Chapter 11:

Your Hobbies?

Having Trouble Coming up With a Decent Story


Yasutake, Hirata, Takayama, and Shimizu were sitting before a rectangular table, the first two on the left side, and the other two, on the right. After staring at the four for a moment, Koshiro turned around to leave the room.

“Waaait!” a female voice shouted.

“Koike-san!” a male voice shouted at the same time.

Koshiro looked to the room once again, there, Kazuhiko Hirata and Etsuko Shimizu were standing up and staring at him.

“Please don’t go, Koike-kun!” Shimizu shouted again.

“Huh?” “What is up with this girl? It can only be a trap from Takayama.” Koshiro gave a quick glance at Hayami Takayama.

“What are you doing Etsuko??!” Takayama shouted and glared at her friend.

“I-I’m sorry Hayamichi! But this is the best for you!” Shimizu replied, “Let’s do as Suto-Sensei instructed.”

“Ugh.” Takayama scowled and crossed her arms. “Then I won’t be responsible if he gets his butt kicked.”

“Okay...” Shimizu had a serious expression, “If you beat him up we can blame Suto-Sensei!”

“Are you two being serious?”

“We can’t blame the Sensei!” Takayama pointed out, “Besides, this one probably gets his fair share of spanking from her.” she pointed at Koshiro.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!” the boy exclaimed.

“Nothing…”

“You little b…” the boy started.

“I see!” Shimizu interrupted him, “So we have to blame a student…”

“Yes.” Takayama nodded.

“I’m sorry Hirata-kun, but it’ll have to be you!!”

“Oh!” Hirata smiled and scratched his nape, “I’m honored, but I can’t take the blame for that, I’m sorry…”

“Hmm…” Shimizu made a reflective expression, “...so it’ll have to be you!!” she indicated the guilty with her finger.

“Me?” Koshiro pointed to his own face.

“Uhum.”

“How can I be guilty of getting my own ass kicked?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Shimizu rummaged her bag and picked a pair of glasses, then, she went to the board and started to explain: “It’s a process of elimination! First Hayamichi said that she won’t be responsible…” she made a sketch of Takayama’s face and then crossed it out, “Second, we know you get your fair share of spanking from Suto-Sensei…”

“THAT’S WRONG!” Koshiro yelled, but the girl ignored him and continued into drawing a little Sumiye with red cheeks grinning, holding a bottle, and kicking a little Koshiro.

“...third, Hirata-kun said that he can’t take the blame for that…” she sketched Hirata scratching his head.

“Okay, but either way, you and Yasutake could still be blamed, right?”

“If you say something like that, it means that you are not paying attention!” Shimizu frowned and crossed her arms, “Yasutake-chan is too cute to get the blame…” she pointed at a now flushing Yasutake.

“And you...?”

“I’m the one teaching the class! So you must have a lot of courage to arrive late and raise your voice like that! Go get a seat, now!”

“Aargh.” Koshiro sighed and then picked a chair, putting it on Yasutake’s and Hirata’s side, “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Thank you very much, Koike-kun!” Shimizu smiled at him and went back to her seat.

 “Anyway, what are we all here for?” Koshiro asked.

“It’s the end of the introduction.” Takayama replied, "You don't even know that much? What an as..."

“Ugh, I know that much” Koshiro frowned at her, “What’s the other reason?”

“S-Suto S-Sensei invited u-us here…” Yasutake started.

“...to form the hobby club!” Hirata concluded.

“Hobby club?” “What a bad name.”

“It’s not necessarily a Hobby club!” Shimizu explained, “She asked us to make a club by doing what we like to do!”

“Hmm…” “Yeah, she was definitely drunk when she had that idea.”

“Hirata-kun was just telling us that you like to write!”

“Is that so…?” Koshiro glared at Hirata.

“I’m sorry Koike-san…” he smiled awkwardly.

“Humpf!” Katayama chimed in, “As if a guy like him with his just above average height, average built, medium-short wenge hair and burnt umber eyes could write something good!” she shouted, “If you wanted to do that you should be more like Hirata-kun: more than just above average height, still an average built… but spiky nape-length dark hair with bangs that cover his forehead! And with dark-blue eyes!”

