[IC] Persona - Academic Akrasia

[Krayzikk]

"Hey, Kimiko-chan. Good to see you too." Daisuke greeted, adding a nod in her direction. He'd gotten used to her eccentricities ages ago, no need to comment on them now. There wasn't really any predicting what was going through her head, either. Not 'til it came outta her mouth. Same went for Hitomi, though he was a little less used to her eccentricities. Still, she got a nod and a faint grin too. "Hey, Hitomi. Maybe I will. 'Spose I might wait 'til I heal up, though. Don't wanna drive off too many customers."

The new arrival, not someone he was sure he recognized, took up more of his attention once Kimiko spoke to him. He swiveled in his seat a little, fixing the guy with a vaguely neutral look. At least as neutral as he could get with a mug like his. It slowly turned into a faint, confused frown as he went on. Once he was done talking, the strange guy was getting up to leave.

"You okay, dude? Need some water? Some time to sit?"

[Crimmy]

@Suku

NPC: Ai Hanazawa - Uchima Senior High Kendo Clubroom -> Hallway, Saturday Morning

"That's great!" was the older girl's response as she stood up from her seat, stretching out her arms in front of her. "The president probably won't mind if you're there, so don't worry about that."

If anything, their leader would be happy to have further help in finally picking their performance. Even if he was a bit of a control freak sometimes, this was probably a situation where it wouldn't matter at all! Ai pocketed her notebook, twirling her pen as she did so before whisking it away to somewhere mere seconds later. It was time to head off. She couldn't let her kouhai spend too much time not training.

"Isami-chan, you've never watched one of the performances, right?" she asked as they exited the clubroom and into the hallway of the practice building.

[SMS]

Natsume; Saturday Morning - Outside the Newspaper Club Room

---

The girl blinked a few times at what had just transpired several feet away from her. To be honest, she really didn't want to be here. Had her parents not persuaded her to try and join a club, she would have been at the mall already or something.

She looked down at the application paper in her hand, and briefly thought if the newspaper club was a good choice. It was close to her classroom, so she wouldn't have to trek across the school just to get to it, and it was near the entrance as well. So she can get in and out very easily if need be. Although she wasn't up for the other portion of the newspaper club. And that was interacting with people. Maybe she could get a spot on just writing up an article or something without needing to talk to somebody that much. She could probably write up a news article if she puts her mind to it, better that than needing to go out in the sun. It'll be a nice distraction perhaps.

Well, at the very least she can say that she tried joining a club and got turned down. What she heard about the current club president did worry her however, since he sounds like a handful that wouldn't turn down anybody from the rumors that she was hearing in the hallways earlier in the week. She didn't realize that she was already in front of the closed door to the newspaper club room with her hand about to knock. The girl stood there for about a minute before finally summoning the courage to actually do it.

"Here goes nothing."

After knocking twice, she slowly opened the door and peeked in. "H-hello?", her voice was soft but hopefully was audible enough for the people inside to hear.

@Sarcelle Renard

[JBRam2002]

Kimiko Maita

@Crimmy@Savo

Kimiko blinked at Alexander when he explained his name. At least she could pronounce Alexi. "Furu... Fusuta...Furusuta-san... Ach." She sighed, wondering how those Westerners handled names like that. Maybe if she said it quickly? "Fursti-san, then. I hope our future endeavors are beneficial for the both of us." She gave a short bow, then continued walking, enjoying the silence for all of three seconds before Hayate interrupted it again.

"Perhaps if the Drama Club is looking for 'dudes,' you should focus your recruitment efforts on Farce-san." Nope. Still not right. "If you intend the colloquial definition of 'dudes,' you may wish to look for someone who is not already involved in a club. Chorus takes up the majority of my free time, and I have little interest in parading on a stage in gaudy outfits pretending to be someone I am not." As if Kimiko didn't do that every day anyways when she worked at the shrine.

