Miho's eyes.
Shuichi Kanda didn't miss it.
Did Class A already know about the differences between the classes? And this girl didn't look like one of the leaders in Class A. So had the leader of Class A shared this information with everyone and convinced them to believe it?
If that was the case, Class D was already at a huge disadvantage right from the start. Hirata, you'd better do your best.
After Miyake finished his introduction, Shuichi Kanda nodded slightly to the two girls. "Hello, I'm Shuichi Kanda."
After seeing the two groups introduce themselves amicably, Hashikura immediately crossed her arms. "We've got four new members joining the Archery Club this year. That's wonderful."
Kanda glanced at Hashikura, who looked excited, but didn't say anything that might dampen her spirits.
Chapter 20: Shuichi Kanda Smiled
In the end, Shuichi Kanda still decided to join the Archery Club. He explained that he wouldn't attend regular practice and would only take care of maintaining the equipment, but Hashikura immediately agreed.
The reason was simple: the club's activity budget depended on its membership. So even honorary members were welcome, as long as they didn't cause trouble under the club's name.
Especially someone like Shuichi Kanda, a precious asset willing to handle the behind-the-scenes work. This proved the old saying: logistics were crucial to winning a war!
The Archery Club's practice area was at the far western end of the school's athletic grounds, where a large open space had been set aside for the club.
As one of the long-established clubs that had been around since the school was founded, the Archery Club might not have had many members, but there was no question about its strength.
After looking around the club's practice area, Miyake and Shuichi Kanda got ready to head back. Official club activities wouldn't begin until tomorrow, and that was when the bow and arrows Miyake had bought would be delivered to the Archery Club.
Kanda had originally planned to stop by the supermarket after the club session and buy a set of cooking utensils. He was glad he wouldn't have to take part in club activities.
After packing up a set of cooking tools and tableware, Shuichi Kanda had the shop assistant deliver them straight to the dormitory. He didn't want to carry that much stuff.
Now that he had the cooking equipment, all he needed was food.
Well, what better way to celebrate being a new student than with meat?
Looking at the dazzling array of products in front of him, Shuichi Kanda couldn't help but marvel. This was just a small supermarket, yet it had such a complete selection. They were really showing off!
"Miyake, how about braised pork belly tonight?"
"Sure, but you had beef for lunch today, didn't you? If you eat meat twice in one day, will your points be okay?"
"It's fine, it's fine. Don't worry."
As he spoke, Kanda picked up a package of fresh pork belly and handed it to Miyake. According to the label, it was 500 grams. With some side dishes, that should be enough for two people.
"Hold on to this. I'm going to grab a bottle of cooking wine over there. Could you buy a few eggs?"
Seeing how enthusiastic Shuichi Kanda was, Miyake couldn't refuse. He took the pork belly from Kanda, then picked up the seasonings they'd just bought—scallions, ginger, garlic, and various spices—and headed toward the egg section.
Kanda went in the opposite direction, toward the liquor section.
He'd thought cooking wine would be in the seasonings aisle, but after searching for a long time and coming up empty, he asked a store employee and learned that, for some reason, it had been placed in the liquor section.
Cooking wine, cooking wine...
Shuichi Kanda silently repeated what he was looking for as he headed toward the liquor section. Then he spotted a girl with long purple hair tied into a side ponytail, looking around near the shelves.
What was she doing? Students shouldn't be allowed to buy the things over there, should they?
The legal drinking age in Japan was twenty. So even though the supermarket sold alcohol, it normally wouldn't sell any to students. Was she planning to steal some?
He hadn't seen her face, but her skin and figure were both top-notch. He hadn't expected her to do something like this. How interesting. Should he do something?
At the thought, Shuichi Kanda's lips curled into a smile. He shifted back slightly, stepping into the girl's blind spot.
Then he took out his phone, opened the camera, and waited for the crucial moment.
"Click!"
