Chapter 1 - SNAFU

“Yo, Brandon! Got any plans today?”

“No, but I assume you do, Seth?”

“Yep! I just got my allowance yesterday, wanna come to the mall with me?”

“I’d love to! Oh! We should invite Kristy too!”

“You always wanna hang out with Kristy. You got a thing for her?”

“Y-yeah… but don’t tell her!”

“I would never! You tell her when you’re good and ready!”

“Thanks, man… So, should we get going? I’m sure everyone else is also gonna be heading to the mall.”

“You’re right! Let’s find Kristy and head over!”

Ever since I started high school, all I hear is this! ‘Let’s go to the mall!’ ‘wanna come to my house after school?’ ‘can’t, I’m hanging out with my girlfriend.’ It’s like I’m being taunted for not having friends! But honestly, it’s not a problem for me. Sure, it’d be nice to have friends. But in my current situation, finding people who aren’t losers would be damn near impossible!

I left class, making my way through a crowded, locker-filled hallway. Trying to get to the second floor where my locker was. But on the way, I spotted a bulletin board with several flyers and posters. Many of which were for clubs.

People in clubs are usually cool, maybe I should take a look.

“Hmmm… Uhhh… Oh… anime club…”

Anime clubs are what happens when you get a group of bullying victims and tell them to be themselves. I will never join an anime club ever again!

None of the other clubs interested me, most of them were just sports, which I don’t enjoy. So I headed to the second floor staircase and began heading up.

Step! Step! Step! Step!

Someone’s in a hur-

BANG! CRACK!

“OOOOWWWW!”

What happened?! Did the ceiling collapse?! Ah, I can’t see, and everything is in pain!

“AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”

Someone fell on me! And judging by the ear-piercing scream, it’s a girl.

“Holy shit! What happened?!”

“Is that girl OK?!”

Oh, shit, sounds like a crowd is forming!

Click!

Was that someone’s phone?! Damn it! I’m not gonna be humiliated like this! Gotta move…! Damn that hurts!

“Anna!”

Several people just came down the staircase.

“What happened?!”

“HAAAAA! HAHAHAAAAAA!”

“Do you need help?!”

“MHM!”

“OK, you want me to lift you up?”

“M-MHM!”

“Leave this to me! Haaa!”

I can see again!

“There’s someone under her!”

What the?! The guy carrying her is dressed like an anime villain! Who the hell is he!

“Are you OK?!”

Abby from gym class? Does she know this girl?

“No! Your friend fell on me!”

“AAAAAHHHHH!”

Aaaahhhh! Of course, I upset her!

“Oh my god, can you stand?!”

“Not really…”

“Here, I can help you up.”

A boy with blonde hair reached out his arm and helped me get up.

“Thank you…”

Yep, tons of people have their phones out. God damn it!

“Everyone out of the way!”

Oh, thank god, a teacher!

“I’m a nurse, can someone please explain what happened?”

“I think Anna fell on that boy!”

“Is she the one being carried at the moment?”

“Yes!”

“Please set her down gently.”

“Understood!”

“What’s your name?” asked the nurse, turning to me.

“Aaron Lee.”

“Are you in pain?”

“Yeah… my back and chest really hurt…”

“Can you breathe OK? Are you able to stand up?”

“Kinda…”

“Alright, you just sit there, don’t lie down. I’m gonna be right back.”

“Got it.”

“Anna? Can you tell me where you’re feeling the most pain?”

“L-LEEEEGG!”

“Just lay down, I’m gonna get a wheelchair for you.”

The nurse turned to the crowd of people.

“Everyone! Please move away from the staircase!”

A bit of the crowd moved and the nurse left.

As I sat there in pain, listening to this girl scream as her friends tried to calm her down. Something came to mind… WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! I think my chest is broken, and my whole body is in pain! Everyone’ll probably bully me, likely online as well since people are filming this! Is this because I said anime clubs sucked? What god did I piss off?! The dark spirit living inside a chuuni kid?!

