Chapter 4

Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, places and events in this story are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real or fictional places and events, real or fictional people, living or dead, are pure coincidence.


Chapter 4

It was Thursday when I noticed Takahashi-san was missing every single break this whole week. I was wondering if she already forgot that we decided to spend lunch breaks together on the roof, but then again I couldn’t imagine that. She didn’t seem to be a person who forgets stuff like that so easy. As I just stood up to go to the roof, the door to the classroom was opened very loudly. In the doorway, Takahashi-san’s little figure could be seen, with an eager look on her face.
“You!” she points at me. “I have super awesome news for you!” she says.
“Huh? What are you...” I couldn’t even continue...couldn’t even tell her that pointing at someone was considered impolite...because she already grabbed my arm and starts dragging me along. I have to admit, that this girl had an immense strength for a girl her age.
“Could you please tell me where we are going?”
“You’ll see.” Wow. Such an answer...why did I expect that? I sigh.
“You can let go off me, I’ll follow...”
“No. You are walking too slow...” I don’t know about that. People like you just walk too fast...something like that. In this moment I wished back the extremely tired Takahashi-san that I’ve seen on Monday. Seriously...where was she headed? She was so determined...I had no idea why. And if I asked her...probably she wouldn’t tell me. Such a drag. If I were to choose some supernatural ability, magic or anything like that...I would wish for the ability to understand this girl totally. on and teleportation, that would also be nice. I imagined getting up an hour later and arriving home an hour earlier which resulted in 2 hours more spare time, time to train...and the best thing: being home before my little sister. I can imagine her awestruck face when she sees it for the first time. First she would think it was a one-time thing...that I skipped class - even though I would never do that - and then she would slowly come to realize, that her big brother was awesome. Haaah...sometimes I wish supernatural powers or magic would exist.
“What are you spacing out for? We are here, alright?” The voice of the girl with pony-tail came to my ears. I blinked and looked around. It seemed to be the section with all of the clubrooms. We were standing in front of a closed wooden door. There was no sign indicating any club that was established here. I was confused.
“I don’t really understand...?”
“Well well...wait for the best part. I just don’t open the door right away to get your excitement up. That’s how an arc of suspense works.”
“I’m pretty sure we are not in an Anime or game” I point out the obvious.
“Don’t ruin the mood here.” There was no mood to be ruined, Takahashi-san...
“Oh yea...now I get it. You have me totally excited now. I can’t wait for next week to see what will be happening...” I say with a very monotone voice.
“What are you saying? We are not in an Anime or game here...” Oi! Don’t use my
arguments against me you little...
I let out a sigh. “And...what are we here for...”
“You’ll have to wait till next week~”
“Could you please not jump from one opposite to another? Why are you doing this? It’s giving me a headache.”
“Well...I think it’s fun. Anyway...” she swings the door open.
In front of my eyes there was a somewhat amazing view even though it was rather ordinary. Old, dusty shelves that stood in the corners of the room, and little pieces of dust were flying around in the sunlight that engulfed the room. A pinboard with pictures that seemed to be there for a long time now on it and posters of stars, constellations and planets were decorating the walls. A small table with 6 seats located in the middle of the room. And on one of these chairs that surrounded he table there was sitting an elegant, blonde haired girl with a...really curvy body. I blush upon seeing this girl what seemed to be out of place here, she would be considered some princess from a fairy tale if it wasn’t for her wearing our school’s uniform. The blue eyes blinked a bit in confusion but then she implied a bow with her head. This whole view was somewhat amazing like I said before. Additionally there was Takahashi-san making an inviting and presenting gesture. “Welcome...to Senrimiya Gakuen’s Martial Arts Club!”

I needed some seconds to recover from that. “Excuse me...what?”
“Exactly! Your reaction is correct.” I don’t know how a reaction like ‘what’ can be correct or incorrect, but I’ll let it slide because...it would make things complicated. But...since I didn’t get the answer that I wanted...
