(Recap??)

((I'll recap for you in the OOC)).

"..."

Was this strange girl looking for him specifically? Or just the room? About a dozen similar questions floated about in Naoki's head. '...Should I tell her? ...Nah. What if she ends up being some kinda weirdo? I better give her what she wants, ' he decided before standing up and dusting his gakuran off. He still had quite a bit of lunch to consume, but he could save that for after school... Or figure out a way to barter with someone for money to buy a manga. Either or. "Well Kouhai," Naoki declared, "I can very much show you where that room is located!" He lifted the arm with the hand that hadn't just been crushed and pointed forward before marching in that direction.

Upon arrival, the Student Council Office was locked. Fortunately Naoki had a key. "Well there you go," he said, stepping into the room and holding the door open.

Maverick chuckled inwardly. He knew who the guy they were talking to was after all he was a third year. He decided to remain silent though and let Hotaru figure it out herself. He followed behind with his hands in his pockets. After they arrived at the room and Naoki unlocked the door he smirked. If Hotaru didn't know who she was walking with before she would sure have a good idea now considering he had a key to the student council room.

Hotaru was happy to see the boy help her despite having stepped on his hand. She marched in unison with him to the student council room. Once they finally reached there and the boy unlocked the door, Hotaru walked in excitedly. "So, is the president here?" She asked a bit confused without even realizing that he had the key to the council room. She stared at the others blankly with a half-smile while waiting for a response. Eh? Hotaru began replaying the whole situation in her head and took some time to quietly trace her steps. After a few minutes, she finally broke the silence.

"Ah!" She pointed at the boy who unlocked the door. "Could you possibly be the president?" Hotaru asked while ignoring her face was a bit red. I can't believe I didn't realize... Were they all plotting against me to make fun of me?! She began jumping to conclusions in her mind.

Tanaka sighed heavily as the group began to disperse and go their own separate ways. Finally! And here he was about to go insane here! He did blink in surprise at he swore was Sakaki's hair color. Or something. Who knew. The third year covered it up in a near blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.

"Huh. Maybe she's some weird alien who can go super fast. Well, whatever. Just be grateful that there's no damn club to participate in. Happy lives for happy people! Go on to your carefree and everlasting soul!"

Apparently satisfied at this new result, Tanaka got up and proceeded to head back to his sanctuary of a homeroom.

...

...

...why wasn't he moving? Why indeed? Because he was thinking, that's why.

"You know, Kiotori-san was bold enough to consider the club. And we didn't actually decide on what we'd do in the club. We never said we'd participate in group activities or anything. But, no! I have to stick to the code of the introverted! I can't go around breaking such unspoken rules and laws on a whim like that! What will they think! But what if Takano-san's right? Maybe it won't hurt having spent more time for people? Maybe it'll actually be, dare I say it, fun and educational? Educational? How so?"

"Well, I could always use them as research material. Research material? Yes, beautiful, wonderful research material! Glorious! I can see if their bones melt in soda pop, or test out if bugs can survive on their mucus or brain matter. Perfect! But. . .they probably wouldn't like that. Fine then. I'll ask first. Yes, asking is key! It's genius! But. . .in order to ask, I actually have to join this hell club first. Hmm. . . is human experimentation worth it? Experiments or my health? Experiments or my dignity? Experiments or my life? Hmm. . ."

Throughout this whole ordeal, Tanaka barely took two steps, meaning he was standing right in front of the first year class doorway. Muttering and whispering to himself, he unintentionally blocked the way in and out. Several first years by now had approached him to kindly ask him to move, but all of them had paled and stepped back when catching a glimpse of the conversation with himself.

And to be fair, talking to yourself in the middle of a public doorway tended to give you strange looks from people.

Shana watched awkwardly as Tanaka left without answering her question. Well, being an introvert herself she wasn't too surprised that he didnt't answer, but it was still rude.

A sigh left her as she stood up and left the classroom, pondering where to go next while she walked.

Hmmm...where to go...Oh! The library! I still have a little time.
She smiled slightly, hoping nobody would notice, and quickly made her way to her safe-haven.

Mmmm, yes. The library.

Haru grinned a little at Hotaru's reaction. Of course, he had no idea whether or not the guy was or wasn't the president, but Hotaru was still just so cute when she figured it out...No! Bad thoughts! Go sit in your corner! Shaking his head to rid it of the stupidity, he looked on as the girl conversed with the second-year, going over a list of people to join into it in his head. Let's see...Well, there's Hotaru and I, of course, and then there's Maverick-senpai and Sakaki-senpai. I don't think Tanaka-senpai would be so into it, and Shana-senpai...wow, I'm thinking of the word Senpai a lot, aren't I? Frankly, he had no idea how to make a club, and since a club was Hotaru's idea in the first place, he decided to let her handle it.

