Chapter 9: The Great Club Hunt

The gymnasium looked like a cultural festival had exploded inside it.

Banners. Booths. Loud music. Clubs trying to out-flyer each other with free candy, performance clips, and in one case, an actual live hamster race.

I stood just inside the doorway, observing the chaos from a safe distance.

This is a high-risk social environment.
I should’ve stayed in the hallway.
No, I should’ve stayed home.
No, I should’ve been born a tree.

“Come on,” Minako said, already pulling my sleeve. “You’re not getting out of this.”

“This feels optional.”

“Not for you, Book Guy. This is character development.”

“I’m not a light novel protagonist.”

Okabe appeared behind me like a poorly-timed sound effect. “They’ve got a basketball demo! And a fencing club. FENCING, Souji. Do you know how cool that is?!”

“I’m fine with fictional sword fights, thanks.”

Kashiwagi wandered in behind them, sipping a bottle of barley tea like none of this mattered. I envied him deeply.

We made our way through the first aisle of booths. Drama club had lights. Art club had cookies. The Go Home Club had a very convincing sales pitch that I strongly identified with.

Minako veered off toward the journalism table, already chatting up the upperclassman in charge. A second later she was signing her name with a grin.

“Journalism club?” I asked when she came back.

“They need someone with good instincts,” she said. “And I want to write about weird stuff. Like urban legends. Or love triangles.”

Okabe turned to her, eyes wide. “Are there actual love triangles in this school?!”

She shrugged. “There will be.”

Please don’t say things like that in front of Okabe. He takes it as a challenge.

Okabe, for his part, tried out a little of everything. Table tennis. Drama. Broadcasting. He stopped at the astronomy club booth for five seconds and nearly joined out of sheer impulse.

But then Scrunchie Girl from our class waved him over.

She was helping promote the dance club.

“Yoooo, I’m doing this,” he said as she handed him a neon-colored flyer.

“You can dance?” Minako asked, suspicious.

“I can learn.”

He signed up immediately.

Okabe, Chaos Alignment: Confirmed.

Kashiwagi surprised us all by stopping in front of the school’s folklore research club. A small table. Sparse setup. A list of strange old books and local legends pinned to the board.

He stared at it for a long time.

“You into that stuff?” I asked, quietly.

He nodded.

“You should check it out.”

He didn’t say anything. But his eyes lingered a bit longer, and when we moved on, I noticed he’d taken a pamphlet with him.

Eventually, all three of them turned to me at once.

“What about you?” Minako asked.

“No plans,” I said.

“You should join one of ours,” Okabe said. “We’d get to hang out more. Plus, imagine Book Guy doing a dramatic scene in the drama club. The crowd would weep.”

“No thanks.”

“Okay, okay,” Minako said, “what about journalism? You could write reviews. Or emotional breakdowns of fictional characters.”

“I do that in my head already. For free.”

“Well, you could do it in print,” she said. “With footnotes.”

Kashiwagi tilted his head. “Book club, then?”

I hesitated.

They all looked at me—waiting, maybe expecting an enthusiastic nod.

But I shook my head.

“No,” I said.

Minako blinked. “Seriously? That’s like, your entire brand.”

“I just... don’t want to.”

The silence that followed wasn’t heavy. But it lingered.

Okabe broke it first. “Huh. Didn’t expect that.”

Kashiwagi didn’t react. Just sipped his tea.

Minako looked thoughtful. Like she wanted to press further, but stopped herself.

Good. Because I don’t want to explain why. Not yet.

We finished walking the booths. I didn’t join anything.

But I didn’t hate the experience either.

And that was almost scarier.

I’m getting used to this.
To them.
To being seen.

As we left the gym, Minako bumped my shoulder lightly.

“You sure you don’t want to join something?”

“Positive.”

She grinned. “Okay. But we’re not done with you yet, Book Guy.”

I smiled. Just a little.

“I figured.”