Comatose Club

The afternoon dragged its feet with weary pace. Before we knew it, classes were done for the day.

Right on cue, the bell rang and we were dismissed. Students peeled off from their desks one by one, scattering in every direction to tackle whatever came next. Club activities, part-time jobs, dates, hanging out with friends, or heading straight home to prepare dinner for their family. Everyone's got their own after-school agenda, right? Me included.

I grabbed the key from the faculty room and made my way to the club building. After a minute or so climbing the stairs to the second floor, I walked down the hallway until I hit the corner of the left wing, where my club room was. A sign above the door read: [PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB].

"Good afternoon," I said out of habit as I stepped inside. No answer, obviously. Since there wasn't a soul in there besides me.

I cracked the window open, flipped the fan on, and collapsed onto the couch, taking a breather while I figured out what I felt like doing today.

Ever since the upperclassmen graduated, club activities had pretty much ground to a halt. This club was on life support. There's only so much you can do when you're flying solo. So usually, I just did whatever I felt like instead of sticking to regular club agenda.

Don't get me wrong—I've tried recruiting new members. But so far, no dice.

Guess photography just isn't everyone's cup of tea. Sure, tons of people like taking pictures. But only a handful actually take it seriously enough to join a club. So it's not a shocker a club like this doesn't exactly draw a crowd.

What can you do? That's just how the cookie crumbles. You can't force people to like what you like, right? Or vice versa.

At least I can still enjoy my time here. Well, until the student council drops an eviction notice, that is. Until that day comes, I'll keep trying to recruit members and run club activities the best I can. It's the only way I can keep my seniors' legacy alive.

Once I'd scraped together enough energy and motivation, I hauled myself off the couch. Grabbed my bag with the camera and gear from the equipment locker. I made sure to check my name off on the attendance sheet, noted down "solo hunting" under the [TODAY'S ACTIVITIES] column—a ritual I still kept up with. Then I locked up the room, headed out, and returned the key.

*** 

"Oh, Kobayashi. Good timing. Come here for a sec."

I was just about to leave the faculty room when I heard someone called my name. Miss Matsumoto was waving me over from behind her desk, which was buried under a mountain of paperwork. Her face wore its usual expression—dead serious. And completely drained. I obediently shuffled over.

"You heading somewhere? Not in a hurry, are you? Could you give me a hand for a second?"

Without waiting for an answer, Miss Matsumoto dragged a cardboard box out from under her desk. Grunting a little, she hoisted it onto hes desktop and gave it a pat.

"Take this to the Literature Club room," she said, tapping the box. "You don't mind it, don't you?"

Did I even have a choice? Obviously not. So I nodded like a good little soldier and agreed.

I lifted the box with both hands. Kinda heavy. But manageable.

"Careful now. Don't drop it, okay," Miss Matsumoto warned.

"What's inside, Miss? Fragile stuff or something?" I asked, just for pleasantry.

"No, they're books. Small donation from a friend of mine."

It ain't look small to me, to be honest.

"Oh, I see. Looks like quite a haul."

"Yeah. She got married recently and about to move to her husband's hometown. So she's donating stuff she won't be taking with her. Like these books."

"Is that so? Well, congratulation."

I didn't really ask that far, though. But okay.

"Yeah, congratulation to her. I was floored when I heard she was tying the knot. That girl never had so much as a whiff of experience with guys. Then out of the blue, she says some European guy she works with popped the question. Isn't that something?"

"Uh, yeah. Something…"

Again—didn't ask. But she married a foreigner, huh. Is that supposed to be some kind of achievement worth celebrating? I had no clue what to do with that information.

"Well, thank goodness. At least she's finally found her safe harbor. As her friend, I'm genuinely happy for her," Miss Matsumoto said that with a sluggish tone.
Maybe it's just me, but she did sound like she's jealous. But she quickly masked it with that serious expression of her.

"Well, enough with that. Anyway, please take that to the Literature Club room, would you?"

"Will do, Miss."

"You know where it is?"

"I'm about about to ask."

"Yeah, that club tends to be invisible to common eyes. No wonder most people don't know about it."

Kind of like my club, huh. The trait of being unpopular.

"It's on the third floor of the club building. All the way at the end of the left wing. There's a sign. You can't miss it."

"Understood."

With the info I needed, I turned to leave. But I'd barely taken a step before Miss Matsumoto called out again.

"Oh, and Kobayashi—one more thing. If you knock and nobody answers, just go right in."

"Huh? Is that really okay?"

"Yeah, don't sweat it. That club's member sometimes doesn't feel like answering. She's not exactly fond of being disturbed after all."

Wouldn't that be even more reason not to barge in uninvited?

"Alright. Off you go."

But before I could press for more details, Miss Matsumoto waved me off—literally shooing me away—before turning back to her laptop.

I didn't exactly have a choice but to suck it up and carry out my mission.

***