“What?” I repeat myself. The other girl in the room smiled at me in an apologetic manner. Seemingly, she knew Takahashi-san really well.
“Hey now, Arai-san...don’t be so mean. You should introduce yourself first. I mean you don’t know Rei-chan personally yet...” The ponytailed girl points at the blonde. Wait...Rei-chan? “Eh...?” I let out, confused. “Eeeeeeeeeeeh? Rei-chan is reaaaaal?” I shouted out. Both, that supposedly ‘Rei-chan’ and Takahasi-san blinked.
“Huh? Of course she is...why wouldn’t she?”
“B-but...I thought she was an imaginary friend...” I pointed out my thoughts up to now.
Takahashi-san’s eyebrow rose. “What? Why? Do I look like an elementary schooler?”
Don’t, Takahashi-san...don’t play with this trope...because honestly spoken...you do.
You look a lot like a kid from elementary school.
“Umm...” the blonde haired beauty started speaking “I guess it’s a misunderstanding here, Yu-chan...I guess you didn’t really tell him I am a real person...and considering that most people in school don’t want to talk to you...it seemed more likely, that you had an imaginary friend, even with your age...”
“That’s mean, Rei-Chan...” Takahashi-san said, on the verge of tears. She ran towards the girl and pinched her cheeks. It was a desperate action to make her shut up...? Or apologize? That’s what I thought...but it really looked more adorable than threatening. I couldn’t help but laugh a bit upon seeing this scene. “S-stop laughing!” she says, blushing like crazy, trying to look at me with a - wannabe - intimidating look.
“Sorry...but...anyway. I am Arai Hiroyuki. Pleased to meet you” I say.
“Pleased to meet you, too. I am Arakida Reika” she introduces herself properly. She
looked like an angel. She was so damn beautiful. She talked some stuff with Takahashi-san that I didn’t really understand because I was in something similar to a dream world. I only saw Arakida-san...Maybe this is what people call ‘love at first sight’? Because unlike Takahashi-san...she looked like an elegant angel. Her beautiful, rare blonde hair, her clear, shimmering blue eyes...that really must be an angel.
But then she said something that brought me back to reality. “Anyway...Yu-chan...why are we here?”
“Yea, I want to know that, too.”
The girl with the ponytail grinned all over her face. Not only was she full of energy that would be an understatement - but she also had that much fire in her eyes...I haven’t seen anything like that before. “The three of us are going to be the Martial Arts club. It has been closed down 10 years ago because nobody was interested. And that means that my sister had no influence here. And because of that...I will finally step out of her shadow. What do you say? Will you support me here?”
That was some killer-statement. I looked to the other girl, Reika, who was sitting next to me. She really didn’t look like she was into Martial Arts. Rather...she seemed like someone who belonged in the Home Ec. Club...or something like that. “Sure...I’ll support you, Yu-chan.”
Eh? That really surprised me. “Nice! Thanks Rei-chan!” Takahashi-san gave her a thumbs up. What caused the timid-looking girl to blush a little. “What about you, Arai-san?”
I looked at the soon-to-be-club president and then towards the other girl. I let out a deep sigh. “Sure...why not. I was looking for a sports-club anyway. So yea. Count me in.”
Takahashi-san jumped up and down full of excitement. “Alright! Then I’ll go fetch the club-registration-forml” She says and sprints out of the clubroom at an amazing speed, even leaving behind a little cloud of dust...or so it seems. I looked at Arakida-san, she looked at me. We both blinked a bit confused. But...before we could even say something, we heard steps running back towards us. “Where do I get those? In the faculty room? Or the principal’s office?” Oh boy...that girl would become club president? I let out a deep sigh.
“You go to the faculty room. And after you filled the form...you ask a teacher what to do with it...” that was the best answer I could come up with, since I never was the founder of a club.
“Alright! Bye!” She sprints away again.