Not long after, the nurse came back with two wheelchairs.

“Aaron, are you able to stand?”

“Kinda…”

“Can you get into this wheelchair?”

“Probably.”

I got up and trudged my way down the stairs and sat on the wheelchair. All while Anna was carried once again by that anime villain-looking kid.

“Thank you for your help, but you all need to leave now.”

“Tell us if she’s OK!”

As we were wheeled away, I looked over at Anna and noticed two things. Her bright pink hair, and her outfit. She was wearing a pink unicorn shirt and rainbow bike shorts…

I don’t know what kind of person she is. But her appearance is giving me a couple ideas.

We arrived at the nurse’s, which looked like a doctor’s office, just with more beds.

“Lay down on these beds, and I’ll begin assessing you both. Do either of you need help?”

“Yeah.”

Anna nodded her head.

The nurse helped both me and Anna into beds, and set up a sling for Anna’s leg.

“Anna, are you feeling pain anywhere other than your leg?”

“M-mhm…”

“Can you tell me where?”

Anna motioned for the nurse to come closer and whispered something in her ear.

“I see… is it really bad?”

Anna shook her head no.

“Alright, I’ll get some ice for you both.”

While the nurse did that, Anna turned to me, clearly trying to say something.

“I-I-I *sniffle* AAAAAHHHH!”

“Anna, please try to calm down. I know it hurts, but you just need to relax.”

Even the nurse is getting sick of her crying. Is she ever gonna stop?!

The nurse soon returned with ice packs, she put one on Anna’s leg then came over to me.

“May I look at your chest and back? I’d like to check your injuries.”

“Sure…”

The nurse then pulled up my shirt, revealing a large bruise on my chest.

“Does it hurt to breathe?”

I took a deep breath in.

“Kinda…”

She then examined me more and asked a few questions.

“Alright, your back is bruised as well, but it’s thankfully not broken. As for your chest, there may be a minor fracture. But it’s nothing to be worried about, just take it easy and get plenty of rest.”

Just minor injuries? Someone fell on me from a staircase and it’s just minor injuries? I’m not complaining, just surprised.

The nurse handed me an ice pack and told me to keep it on my chest.

“I need to call the office, but please tell me if either of you need anything. Oh, Anna, what’s your last name?”

“T-Tanser!”

“OK, thank you.”

Nurse Maple started making her call and Anna, who’d thankfully calmed down a little, tried speaking to me again.

“I’m soooorrrrry!”

Oh, she was just trying to apologise earlier.

“I-I was so scared I killed you!”

Well, at least she was concerned. Despite that, she’s still crying so loud!

“It’s uh… OK.”

“R-really…?”

“Yeah, I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.”

“I-it was… I slid off the staircase!”

“B-but you weren’t trying to hurt me, were you?”

“No… but it’s all my fault!”

That’s not working. Maybe if I ask about interests?

“What uh.. Kind of stuff do you like?”

“Huh?”

“I asked what kind of stuff you like.”

“Oh… *sniff* W-well um… I like… anime…”

Anime! I can work with that!

“I like anime too… What’s your favourite?”

“Chronocor…”

“Same…”

“You like Chronocor too?”

“Yeah, what do you like about it?”

“I like the characters… The fights and stuff are fantastic too, but the characters are underrated. No one ever talks about them…”

“Yeah, the characters are pretty cool.”

“Y-yeah! There are lots of characters with mysterious backstories, but Hiro’s is so interesting even though we only know a few details.”

“Hiro’s cool, I think he’s related to Akira.”

“That’s what I think too!”

Great! She’s calmed down a lot now, and, hey. She might be kinda cool!

“Oh! Um, once you’re feeling better… you should join the anime club.”

“A-anime club?”

“Yeah, I’m actually the club leader.”

MOTHERFUCKER!