Kimiko began to wonder if it would seem unbecoming if she began jogging ahead. Deciding against it, she gave another sigh and attempted at least to maintain a more pleasant conversation. "It occurs to me that I do not know what performance your club is planning. Perhaps if it is not entirely boring, I might offer a moment of my time to see your progress. After all, that is what you thespians prefer, is it not? An audience for your endeavors?"

[AdmrlStalfos19]

Well, at least Etsu could say that she came prepared. The moment the young teacher asked about paperwork, she immediately opened up her bag and fished out the necessary papers that she needed to bring that day, all filled out and signed on the previous day.

"The paperwork wasn't much of a problem," Etsu stated as she handed over the paperwork, "I'm more concerned about the uniform, if I'm honest, more specifically if there's a size that'll even fit me. Do you have any extra large shirts? By any chance?"

Now that she thought about it, she probably should've jotted down her measurements on a separate sheet so that they didn't need to take them for her. Not that she minded having them taken per se, and it may have been better to get them professionally done; she just thought it'd help streamline the process was all. But she supposed she should let the staff cross that bridge when they came to it.

"Well, it was nice meeting you anyway, er... senpai, I'm guessing is the correct honorific here?" Etsu wondered aloud, "You look a little young for sensei to be right, I believe, and senpai matches your handsomeness well,"

The blush could still be seen on Etsu's face from a mile away, but at least now Etsu managed to reclaim her usual composure, reestablishing eye contact with the young teacher and even giving a light smile as well. Perhaps letting him know that he was indeed handsome did the trick...

@Crimmy

[Crimmy]

@AdmrlStalfos19

NPC: Iemasa Igarashi - Faculty Office, Saturday Morning

The youthful teacher blinked for a moment as he processed Etsu's words. A short laugh, ringing like church bells, immediately left his mouth before he could even stop it. There was a tinge of red on his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, the direct compliment having taken him entirely by surprise. This wasn't really the first time he'd been called that, but it definitely wasn't usually on first meetings.

"Just stick with sensei," he said, a sheepish grin appearing on his face as his laughter died down. He reached for the papers, taking them into his hands. They looked pretty solid in his eyes, so it was something he'd be able to get through admin pretty quick. "Twenty-five's a bit too geezery for being a senpai."

He quickly checked over the papers again, flicking through the sheets to make sure that everything was filled out in total.

"I'll try and getcha a more fitting uniform as quick as possible," he added, glancing back up. "If I can't getcha one on time, you can totally use the shirts the dudes wear. We won't mind if you do that."

A pause.

"Ah!" he exclaimed for a second, before composing his expression into a bright smile. "I almost forgot to introduce myself! I'm Igarashi-sensei!"

[Sarcelle Renard]

Yuuhei Seiho

Saturday Morning - Newspaper Club Room

---

Even though he wasn’t even twenty minutes into his paperwork, Yuuhei was already starting to develop a small twitch in one of his eyes. It wasn’t difficult by any stretch of the imagination, but the dullness was quickly eroding away at whatever reserves of enthusiasm that the early morning had not already done away with. So when he heard a soft knocking on the club room’s door, Yuuhei’s eyes lit up with so much excitement that he almost perfectly resembled a dog that had just been called by its owner. In the background he could hear Oshino letting out a small groan, likely because she knew that the president’s productivity was about to take a sharp nose dive, but he chose to ignore her for the moment.

Peeking through the doorway was a young girl with white hair and a pair of dull crimson eyes, looking and sounding like quite the shy individual. Yuuhei couldn’t help but grin, as it was quite a rare sight for the club to get visitors. ”Come in, come in!” he called warmly, getting up from his desk to meet the mysterious stranger. As he approached her, the blond ran through his mental student directory and came up empty, meaning she was likely either a first year or a transfer. But once he was only a few feet in front of her, his gut started telling him that it was probably the former as she definitely looked young enough for the part.