The moment the girl picked up a small can of beer and tried to hide it, Shuichi Kanda pressed the shutter on his phone's camera.
But the shutter sound startled the girl—and startled Shuichi Kanda too.
I'd clearly put it on silent mode. Why did the camera still make a sound?
Clang!
The can of beer fell to the floor and rolled over to Shuichi Kanda's feet.
Then Shuichi Kanda saw the girl's face, panicked and full of anger, before she strode toward him.
"What happened, Shuichi?"
Nice! Good timing!
What perfect timing, Akito!
The dull thud of the can hitting the floor had brought Miyake rushing over. Since Shuichi Kanda wasn't in good health, Miyake had quickly finished picking out the eggs and hurried over.
When the purple-haired girl saw Miyake arrive, she immediately stopped walking.
If Kanda had been alone, she might have been able to snatch his phone and delete the photo. In her eyes, with his pale face and frail build, Kanda was a pushover.
But now there was another guy who looked like a real hassle. This was bad.
If this got out...
She couldn't bear to imagine what would happen.
What should she do? Would he tell anyone?
She looked at Shuichi Kanda nervously.
"It's nothing. I was just curious about this thing and didn't have a good grip on it." As he spoke, Kanda slipped his phone into the inner pocket of his jacket, then bent down and picked up the can of beer.
Watching Kanda, Miyake looked utterly speechless. "You weren't thinking of drinking that, were you? It's not good for you."
"Oh? Does that mean you've tried it, Akito?"
"Don't joke around. I'm not even twenty yet."
As they chatted, Shuichi Kanda put the beer back on a nearby shelf, picked up the cooking wine, and left the liquor section with Miyake.
As for the girl, Shuichi Kanda paid her no attention. It was better not to let Miyake know about this.
At the checkout, after asking what the cooking wine was for, the cashier simply rang it up.
When they got back to the dorm, the cooking utensils and tableware they'd ordered had already arrived. Money really could make things happen. The delivery was incredibly fast after they'd paid the delivery fee.
After preparing the ingredients, Shuichi Kanda handled the rest with practiced ease.
He boiled the eggs, cut the meat into pieces and blanched it, cooked the rice, then started caramelizing sugar and braising the pork.
All they had to do now was wait for the meat to simmer over low heat for a few dozen minutes. Then they could enjoy some delicious braised pork!
An hour later.
"Let's eat!" *2
"Delicious! This is really good!" After putting a piece of freshly cooked braised pork in his mouth, Miyake immediately exclaimed, "At this level, you could easily open a restaurant! Shuichi, is your family in the restaurant business?"
"Akito, you're exaggerating. It's just a hobby."
Shuichi Kanda picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth too.
Hmm, it was a little too sweet. Next time, he wouldn't caramelize the sugar. He'd just use cola instead. That would save him some effort too.
"If only we always had enough points. Then we could eat this every day."
"Cooking for yourself is cheaper than eating in the cafeteria. Even if we eat this every day, the average cost per meal is less than 500 points. We don't have to pay for water or gas, after all."
"Really? When you put it that way, it seems like food is pretty cheap."
That was right. This was another strange thing about the school. The cafeteria meals were expensive, but the ingredients used to make them were surprisingly cheap.
"I saw you spend several thousand points just now, though."
"That was mostly for the seasonings. You don't use them all at once, so we can keep using them later."
Miyake nodded. "True, but we'll have to attend club activities regularly from now on. We might not get to eat together very often."
"Don't worry. I'll cook when I have time. And I saw what looked like a kitchen at the club, so maybe someday we can use the Archery Club's budget to make something good."
"They have something like that? I didn't see it."
Chapter 21: I'm Rich, I'm Rich, and I Don't Even Know How to Spend It
After getting Miyake to wash the dishes, Shuichi Kanda sat down at his desk and began going over what had happened that day. In short, he was going to write in his diary.
Weather: sunny. Date: April 2.
Before you continue