“Why do I have the feeling she comes back in a few seconds to ask where the faculty room is...?” I ask. I was rather talking to myself, but the blonde girl heard it and giggled a little.
“Maybe because she is that kind of person? And you got to know her a bit?” I blushed upon noticing, that she listened to my words. And about 3 seconds later, we hear those footsteps approaching again.
“I forgot where the...”
“You go to the second floor in the main building and then turn left from the stairs” we both interrupt her simultaneously. Arakida-san had a more polite way of talking, like she was endlessly patient with her. I sounded a bit annoyed.
“Ah right! Thank you!” She rushes away again.

And thus, I was left alone with that beautiful blonde girl right next to me. “Is she really going to be okay? I mean...she doesn’t look like she can handle being a club president... ”
Arakida-san giggled a little. “Don’t worry. She will be okay. Yu-chan can handle it. She will most likely leave me with all the bureaucratic stuff...but other than that, she can handle it.”
“And what about you, Arakida-san...?”
“What about me?”
“Well...you don’t really look like you are into all of this...”
“Ah...that’s what you mean...well... I’m okay with it. Yu-chan knows, that I don’t do Martial Arts...but knowing her, she has some kind of plan. Plus: I would do anything for her. Really anything.” She smiled at me. Such a gentle personality. I couldn’t see why she would be friends with a hyperactive girl like Takahashi-san...not that I have anything against it...but I can’t imagine what they have in common to become friends. Strange. “And what about you, Arai-san?”
“Eh?”
“Well you have been dragged around by her for a bit now. And she is some kind of outsider number one of the school. Are you okay with being in one club with her? Won’t people start avoiding you?”
I smiled a bit. “Well...somehow I ended up saying ‘yes’ in the moment...but...l don’t think they’ll avoid me. Because I can explain to them, that my father is the head of a Dojo...and that is the truth. Thus...I don’t really have another choice anyway. My father would force me in once he knows this club exists anyway...so...yea.”
“Oh...I see.”
“By the way...Why does everyone think so bad of Takahashi-san?”
Arakida-san looks down. “Well...” she starts. “I guess you have heard from somebody, that she is an arrogant little brat...something like that...but you may have noticed, that this isn’t true, right?”
“Yes...so why doesn’t anyone else notice? Are we in some kind of mind control facility?”
She lets out a small giggle. She got the joke, but got serious a moment later again.
“Well no. That’s not it. Or rather...it isn’t the right word. Umm...It all started back in kindergarten...Yu-chan was a very active girl and...well...picked some fights with boys...so she was rather boyish. That kept her from getting friends there...”
“But that is not something what would make one think you are arrogant...”
“True. But...as she had no friends except for me when she started elementary school...that’s where Megumi-nee-san saw a chance...Takahashi Megumi is Yu-chan’s older sister. And...because of some reason that I don’t know...she hates her sister...somehow. And she was very clever with manipulating people...to make it easy...she was the honor student in every single way. Always gets good grades because she is smart, helps other people, is kind to anybody and so on. And she has a perfect smile...even though it’s a false one, nobody sees through it because they can’t imagine it. And now think about it...such a perfect girl never mentions her little sister, and when she does...it’s in a negative way. What would you think if you were between 6 and 10?”
I didn’t answer. I could imagine what they thought. Kids can get very cruel...and they don’t mind having a scapegoat that everybody hates just so they aren’t the one. My look must’ve been really obvious.
“Exactly. That’s what they did. And they all started believing it...Megumi-nee-san becoming even more of a...lets say...local idol...didn’t help, either. And the fact, that Yu-chan is bad at lying or putting on a face did the rest. That is basically why she is so lonely. There aren’t many people out there who want to have something to do with her...and if they do, they use a lie to not be excluded...but that doesn’t help for long. She hates lies more than anything.”