“Maybe I’ll check it out…”

“Really? I promise it’s fun, everyone there is great!”

Bullshit!

“That’s nice…”

To the god I’ve evoked the wrath of, I’m sorry. I never meant to piss you off, I take back whatever it was. Please stop punishing me.

Shortly after, Nurse Maple ended her call.

“I called the office and told them to contact your parents. I’ve also called for paramedics, they’ll give you a proper examination and if need be, take you to the hospital.”

The nurse may have said my injuries were non serious. But since I’ve angered a god, she’ll probably be wrong on that.

Knock! Knock!

“Coming!”

The nurse opened the door, revealing the group of people from before.

“We aren’t intruding are we?”

“You four are Anna’s friends, right?”

“Yes, we were just wondering if we could see her.”

“You may.”

The four walked in and immediately rushed over to Anna.

“Anna! Are you OK?!” said Abby from my gym class.

“I’m feeling a little better…”

“That’s good… Can I hug you?”

“A hug sounds great right now.”

Abby and Anna hugged, both of them looking very content.

“I think I feel even better.”

“Oh, then let's hug longer!”

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better, Anna.” said the blonde-haired boy from earlier.

“If my body could handle Shiryono’s full power, I would heal your injuries with the wave of my hand!”

What is this kid going on about…?! WAIT! Weirdly dressed, purple hair, talking about a demon inside him, red contacts?! He’s a chuuni! Oh, how did I not see that before?!

“Thanks, Reginald.”

“Hey… I forgot your name, but are you OK?”

Abby suddenly started speaking to me.

“Oh yes, the kid Anna fell on. Speaking of which, how did that happen?”

Everyone turned to Anna who looked guilty.

“Well, umm… I… tried to slide down the staircase railing…”

She deserves that broken leg.

“You what?!”

“It seemed fun.”

“We’re not even two weeks into highschool and you’re still acting like you’re in elementary…! But, I’m glad you’re OK. Just never do something so stupid again!”

“I’m sorry, Devon…”

“Oh, I totally interrupted you there. Are you OK?” said the blonde-haired kid, turning to me.

“Yeah, I’m fine, the nurse said none of my injuries were serious.”

“Good, and I’m sorry you had to get caught up in our friend’s stupidity. She normally makes better decisions.”

“It’s alright, she apologised.”

A girl in back stepped forward, I hadn’t seen her at first but her all black clothing kinda made her hard to notice.

“Anna… I’m happy you OK.”

“Thanks, Lily.”

“So, I assume no club for a while?” the blonde spoke up.

“No, the club’s still on, it’s fine. Oh, Aaron might be interested in joining.”

Ah shit.

“Really? Well, we meet every day after school in room 214. We’re always open to new members, you don’t gotta sign up or anything. But, it’s totally fine if you got other stuff to do.”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll check it out.”

“Cool.”

Huh, normally anime club members are super pushy about you joining. But this just sounded like a genuine invitation.

“Anyway, we’re not interrupting are we?”

“No, but paramedics will probably be here shortly.”

“Oh! Then we should probably get going!”

“Yes, but thank you for stopping by.”

“Before I forget,” said Abby, reaching into her pocket. “Here’s your phone.” she handed a phone to Anna

“Thank you.”

“Alright, bye Anna! I hope you recover quickly!” said Abby, leaving with the others.

Those guys were… really nice. Not like what I’d expect of anime club members, even out of club they’re all terrible people. That Reginald guy is a chuuni so screw him. But the other 3 seemed normal, like the people I’d wanna hang out with… Do I actually wanna join this club?!

(Thank you for reading the first chapter of The Anime Club! I’ve been working on this and actually managed to get it out on time. This work is actually a part of a larger universe, including the game I’m currently working on, Kill High. It’s like a mix between Danganronpa and Corpse Party. If that sounds interesting to you, check out the link tree in my bio. Once again, thank you for reading, and I assure you, the next chapter will be even better!)