”So what brings a beauty like yourself to our club?” Yuuhei asked the girl with a playful wink, interested to see what kind of reaction he could get out of her.

---

@SMS

[Crimmy]

@Savo@JBRam2002

NPC: Hayate Sasaki - Uchima Senior High School Gates, Saturday Morning

"If he'd actually wanted more dudes, you'd be rainin' on Yamamoto's parade," was the powerfully-voiced third year's response. It seemed that he wasn't perturbed at all by Kimiko's jab at performance arts; after all, he wasn't one of those on stage in the first place, and an attack on its merits wasn't too big of a deal to him. Hayate was, however, discovering that his classmate was a surprisingly passive-aggressive person to talk to. Go figure.

"Everybody's still not agreed on a play," he continued. If she wanted to help out with that, it might help shorten the time needed to deal with Yamamoto being all over his and everyone's asses. "Stop by and maybe you'd get some say or whatever."

It was like "market research" or something.

[SMS]

Natsume; Saturday Morning - Newspaper Club Doorway

---

As the girl surveyed the room, somebody had addressed her from a desk not too far from the door. She unconsciously took a half-step back when he began walking towards her, approaching quite fast when it probably wasn't anywhere near the speed she's imagining. Natsume took another when he playfully winked at her after he asked his question, definitely overwhelmed by his presence but was willing to play along for a bit. "I guess I found the president", she thought to herself.

She blinked a few times.

"I uh..." She took a second to collect her thoughts and regain her posture before continuing. "I'm here to apply for the newspaper club." Offering the piece of paper in her hand to the man she assumed was the president as she fully opened the door. Natsume had hoped that she didn't sound too nervous or shy, so that the president wouldn't outright reject her application if he didn't find her appropriate for the club because of it. The girl wasn't entirely sure if she even wanted to be a part of the club in the first place. But now that she was here, a quick denial wouldn't sit right with her either. Especially from somebody who got under her skin so quickly from his overwhelming yet warm presence.

@Sarcelle Renard

[Suku]

@Crimmy
"Not really I seen a bit of the performances here and there though" She replied honestly Kagami has seen parts and pieces but as with most things if it didn't really involve what she was striving for at the time she often ignored it as with most things her ambition was something she put a hundred and ten percent into all the time it didn't matter what it was for her once she set her mind she would do it simple as that. "Still are you sure it be ok for me to watch?" She asked she knew at times the drama club could be very secretive of what they were doing at times so who knew if it was really ok to peek in or not but Hanazawa seems to think it was ok so she should be fine right?

[Crimmy]

@Suku

NPC: Ai Hanazawa - Hallway, Saturday Morning

"Hehe."

The elder girl held her left index finger up in front of a mischievous smile. "If it isn't, we can hide you, right, Isami-chan?"

She gave the kendoka a wink, before hiding both her hands behind her back and twirling away to take further steps down the hallway that lead to the drama clubroom. Maybe the chief would get a bit annoyed, but they didn't know that yet~! It was like that German cat experiment Okacchin always liked talking about: whether or not she'd see angry Yamamoto again was still an unknown until she and Isami-chan were watching the performance. Hopefully he wouldn't though, hiding her precious little kouhai wasn't going to be all that easy, and it'd be a shame for the kendo girl to miss out on more of their performances.

It might've been tooting her own horn, but Hanazawa thought their plays were pretty good!

[Plank Sinatra]

"Heyo guy. You some kinda Warhol or something? Cause ya sure are eying me and Hitomi's cans."

"Hah, nah I was just uh," Kazou began awkwardly, attempting to deflect the situation. "Your friend there, she got a pretty bad nose bleed. I mean, who wouldn't these days right? I mean, midterms are coming up soon and all. Even beyond that some people have rough home lives or have part time jobs," Kazou said, motioning to the man that had joined the ladies at the booth. "I mean you might even need to to support your family with the cash! And with these disappearances and all, I'd be worried for my life too! No wonder she got a nosebleed! Hahaha!" Kazou laughed, hating himself more with every word he spoke.

