Club Recruit if you can't Go Home

The teacher prattled on, trying to teach us something about the differences between spells; however, nobody paid any attention. All the students in my class were agonizing over the clubs they were coerced into joining. About half the students were stuck in the Book Club. It was kind of funny seeing the once unused bookshelf now flocked with students clambering over each other. The other half were stuck in the Potions Club. They smelled absolutely terrible, probably due to some kind of potion mishap that didn’t wash out easily. One or two students joined some other club. That invisibility spell was pretty useful if they actually made it out of the classroom.

Still, I was impressed how well everyone took their forceful induction. Most of them were actually contributing to the club in one form or another. There were a few who glanced over at me, jealousy in their gaze, but the rest were rather content. It was a bit disquieting, but I decided not to dwell on it.

“And that’ll be all for the day.” I packed up once again, ready to head home. Maybe I should go do something fun or grab some takeout. I think we’re out of food at home anyway.

Whoosh.

Just as I was about to finalize what to do, an envelope passed through the windows, opening itself on my desk:

Heston Arkwright,

Please report to the Disciplinary Committee’s office in Special Room 1 immediately.

Signed, Niyatha Dufort

Huh… Why was I getting called in by the Disciplinary Committee? I hadn’t done anything as far as I knew. The most I interacted with other students so far was during yesterday's club recruitment. I shouldn’t be in trouble.

Hmm…let’s see. I knocked out a member of the Potions Club, broke a contract and punched a dude in the Gamer Club, sacrificed a few students to dodgeballs, disenchanted a bunch of flying vehicles, and disenchanted the school gates.

…

Okay, maybe I should be worried.

~~~

I headed over to Special Room 1, standing right outside the door. I was planning on knocking…actually, nevermind. This was a terrible idea. I had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn’t end well if I walked in there.

I’ll just pretend I never got the envelope. Yep, sounds good.

I turned around–

“Come in; it’s open.”

…

Welp, not getting out of this now. I took a deep breath before opening the door.

The inside of the room was pretty empty. Bookshelves lined the walls, but there was nothing on them. There were no unnecessary pieces of furniture either, as if this room wasn’t supposed to have any guests. On the opposite side, there was a single desk in front of a giant reinforced window, looking as though it had never been used.

“Welcome.” A rather average looking woman stood in front of the desk, leaning back. A dark red armband was fastened right below her shoulder. If it wasn’t for the insane strength emanating from her body, even greater than the student council president’s, I wouldn’t have been able to tell she was the leader of the Disciplinary Committee. Though, the armband did give it away.

“Um, hi.” I said, taking another step into the room before closing the door.

Click.

“So, can I ask why you called me here? Am I being forced to join a club?”

“Hmm?” The leader cocked her head, as if my statement made no sense. Then, she hit her fist against her open palm. “Ah, you’re talking about what you did yesterday. No, you’re not in trouble. You used your own skills, so everything you did was fair game.”

“...then, why am I here?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” The leader pushed off the desk, taking one step towards me, outstretching her hand. “I would like you to join the Disciplinary Committee.”

“Uh, no thanks. Plus, club recruitment ended yesterday, so even if I wanted to, which I don’t, you can’t recruit me.” The leader simply smiled a terrifyingly beautiful smile. All of my instincts told me to run.

“Oh? I believe the announcement was, ‘Clubs will be officially allowed to recruit new members for the rest of the week.’”

“Bzzz!”

The leader took another step. There were five more steps between her and I. I immediately turned around and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Did you think I wouldn’t lock the door? I am relatively well versed in stopping other students.”

The leader took another step. Four steps away.

“Remove the mana from the door [Disenchant]!” I turned the doorknob once again; however, it still wouldn’t move.

“Oh, that’s just a regular old lock, one of the few we still have in this academy. People who can disenchant almost any spell are few and far between, but we have rooms like this just in case.”

Three steps away.

“It helps when we can see what kind of magic you use. Then we can prepare our own counterstrategies.”

Two steps away. I turned around, but there was no other way to escape. I wasn’t skilled enough with other spells to put up a fight. Even if I could, the room was reinforced much more heavily than any other.

“Even if you’re still hiding something, we always plan for every situation.”

One step away.

The leader reached towards my shoulder, taking off my broach. She turned it around, revealing its color.

It was dark red.

Crap.

“Welcome to the Disciplinary Committee. Let’s get along, okay?”