So that is basically why she smiled at me like that, as I told Miyamoto, that I only talked to her because she was sitting behind me. She knew it was a lie...yet...why didn’t she react in a different way, if she hates lies? I didn’t understand that.
“And after the childish way of thinking that you need a scapegoat...puberty hits in. An emotional unstable phase in live, where also nobody wants to be excluded, right?” she asks me. Yea...somehow she was right.
“But Arakida-san...why do you...?” I couldn’t even bring myself to finish the sentence.
She smiles gently. “Why I am her friend and still accepted? Well...that’s basically because we grew up next to each other. I know her since I moved here when I was 4...and even though we fought a lot back then...I guess that is what makes us such good friends. And she...saved my life once. Even the most stubborn 6 year old accepts that you are friends with someone who saved your life. That is why I am accepted. Why I like her? Because I just do. She is such a sweetheart. And so strong. I mean...the adults always compare her to her sister, and the children and now teenagers exclude and reject her...but she still has this dazzling smile that you can simply admire. She is so honest...and knows what she wants to do...she is my best friend in the world. Nothing in the world can change that. If I ever fall in love...the person I fall in love with will have a hard time with me, because I am not willing to let her alone. So this person has to share me with Yu-chan, haha...”
Amazing. This blonde haired beauty was simply amazing. I would never have the courage to do all that. I didn’t even know how long I could manage to stay friends with Takahashi-san without being excluded, too...but Arakida-san...was her friend for 11 years now. That is basically the whole life a person our age can remember.

A few minutes passed, before our little club president came back. “Alright...” she said while slamming some pieces of paper on the ground. “I’ll be the club president while Rei-chan is responsible for all the written stuff...” Said ‘Rei-chan’ gave me a ‘told you so’ look. I smiled a bit and nodded. “Anyway...about the club rules...the most important thing first...” she points at me “We are a club. We are like a family...So I don’t wanna hear another ‘Takahashi-san’ from you. Not, while we are doing club activities. Same goes the other way around and same goes for you and Rei-chan. Got that, Hiro-kun?” Oioi...you jump right in and call me by my first name without even asking if it’s okay? I let out a sigh.
“Yea I got it, Takaha...I mean Yuki...”
“Good! Then let’s get down to business. We are not officially a club yet, only an interest-group. Thus...we don’t get any financial support. We need two more people to be a club. And we need an advisor. I would say our homeroom teacher would be a good idea...but he already has a club where is the advisor...”
Yea...that is one thing. The other thing is, I don’t really want to imagine him talking about his daughter here in the clubroom, make a wallpaper of pictures from his daughter and so on. “While I decide how the room will look...Hiro, you’ll go look for our advisor. And Rei-chan will look for new members. Sounds good?” I could really imagine how Arakida-san...I mean Reika...would be the most effective way of recruiting members. I bet guys just come into the club to be with her...something like that.
“No objections here~” Reika chirped. I knew she wanted to do a lot for Yuki...but...doesn’t she see that she has basically become the clubs mascot?
“Oh yea...Hiro-kun...you’ll be our mascot...”
“Wait...what? How? I mean...Reika is obviously more suited for this task.”
“No no no. Rei-chan is our secretary and has the important task to find us new members. Your job will be over with one visit to the faculty room. That is why you are the mascot.”
Well...isn’t the job of attracting new members the job of a mascot? Doesn’t she see this? Haaa...it may be better to just not ask. I thought something like this back then. “Alright. Now that everything is settled...this is the moment where the Senrimiya Gakuen Martial Arts Club is officially refounded! No...reborn!”
“Technically it isn’t until you hand in the form, though...” Reika adds, smiling.
“Eeeehhhh...? Rei-chan...you just ruined the important line I just said...”
“Sorry, sweetheart...but it’s my job as secretary to point something like this out.”
I was really wondering, if all of that would turn out working. I let out a deep sigh. But...as Yuki said...this was the very moment the Martial Arts Club, one that should become a really important part of my life, was founded...unofficially, that is.