Kazou attempted some sort of smile even though he wished for death. These people thought he was insane, clearly. Even the bird-girl probably thought he was some sort of creeper rightfully so. Kazou began to grab up his hashbrowns. He ordered to-go, thank god, so he could leave the restaurant as soon as possible. That was fucking horrendous. No wonder everyone ignored him, he was some bumbling fucking idiot who didn't deserve friends. Kazou got his stuff and got out of his seat. He was returning home to eat his breakfast now, even if his stomach growled at him to put some processed potato in his stomach.

@Kafka Komedy

@Write @Krayzikk

"Worried for...?"

Kimiko trailed off, head turning incredulously to face Hitomi Fukushima, the birdbrain who had perched upon Kimiko's shoulder and was currently sucking down more hash browns than Kimiko was entirely comfortable with. She certainly didn't look very scared, although come to think of it, her nose really was bleeding. That was odd. Had someone punched her in the face? A cashier, perhaps? Were they training fast food employees to ward off order fraud now? That was pretty smart.

She'd need to pick those tips up from Daisuke as soon as she was done fixing Hitomi's nose.

The flame-headed girl reached around with a napkin and dabbed at Hitomi's nose, before plugging the offending nostril deftly - she'd done this for Daisuke and Dana-sama a few times in her day - and turning her attention back to the stuttering lecher.

"Hitomi's not gonna die," Kimiko said matter-of-factly. "She helped stop those pizza bots on the news. She's got a scot-free pass until the next apocalypse. Watch a horror movie sometimes. You gotta have some of those actors back for the sequels if you want to keep the fans of the first movie."

Seriously, more people needed to watch horror movies. There was a renaissance of 'em happening here in Japan.

"Say, you look like you'd be one of the last ones to die in a horror movie," Kimiko complimented. "Come eat at our table."

[GarlandChaos]

@JBRam2002 @Crimmy @Savo

Suzune was having a pretty 'meh' day so far. She hadn't been doing a lot of person-to-person interaction lately, preferring to just munch away on a chocolate bar and ignore all the...men in the hallways. The drama club student shuddered as she watched another male student walk by. Filthy brutes.

Then, as she continued to walk on her own merry way, she caught a familiar young lady out of the corner of her eye. She smiled and picked up her pace towards Kimiko, who was a fellow student and someone she admittedly had a bit of a crush on. As she ran towards the other young lady, she called out with a "Hey, Kimiko! What's cookin', good looki-"

When she got close enough to her target, Suzune came to a screeching halt and started staring daggers at who she saw with her friend. Both of them. Two more brutes was exactly what she needed on a boring morning like this one. Hayate she recognized immediately, but there was another man with him, one who seemed foreign. Wanting to protect Kimiko as best she could, Suzune broke into a run again and rested her arms on the shrine maiden's shoulders.

Continuing to give the men death stares, Suzune spoke up again. "These jerks didn't touch you at all, did they?" she asked, her voice low and almost growl-like. "'Cause I'm not in the mood for anymore men." Directing her gaze at the unfamiliar young man, she barked out a particularly hostile "Especially not whoever you are!"

[Savo]

Alexander Furst

---

@Crimmy@JBRam2002@GarlandDaHero

---

Looks like he wasn't the only one deciphering on the actions of the shrine maiden as the black haired boy caught a glimpse of his eyes jutting between him and the blonde upperclassmen. So he was pretty astute on understanding when there was a possible chance he could be taken advantage of. Hmph, good, guess there are some people with a good sense of realizing when somebody wants something. His face was the same plastered display of irateness as he turned away, keeping an eye on her through peripherals.

