High School Life

***

It has been 2 months since we started high school. Surprisingly, almost none of my middle school classmates are in this high school, at least not in my section. Kayo and I are in the same section, although our seats are now apart. Clubs... I haven't joined any and nor am I planning to. Friends... that I don't have any too. As for Kayo, she did make some friends.

"So much for changing my high school life." I sighed.

"What?"

"Nothing." We were eating our lunch on one of the benches in the schoolyard.

"You still haven't made any friends yet."

"Y-yeah."

"Still a loner, huh?"

"Don't put salt on my wounds, it hurts," I said while giving a dramatic reaction by putting my hand on my chest.

"That's some real second-grade acting." She said while making a shrugging face.

"That's harsh."

"Still, how hard is it to make friends?"

"Yeah, I don't have any idea since I never had any."

"Don't play the victim card." Now this one really hurt. "Just go and talk with someone."

"I don't have any idea how to start a conversation though,"

"Are you serious?"

"Don't look at me like I am not even human. It hurts." The lunch bell rang.

"Anyways, go and try starting some conversations. You won't make any friends by just lamenting."

"Hey, is it just me or are you suddenly less dumb?"

"That's rude. I am a high school student now." Ah, I see. It's her time of life when one suddenly starts feeling like a grown-up.

"Anyways, let's go. Class is about to start."

"Yeah." I sighed and started walking towards class. I think I am sighing a lot nowadays.

***

"Yo, Kazuki-kun." A classmate suddenly approached me after I came back to class and he also started using my first name. Not that I mind, but why does everyone I talk to goes directly on a first-name basis?

"Hi, uhh... Nishikawa kun?" I think that was his name. I hadn't talked to him before. I wonder what he wanted to talk about.

"Jiro is fine." It was his first name.

"I see, Jiro-kun then. Do you want something?"

"Hmm... I wanted to talk to you about something but the teacher is about to come so wait for me after school, alright? Well then, see ya." And he left.

I just sat on my seat wondering what just happened. Jiro was the type of guy who would get really chubby with anyone but will still feel somewhat distant. At least, that is how he seemed to be from the interactions I saw with others. He had brown hair and good facial features. I wondered if he was popular with girls.

Well... for now he asked me to wait for him after school so I told Kayo about this.

"Oooo! You finally getting a friend. Give me a treat for this. This is an event to be celebrated."

"You know you don't really have to be this sarcastic."

"Hehe! Well... come back with good news."

"What is with that suspicious wording." So she went home with her friends today.

I was standing with my back against the lockers in the school wondering about what he wanted to talk about. Then he came out with two juice cans in his hand. He threw one toward me. I caught it and gladly accepted his treat.

"Which direction is your house in?"

"Left."

"Nice we can talk while walking then. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, I am fine with it." We were walking as we drank the juice. I was waiting for him to start but he was taking quite some time.

"I wonder where I should start. You are a WeTuber, right?" He suddenly spoke.

"I guess someone here does know about my channel."

"I just found it accidentally yesterday in my feed. I was shocked."

"That is some coincidence. So, what do you want to ask?"

"Well then, I will get to the point. I have a request."

"Request?"

"Yeah." He took a deep breath. "Can you hire me?" I was dumbfounded.

"W-what?"

"I guess I messed up. Well, what I want to say is that you probably need someone to edit your videos, thumbnails and manage channel and advertising. I can handle all of that so will you please hire me for all this."

"Wait wait wait wait, I am doing all of that myself. Why would I hire someone else? Besides I don't think I can even pay you that much."

"Hiring someone will reduce your workload and you might even get time to start streaming. Also, I won't be expensive you know."

"But why do you want to work for me?"

"Well... I have a lot of reasons but you can say I want to see if it is fun or not. Besides, I think it will definitely be more fun than working some part-time job in a store."

I thought about it calmly as I drank the juice. He does seem really serious. I will have to check his skills though. Yes, I was considering this seriously.

"What about the pay?"

"Oh, Would 40% of ad revenue be fine?"

"That is an unusual way of paying."

"Well... by this your profit will mean more money for me."

"That's true. I will give this a serious thought but I will have to consult with Kayo too about this."

"Oh, yeah. I wanted to ask. Are you two dating?" I was caught off-guard as I was drinking the juice and it almost sprayed all around but I swallowed it while coughing.

"N-no we aren't," I replied, still coughing a little.

"Hmm... really? You guys really emit this lover vibe."

"Uhh..."

"Well... I also have another thing."

"There is still another?"

"Yeah, What do you think about making a club called 'Entertainment Club'?"

"Huhhh??!"

Well, in the end, he really got me with some interesting things so I told him that I would tell him after thinking about these things. Kayo, of course, agreed to all of this thinking all of this will be FUN totally oblivious to the idea of how much work it will be.

I checked Jiro's skills and he was really good. He might even be aiming to join companies in helping them promote their stuff. Advertisement Department, in general. So, I decided I would hire him. Well, the workload was really increasing so it is a relief.

"I wonder what his other reasons are that he mentioned." I thought to myself.

As for the entertainment club...

"We need four members for a club but we are only three. So how can we make the club?" I asked Jiro the next day when the three of us were discussing about this club and the stuff it is supposed to do.

"I have a childhood friend. I will make her join."

"Is it alright to force her though?"

"I won't have to. She will just follow me to whichever club I go to."

"By any chance, are you two-"

"Yeah. We are dating." He said confirming my suspicion.

"Well, I guess it is fine then." I approved the idea of the club.

"YAYYYY!" I got startled by a loud cheer from both of them.

"What have I gotten myself into." I thought to myself.

With this, after two months of joining high school, we formed the "Entertainment Club" with the following members:

Okawa Kazuki
Sando Kayo
Nishikawa Jiro
Fujimura Yoko

This is going to be a hectic life.