I can still hear you.

It was the morning of the next day, Takemura Eiji and Ishida Masato had just arrived at school. They were changing their shoes when they heard two voices coming from behind.
– Good morning, Takemura-kun! Good morning, Ishida-kun!

– Good morning, you two.
They turned around and came face to face with Araki Yuuka and Satou Shiori, two girls in their class and also the newest members of the Baranta club.

– Good morning, what do we owe the pleasure to? – Masato gave a slight dramatic bow.
– It’s way too early for this… – Eiji sighed at him with a deadpan face, then turned to the two girls. – Good morning to you too.

Shiori leaned to Masato.
– What’s wrong with him?
– He’s always like this, haven’t you noticed? – Masato grinned.

Eiji’s ears flickered as he started walking away.
– Just shut up, okay?

Masato gave a chuckle as he followed after him accompanied by the two girls.
– He’ll probably open up in about a month, he just hasn’t settled in yet. – he leaned closer to both of them. – By that time, you won’t be able to make him shut up.

– I can still hear you. – Eiji said in an irritated tone. – How can all of you be so energetic in the morning? Am I the only one that hates coming to school? – he mumbled to himself.

This time, it was Masato’s turn to have his ears flickering.

– You’re alone on this one, Eiji.

Yuuka looked at Masato with a curious gaze.
– What did Takemura-kun say?

Ishida leaned to her ear and whispered.
– He said that he wishes that a cute girl like you would walk by him.

A trace of red instantly started spreading on Yuuka’s face as her gaze shifted to the floor. Eiji facepalmed in front and quickened his pace.

– He… He really said that? – she said quietly.

– Well… something across the lines… – Masato scratched the back of his head. – So don’t let him walk away, go after him! – he encouraged.
Yuuka nodded as the redness on her face spread even more and she headed after Eiji.
– Takemura-kun, wait!

Eiji stopped and looked back at her, but his mouth was moving.

– I know you can hear me, Ishida Masato, since this is your death sentence. Enjoy your last hours in this wonderful world, because when we get home, you’re a dead man. – he whispered while staring into Masato’s eyes.

They were a few meters apart, but Masato could hear him perfectly. His ears flickered as a grin spread across his face.

– Then, I’ll just have to enjoy my last day on Earth with such a cutie as Satou-san over here!

Shiori’s face reddened slightly as she shot a light elbow to Masato’s ribs.
– What was that so suddenly? And you should stop calling me that in front of so many people! – she said as she straightened her back, trying to act serious.

– Ouch! Does that mean I can call you cute when it’s just the two of us? – he smirked.

Shiori opened her eyes wide as she started steaming. She looked away from Masato as she crossed her arms and talked in a silent tone.

– I… I guess I wouldn’t mind…

Then, suddenly, the bell rang.

– And now we’re late to class too… – Eiji mumbled to himself.

– We can still make it, Takemura-kun, the class is right there! – Yuuka walked a few steps forwards and stopped, smiling at Eiji, still having that red tinge on her face.

Eiji stopped like he hit a wall, then he looked at the floor, his face started to resemble Yuuka’s in color.

– Yeah, whatever… – he arranged his collar.

Masato and Shiori caught up to them.
– I kinda saw the teacher approaching, so you should really pick up the pace. – Masato said, then smirked with mischief. – And also, stop all that flirting, you two. School should be a place to learn.

Yuuka’s face got even redder meanwhile all traces of red disappeared from Eiji’s face as his gaze almost pierced Masato.

– F-Flirting? Does it really look like that? – she looked at Eiji, flustered.

She didn’t notice, however, that Eiji’s lips were moving.

– You really are a dead man, Ishida Masato. I might even look into how much the jail sentence for murder is in Japan, but at this point, I don’t even care. You won’t even get a proper corpse. – he was whispering in the same way as before.

– Yeah, love you too, Eiji. – he winked at Eiji.

Eiji then snapped out of it and shook his head.

– Whatever… let’s just get to class… – he walked a few steps ahead, but noticed Yuuka standing in one place. – Aren’t you coming too, Araki-san?

She also shook her head and then walked by Eiji with a smile.

– Of course, Takemura-kun, I was just lost in thought for a second…

𐲂𐲀𐲢𐲀𐲙𐲦𐲀

The first period passes quickly, and soon, a group of people is formed at Eiji’s desk. Masato, Furuya Dai, Mihara Tamotsu and Noguchi Jun are all waiting for Eiji to speak.

– Why are you all so eager to have our first club meeting session this week? It’s already Thursday, just wait till next week. – he was leaning back in his chair, yawning.

– Come on, Takemura-kun, you made us join this dumb club and you haven’t even shown us what it’s about. – Dai slammed his palm on his desk.

– Calm down, Dai, I’m sure that Takemura-kun has a well thought out plan. – Tamotsu put his hand on Dai’s shoulder, then looked at Eiji. – Right?

– I wish I had a plan too. – Eiji thought.

– But why are you all talking to Eiji about this? I’m the vice-president of the club, I can also solve these issues. – Masato crossed his arms.

– Well, that’s because you’re annoying as hell… – Eiji sighed.

– I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that. – Masato turned around.

– Takemura-kun… I also have to agree with everyone, having a meeting this week would be the best to introduce the club to more people, you know, to strike the iron while it’s hot. We might even get some new members. – Jun spoke in an unsure tone.

Eiji put his hands on the table and stood up, sighing.

– Alright, you guys. We’ll have our first club meeting tomorrow after school, okay? Make sure to tell the girls too… – he sat back down, dejected.

– Tell us what? – Shiori and Yuuka walked to them from the back of the class. – Did you decide to hold a club gathering without us? – she narrowed her eyes at the guys.

– These guys just came up to me and started insisting on having a club meeting this week. It will be tomorrow after school if that’s fine with the two of you. – Eiji leaned back in his chair.

– Fine by me, what about you, Yuuka-chan? – Shiori looked at Yuuka.

– I’m free that time too, but how much will it take? – Yuuka looked at Eiji.

– About 2 hours, I think… But we could be done faster than that. Depends on all of you.

– What do you mean by that? – Dai’s eyebrows furrowed.

– You’ll see I guess… – Eiji said as he put his forehead on his desk.

– What is this? Explain a bit more. – Dai would put his hand on Eiji’s shoulder, but he’s stopped by Masato.

– He’s a bit tired today, let’s leave him be. – he said as he walked back to his seat.

– Whatever… – Dai also went back to his seat.

Yuuka looked at Eiji with a concerned gaze.

– Why is he so tired? – she said, more to herself.

Masato’s ears flickered as he said.

– Who knows, maybe he couldn’t really sleep thinking about you all night.