... and what the heck; speak of the devil (or think of it) and it shall appear - a plausible ticket into joining the Drama Club! He almost instantaneously whipped his head back around at the mention, staying silent as the older boy continued to speak. "Hmm," he growled under his voice, tilting his head just a smidgen as he continued to absorb this info.

And they were searching for more people, eh? Maybe his reputation might not precede him this time and these members might not set up impossibly high standards for him... maybe. For once in this whole conversation, his lips didn't curl downwards - they just became a simple, flat line.

Of course, he didn't seem too interested in Alex joining since he addressed Miss Miko first, but he didn't exactly say no? Eh, better just listen in until the time arrives. Ignoring the blatant attempts over pronouncing his name, he just mentally shrugged and went along with it. Someone would be bound to get his name right in the future, other than his teachers...

Then he heard the mispronunciation of his last name pop up. Staring at Kimiko who announced she wouldn't join and pointed him out, this was one of the only times he could care less about being, erm, "taken advantage of" in a sense. Alex receded upwards, tower over the other two at his full height as he glanced at his satchel, and rested his hand on it...

There was no way he was denying this opportunity... so he jumped at it.

"Actually, I think I'll go along with ya," he blurted out in a rather flat tone of voice. "I am a bit interested in joinin' Drama Club, as that's one of thr- huh?" He paused as he glanced at a cute girl bouncing this way, calling out to James Blonde. While his attitude didn't alter as she flailed along, it did take a 180 when she spat venom from her mouth.

Those flat lines curved down once more, canines being brandished as his brows formed into a furrow. Who did this girl think she was making presumptions about them?! He squinted over as he dug his hand into his satchel. As she continued to ramble on like seventy-percent of tumblr, he just couldn't help but shake his head a little. "Ok there missy," he shot out with a powerful and equally aggressive voice.

"... what is your problem with men? Like Jesus Christ are you in the closet for being straight or somethin'?" For starters, he was going to get this bullshit out of the way. As much as he would gladly just give her a death stare and ignore her, he was just fed up with the amount of crap some of his classmates gave him. So yeah, he had an idea of how this would possibly turn out.

They would squabble, either Blondie or Drama Dude would break it up, and they would all go on their own merry way, save for Alex making a new enemy.

Welp, looks like this would be different... vexing, but different.

[JBRam2002]

Kimiko Maita

@Crimmy@Savo@GarlandDaHero

Finally, an ally appeared. Although Kimiko generally was unfond of company, Ikari Suzune was one of the few people who were able to spend much time with her, whether through perseverance or ignorance was another matter. Kimiko flinched as the taller girl bull rushed towards them, but despite the harsh to Ikari could use on men, she was nothing but gentle with Kimiko.

"Do not worry, Ikari-san," the shrine maiden replied, ever so slightly uncomfortable with being made into an armrest. "They have not deigned to touch me. Yet. This kouhai is named Frosty-san..." close enough... "and he has seemed relatively pleasant... up until now." Kimiko frowned at Alexander. His response was understandable given the greeting, but it was no way to deal with one such as Suzune. Not wanting to be caught physically in the middle of a verbal firefight, the miko turned to face Suzune.

"Remember, Ikari-san, it is our duty to be good senpais to the underclassmen. However shall they learn otherwise? And it seems Sasaki-san was sent on a recruitment mission. I have already suggested to him that requests for 'dudes' shall be less than helpful in acquiring female compatriots, to a predictable response. Perhaps I should stop by? Chorus could spare me for one session, I believe."

It was little coincidence that all of Kimiko's attention had turned to Ikari at her arrival, mostly due to her being one of the few people Kimiko was comfortable conversing with. It was fairly noticeable as well, with the miko barely even glancing in the direction of Alex at his mention, and nearly entirely ignoring Hayate. To Kimiko's mind, she cared little about what they thought of her, but Ikari was a somewhat closer acquaintance. Friend might be too strong a word. Maybe.