_____

Sakaki sighed at the boy in the doorway. He looked to be involved in some odd self-conversation, and she walked slowly up to him and tapped the back of his head with the palm of her hand. "Quit it," she stated softly, "you're acting exceedingly weird." Returning to her seat, she withdrew a small bento from her book bag and carefully removed the lid, picking idly at the contents with her lacquered black chopsticks.

Tanaka looked up slightly when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Turning around, he saw it was Sakaki who apparently found his madness mantra to be annoying. Figures. At least she wasn't creeped out by him. He tended to get that alot these days.

"Well that dampens things. Where can I go to think this though in peace? The roof? Still no. Back to class? Eh, maybe? The library? Sure. . .why not? At least I can use their computers to look up some new torture methods to pass the time. Speaking of which. . .when the hell is lunch time over?!? Oh god, this is like that infamous eight episode cycle from that one anime with the obnoxious brigade leader!

Finally taking the time to exit the room at last, Tanaka made up his mind and headed to the library. Along the way, he saw Shana walking a few paces ahead of him, apparently going in the same direction. He quickened his step slightly to catch up to her.

Aside from Minho Sooma, Shana was really the only other person in the school he knew was an introvert. To be honest, he wanted to hear her opinion concerning not only the club but life in general as a fellow being who despised overly long human interaction. How ironic. An introvert commuting with another introvert.

"Hey Kiotori-san. What was that you were saying earlier about being curious and trying out new things? Are you curious about the thinking and mentality of the others? Cause if that's the case, then so am I. I want to see how fast their brains tick if I place them in a microwave or something. What about you?"

Shana quickly turned her head in surprise at the voice before seeing that it was just Tanaka. She was never really good with putting voices to faces.
At first she was surprised that the fellow introvert was talking so much, but not wanting to spoil such a rare moment she listened intently to his words.

"Yeah, I am curios. I mean, not quite to the point of putting their brains in a microwave, but still curious enough to go out of my small comfort zone and talk to them." She replied with a thoughtful look on her face as she processed her words.
"Like, how they can...socialize...so much without exploding, for example...Sorry, that was a little weird. I'm not that good at talking to people more than brief conversations."

"Mm... Yup," Naoki answered, making his way towards the desk at the end of the room in front of the window overlooking the entrance of the school. He slowly popped the window open, just enough to fit a person through...

'...'

...Oh, he wasn't thinking about throwing Hotaru out the window or anything psychotic like that. That would be an 'antagonist' thing to do, and as we all know, antagonists usually lose and/or die at the end of the story. No, he was securing an escape route for himself on the incredibly off chance that this girl was dangerous. It wasn't too high anyway... Okay, it was pretty high, but at least there were shrubs below to dampen any fall damage.

...Hopefully it wouldn't need to escalate that far.

"...It's kinda stuffy in here, so I opened the window if that's fine. I guess you could also call me the Treasurer, General Affairs Manager, and Vice President," Naoki pointed out, gesturing around at the room that was basically all his to read manga and screw around in. In fact, there was a pretty good chance that he took the job in order to exactly that... Not that anyone would know.

"What'cha need?"

---

"Oi. Oi. Oi," a voice that seemed to be coming from Yumiko's desk called out as the feeling of what seemed to be a wooden rod of something poking her could be felt, "Ninomiya-chan, everything okay in there~?" If Yumiko were to look over at the person sitting on her desk and poking her with the wooden object, she'd see a child(?) in a red kimono poking her with a staff. 'Course the kid wasn't really a kid, but that's just quibbling over semantics.

"You sure you're fine? You look like you're gonna drop."

Daichi sat down "if only they knew! They would understand me! They would be nice to me! I'm late for drama!" He shouldered his satchel and sprinted to the theater "sorry I'm late sir." He said to the teacher "so it's the auditions? For ther musical?" The teacher nodded. "La la la la la!" He began to do vocal to vocal warmups. They were told auditions for the new musical was the first day at school. He loved drama. It was his secret hobby. The teacher looked at his watch "Daichi!" He said.

Hotaru sighed as the boy said yes. I knew it, they were probably messing with me! She thought to herself and then noticed Haru suddenly become flustered. He shook his head suddenly and Hotaru laughed. The president then opened the window, claiming it was stuffy in the room.

"Really? If feels pretty normal to me," she shrugged and then walked over to him. "So, we stand here before you today... To propose a new club!" Hotaru tried to speak a bit more properly for humor and smiled. "Well, er, president... What should I call you?" She asked, inferring for him to tell her his name. I wonder where the club forms are... Wait, are those really necessary? She became lost in thought upon waiting for a reply.