“Oh! I appreciate that Takayama-san!” Hirata was blushing a bit, “But I’m not much, and you’re a superstar with your beautiful smile, long hair, amethyst-like eyes, and… other things… hehe.” he smiled with embarrassment.

“T-Thanks!” Takayama blushed.

“Grrrr.” someone growled (c'mon it was obviously Yasutake).

“Hey guys!” Shizumi stood up again. “Don’t you see that this conversation is uncomfortable for Yasutake-chan??!” she shouted and then turned to Yasutake: “Don’t worry, I think that you are very cute with your slender figure, black hair tied in a ponytail, impressive breasts for your short size, and grey eyes!”

“W-What a-are y-you t-talking a-bout, Shizumi-san??” the embarrassed Yasutake fiddled with her fingers and murmured, “Y-You are way c-cuter than m-me with your p-pink hair worn in a b-bun, slightly below average h-height, and amber eyes… y-your make-up is v-very well done as well!”

“Oh no.” Koshiro smacked his head, “What a lame way to finally describe your characters after so many chapters.” he then shook his head: “And this part will be useless if this ever gets adapted to a visual media!”

“Thanks for the compliment Yasutake-chan.” Shimizu said, “But we have to continue!”

“That’s right.” Takayama agreed, “Hirata-kun, you were going to talk about what you like to do before that idiot arrived.”

“Ugh.” was the only sound Koshiro made.

“Hmm, that’s right…” Hirata held his chin, “But I can only say that I like to play…”

“PLAY?!” Shimizu interrupted, “What do you mean??!” she stared at Hirata.

“I like to play some online games…” Hirata smiled while turning to Shimizu, “But I’m more like a casual player, I don’t think it’s good to try hard and strain yourself…”

“Hmm…” Shimizu widened her eyes, staying quiet.

“Kazuhiko-kun is a-also a pretty g-good drawer…” Yasutake said while looking down.

“Huh?” Takayama tilted her head, “So we should leave our things with him?”

“T-That’s n-not what I meant!” Yasutake raised her voice, “H-He can draw well, t-that’s what it is.”

“Oh! Nice, Hirata-kun!” Shimizu looked at the boy, “Can you draw something for my younger brother later??”

“Hmm, It shouldn’t be a problem if you’re fine with me Shimizu-chan.”

“Nice! Then I’ll tell you what it is about later!” she gave him a thumbs-up.

“Okay!”

“And what about you Yasutake-chan? What do you like to do?” Shimizu turned to the short girl.

“I… I…” Yasutake fiddled with her fingers, “I... I…” but couldn’t say anything more.

“She sings beautifully!” Hirata answered for her, “It’s a shame she doesn’t do that often anymore.”

“Oh, is that true Yasutake-chan?!” Shimizu observed the other girl nod, “That’s too bad…”

“W-What about you S-Shimizu-chan?” Yasutake asked.

“Me?!” she scratched her head and smiled awkwardly, “I-I just like to… I like to…”

“Wear make-up.” Takayama answered for her.

“Yes! That’s right! I love to wear make-up and do girly things! hehe.”

“Great!” Hirata smiled at Shimizu and then turned to Takayama: “And you play…”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“NOOOO!!” Takayama yelled and got up so fast that the chair fell to the floor. It looked like she had tears forming in her eyes. "I DON'T DO ANYTHING!"

“Hayamichi…” Shimizu murmured.

“Takayama-san? What’s wron…?” Hirata started.

“Etsuko.” Takayama called with a harsh voice, “That’s more than enough of this shitty club for today, don’t you think?” she glared at the other girl, who hesitated, but then nodded in response. “Then we should go.”

“Bu…”

“You can ask for your drawing another day.”

“Okay…”

With that, Takayama grabbed her back and walked to the door, Shimizu followed her, murmuring a “Bye.” before closing the door.

“T-Takayama-san c-can be s-scary…” Yasutake said after a couple of minutes of hush.

“Is what is expected of a fak…” 

“Koike.” Hirata interrupted Koshiro, “I don’t think it's time to joke.” he forced a smile, “Right?”

“That’s right.” Koshiro murmured with an apologetic tone, “That’s right…”