[Mistress Dizzy]

@Bornlucky

Jin watched his work with a critical eye, tracking his movements from the set of the arrow to the destination at the target. "Good. Real good." When he flashed them a smile, Jin grinned back. "There. Now, don't you dare get that record for anyone else but yourself, got it?" They fixed him with a sharp, reading gaze, before turning away. "You've got to do things because you want, you know? Fuck the rest of it. You've got one life, so..." Their eyes narrowed sharply on the distant target, before pulling and arrow and firing at near-blinding speed. The arrow was stuck, dead center on the target.

Jin grinned wide. "Make it your life, sempai." If they found it at all strange to give such personal advice to an upperclassman, Jin didn't show it. In truth, they'd never given too much thought to class rankings, or most of the usual trappings of school. The uniform was because there was no choice. Honorifics were more or less the same reason. Why even bother with that fake respect, just because someone was older? Heck, most old people were so far behind the real world that it was downright laughable to treat them like they knew anything of importance.

Quickly stripping off all the gear, and putting everything away with surprising neatness, Jin nodded to Ryoma. "I guess I'll go for now. Gotta find a new club to hide out in until my folks forget I almost started a house fire. See ya later!" With a casual wave, Jin slung their jacket over a shoulder and was off, walking the halls.

[Crimmy]

@Crimmy@JBRam2002@GarlandDaHero

NPC: Hayate Sasaki - Uchima Senior High, Saturday Morning

"You ever thought 'bout calmin' those gigantic tits of yours, Ikari?"

Sasaki's dulcet tones sounded almost bored, with only a small undercurrent of annoyance to show his exasperation at his fellow Drama Club member's arrival. Just his luck to end up dragging around some trio of seriously prickly folks around, but then again, he was going to be stuck with Suzune anyway. Great enough actor, was real easy to dub over, but damn was she two-faced. Which was why his question was one of those rhetorical ones; he was more likely to get a scholarship into Kyoto U. than her turning into somebody genuinely nice.

"Now before you instigate another shitfest, Ikari, Yamamoto's gonna be riding our asses even harder than usual if we ain't back soon," he continued, pinching the bridge of his nose with a somewhat grumpy sigh. "Kid, shrine girl, tag along if you're in any way interested in drama stuff. If you wanna join, I'll put in a word for ya."

He glanced up momentarily at the ceiling, before staring back at the trio.

"That ain't gonna ruffle any of your jimmies?"

[Bornlucky]

^{Archery Field}
@Mistress Dizzy

Ryoma couldn't help but feel strange being stared at but not in a bad way, it felt nice nevertheless. Jin praised Ryoma's aim, praise was rare for him outside of his grades, when the final arrow pierced the target, Ryoma lowered his bow and wipe his brow and looked at Jin, they had a grin on their face, Ryoma wasn't expecting that when he looked at them. Jin spoke bluntly about how he should be doing this for himself and not anybody else. Ryoma was silent as they spoke, and watched as they got a perfect shot off on the target.

Jin once again let out a grin before letting out one final comment about making it his life. It must seem laughable for an kouhai to give advice to their sempai, but to be honest, Ryoma was never a good sempai, it didn't help nobody wanted to be his kouhai. However, Ryoma will admit that he wasn't proud enough to let his Kouhai's advice go over his head due to the age difference, but he listened to it. And he wished he had a stronger will and follow though with it, but for now all he can do is follow his path of beating Jin's score.

Ryoma noticed that Jin took off their equipment and said their goodbye as he started to leave the practice area, Ryoma stumbled over his words for a moment but said his own goodbyes, "A-ah, see you, Jin-San, good luck on your club endeavors." Ryoma was left on his own again, he felt a bit lonely now unlike before. But as he looked over at the target he couldn't help but let theses words escape his mouth.

"Make it your life...huh?" Ryoma stood in silence after these words fell, he feels different, he wasn't sure how he was different then he was a few moments ago.

Is this what's it like to have a friend?