Maverick chuckled slightly. "His name is Haru if I remember correctly. And also if I remember correctly belle, you don't need to speak to him so formally." He once again have his lazy grin, the one that only lifted the corners of his mouth and never really touched his eyes, it was barely recognizable as a smile if you weren't paying attention. He had a bad habit of not completly committing to his smiles, which is part of what contributed to the multitudes of rumors that floated around about him. Odds are Haru had heard at least one and before long Hotaru was going to start hearing then as well. He hoped those silly lies wouldn't cause her to stop talking to him. He did enjoy her company. And the weird way she did thing he thought to be rather cute, in a younger sister type of way.

"Yes, yes, but you do have a point there." Tanaka brought a hand to his chin, further emphasizing the appearance of utmost intellectual thought. Not that it really mattered in the long run anyway. "Yes, how do they interact with one another without suffering to sudden combustion. Is it that they were born with a mutated cell in their bodies granting them a stronger immune system? Maybe they have high amounts of potassium in their blood so they can keep their energy levels high. . .maybe. . .maybe they're not human at all!"

Now this was getting out of hand. But the second year had gone past the point of logic. Besides, it was all in the name of knowledge and discovery, right? As the two continued walking, they eventually reached their destination: the library. Tanaka continued listing off possible reasons on why the others could get along for more than an hour.

"Aliens? No, no. Maybe some kind of supernatural creature. Yes, paranormal even. Something where their internal organs aren't reduced to slop after over exposure to social interaction. But what about the recharge energy periods. . . ?"

How ironic. When it came to disturbing stuff, Tanaka could go on forever. What kind of introvert was he again? Of course, he'd gladly point out that he was a true introvert, not those hipster knockoffs defined by today's society. There's a difference you know.

Shana chuckled inwardly as she listened to Tanaka's theories, taking a few books from the library shelves after they got there. Which each walkway she went through, he was following close behind her.
In all honesty, hearing the fellow introvert speak with such excitement surprised her a bit. Well, it surprised her a bit more than she already was.
His ideas were a little on the outlandish side, and she though about stopping him to bring him back "down to Earth" as it were.
"Supernaturals, eh? Like, demons and stuff?" She asked during a pause, turning to look Tanaka in the eye. Even though his ideas were a bit odd, they peeked an equally odd interest of hers.

"And with aliens, they could have an unique brain structure that allows them to socialize for long periods of time without having causing serious physical and/or mental damage?"

Hm? What was that someone called out and poked her with a stick? Yumiko slowly looked up, trying not to fall off her seat, seeing a little girl right before her desk. ".. hungry.. food.. no money.." she mumbled while her stomach was growling. She was not sure if the girl would help her out or not, but it was worth a try.

"Yeah, just like demons and stuff." Tanaka didn't really know why he was even in the library at this point. Looking back, he had originally wanted Shana's opinion on the whole thing but somehow it had degraded into a conversation concerning the paranormal. Somehow. That and how the theory of their peers being aliens too. Speaking of aliens, he raised a brow in interest at Shana's proposed hypothesis.

"That's true. . .in fact, that makes sense! How else could they be able to talk for hours and without having their tongue drop off or something? Normal people like us can only take a couple minutes at the most before having to recharge our social ethics." Wait, normal people? He was classifying them as normal? Well that was fine and all, but most people didn't compare the school's residents to outer space beings. At least, not many "normal" people.

Noticing that Shana was actually taking the bother to check out books, Tanaka leaned in closer to see what she was reading. "If our theory is true, than we're going to have to accept a new lifestyle now. One that includes living and accepting that the people around you are aliens." Well, he sounded serious enough about it all right.

"But to study their brains. . .maybe we'll have to take in a sample test subject? Maybe cut inside them and see how they think? Who knows?" He shrugged. "Maybe their brains leak out some kind of substance to their body and that's how there's no mental damage. What do you think?"

"Hmmm, you're right. We are going to have to change our way of living. But how should we change it? I mean we don't have to be all space probes and tin foil hats, but we're going to have to do something." Shana turned slightly to take one more book out and add it to the three already in her arms.

As she turned back to Tanaka his face was considerably closer than it was before. Pulling the books to her chest she backed up a few inches out of surprise, saying in a quieter voice.

"And to take samples might be a bit risky. We may just want to get an x-ray instead of cutting into them. Since doing it by force is illegal and I don't think anybody will willingly let us cut into their brains."

Daichi stopped and looked at the teacher "It starts At 7:00!" The teacher said. Daichi flushed "so it's at 7:00? Ok. I still have the role of the phantom in the bag!" He said rather embarrassed. Which is not like him this is Daichi. He stomped down the hall and stopes at a door. Some students were talking about some club. "Oh crap! This could be a rebellion against me!" He put his ear to the door hoping nobody would see him.