He has forgotten how it felt.

It feels ... nice.

[Savo]

Alexander Furst

---

@Crimmy @JBRam2002 @GarlandDaHero

---

Ok so maybe he might of been incorrect on all of them separating... considering this embodiment of all stereotypical SJW's was a part of Drama Club. Great, just friggin' p to eachy. And even more so that this shrine maiden contrasted her completely! Letting out an abrupt sigh, Alex jammed his left hand into his pocket with his other no longer pressuring the satchel. Bending his head over, he recalled where he might of heard about little Miss "Have I Mentioned I'm Homosexual Today."

Rumors.

Seriously, as much as he distasted the amounts of bs spun around by some of his classmates, it turned out this one was plausibly accurate to a degree. "Ikari-san, eh?" There were talks of her being a misandrist, but that just prompted him to shut that memory tight up and get thrown somewhere deep down where he would never recall it again.

And this was the key, of course - irritation in human form. Tapping the bottom of his chin, he squinted as he eyed Kimiko, his eyes as drills to her earthen skull. What dynamic did they exactly have with each other and was it similar in any way shape or form to the Breakfast Club?

The only thing that seemed to break this trance of inordinate comprehension was a somewhat disheveled Drama Club members interjection of offering to take him and Maito-san (or would the proper word be senpai for the maiden). He wasn't going to mull and muse over this after this bump in the road.

"I don't know about her jimmies, but that sounds fine t'me," he shrugged with a frown, eyeing the slightly shorter fellow and then returning his focus onto Ikari-san. "Just try not to hold me to impossibly high standards," he uttered seemingly towards both members of the club, planting his hand on his hip. A pretty lady hiding a noxious disposition who was friends with a somewhat composed, yet passive-aggressive shrine maiden...

Heh, did somebody say "more material for his fanfic's?"

[Sarcelle Renard]

Yuuhei Seiho

Saturday Morning - Newspaper Club Room

---

It took a fair amount of restraint to not laugh at his visitor’s slight retreat, but Yuuhei lost that tenuous grasp when she offered him an application for the club. The hearty chuckle subsided quickly and the president measured up the white haired girl with a now critical eye. Never in a million years would he have expected the shy looking girl to be interested in joining the Newspaper Club, but here she was, catching the normally perceptive blond totally off guard. Part of him wondered why someone like her would be interested in becoming a member, but he was simply far too excited from being surprised to care all that much.

”Are you now?” Yuuhei asked her good naturedly with a large smile as he plucked the application from her, turning away from her and holding it up to the light the same way one would hold a dollar to confirm it wasn’t a counterfeit. ”Ishikawa Natsume-chan, eh?” The name certainly didn’t ring any bells, but reading a little further confirmed his suspicion that she was indeed a first year. Man did it feel good to be right.

Wait, he was forgetting his manners. Again.

”Ah!” He looked over his shoulder so that he could meet Natsume’s eyes. ”By the way, I’m Seiho Yuuhei, the president of this fine club. And over there,” he said, gesturing at the dark haired girl in the corner that seemed to be trying to make Yuuhei’s head explode with her glare alone, ”Is Oshino Saika-chan, my vice president. She may look unpleasant, but don’t worry, she only rarely bites me.” While it was said teasingly, Yuuhei was certain that there had been times that Saika had honestly thought about biting his head off all too literally. But he liked to believe that was beside the point.

With a flourish, the president spun around to face Natsumi and dropped to one knee, the hand not holding her application over his chest. ”The newspaper club would be happy to have you,” he professed with all the urgency of a man that was proposing. ”I admit that we are a bit of an unruly bunch – well, at least I am – but I can guarantee that if you stick with us, your days will certainly become interesting.” And perhaps for the first time in the entire conversation, Yuuhei had a look that was completely genuine and serious. Too bad most of its impact was lost given the completely over the top pose he was striking, but hey, he was trying dammit.

---

@SMS