Chapter 299: Come to the Great Kendo Club #2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 299: Come to the Great Kendo Club #2
“Welcome, prospective new students. My name is Nanase Chinami, and I'm the manager of the Kendo Club. Are you enjoying the peaches?”
““Yeees...””
Hmm... I wonder what Chinami wants to be in the future?
Looking at her now, I’d guess a kindergarten teacher.
She seems to have a natural talent for leading a crowd.
“Please listen to what we have to say while you eat. Our Yebonie Academy Kendo Club is...”
While Chinami continued her explanation in a friendly tone, Renka jabbed me in the side with her elbow.
Then, she spoke in a tiny voice.
“When Chinami’s done explaining, you say a few words too.”
“Why me?”
“Just do it.”
“I don’t have anything to say.”
“Just think of something nice to say. Is that so hard? Do it before I give you a disciplinary action.”
“Why are you acting up? You want to get in trouble?”
“.....”
Startled, Renka took a step away from me.
She has a growing tendency to challenge me in places where I can't openly discipline her. It's kind of cute.
Not that I'll go easy on her, though.
“Then stop making that dumb face and at least try to smile.”
“Smile? Can’t you use nicer words?”
“...Just smile. Not a vulgar grin, just a gentle...”
“Alright.”
While Renka and I bickered in voices that were barely audible, Chinami finished her explanation, turned around with a bright smile, and gestured for Renka to come to the teacher's desk.
“Now, our Kendo Club captain, our friend Inoo Renka. Please come up and say a few words.”
“Alright. Just a moment...”
Renka nodded, stood at the center of the desk, cleared her throat a few times, and began to speak.
“The manager has already explained things well, so I’ll keep it brief. In our Kendo Club, the bond between members is very deep, and we foster a horizontal relationship rather than a rigid one...”
Right, a ‘horizontal relationship.’ As if she isn’t the most vertical and authoritarian person here.
In any case, having Renka speak was a good strategy to almost certainly win over the girls who were serious about kendo.
To be fair, those types probably only planned on joining the Kendo Club anyway, but it would be nice if this softened Renka’s cold image, even just a little.
“On days without special training, we have daily free sparring under the supervision of the senior members and the coach. You’ll be able to see your skills improve day by day. If anyone wants to participate in tournaments, regardless of whether you’re a new student or not, we will assess your suitability through thorough discussion and add you to the roster. This is by no means a rigid club, so I hope you’ll feel comfortable stopping by.”
Our dear Renka really shouldn't give speeches.
She says it’s not a stiff club, but she’s the one sounding the stiffest right now, making everyone feel awkward.
Still, it’s a relief that her sincerity seems to be getting through.
Once Renka finished her explanation of the Kendo Club, Chinami glanced at me before speaking to the freshmen, who were looking on with interest.
“Next up is our junior vice-manager, perhaps? I’d like to ask for a brief word.”
Was there a position called vice-manager? I think this is the first I’m hearing of it.
Well, I guess I’ll just say one thing, like Chinami asked.
“Understood.”
At my words, Renka’s face instantly soured.
She must be furious that I scoffed at her request but obediently followed Chinami’s.
Well, she should have treated me better on a daily basis.
I gave Renka’s disgruntled face a subtle smirk and stood before the desk, wondering what to say.
“Um...”
With Chinami and Renka having just spoken, there was nothing left for me to say.
Should I just say I hope they join and wrap it up?
That seems to lack impact...
If we have a bright and cheerful manager and a stiff but kind-hearted captain, wouldn't it be okay to have one dependable person?
If I go with that concept, what should I say?
Lost in thought, I flinched when Renka lightly pinched my back, as if telling me to hurry up.
“I hope you’ll come to the Kendo Club and have a good time with us.”
For me, that was a very tame line.
This should be... fine, I guess.
“I see. It seems our vice-manager plans to welcome you all with love. We’ve heard your words of determination loud and clear.”
Chinami, having freely reinterpreted my words, concluded the first orientation session.
After personally bidding each prospective student a safe trip home, she, Renka, and I cleared the empty bowls from the desks.
While we were preparing for the second session, I stepped outside for a moment to stretch my stiff body.
Just then...
“Oh? Matsuda-senpai!”
Hiyori, who had just come out of a classroom where an orientation had ended, spotted me and called out in a cheerful voice.
She was holding a pamphlet with water drawn on it, so she must have stopped by the Swimming Club’s orientation.
By the way, I’ve thought this before, but our Hiyori sure has a loud voice.
It really shows off her free-spirited nature, how she doesn’t care what others think.
And how can a person be so pretty in every little way?
The more I look at her, the more my eyes feel purified.
She approached me with Miho and asked.
“What are you doing here?”
“We’re holding the Kendo Club orientation.”
“Huh? Senpai, you’re part of the orientation too?”
“That’s right. I’m the mana—no, the vice-manager.”
“Oh, really? You were a manager?”
“Not manager, vice-manager.”
“Same difference. I was just about to go to the Kendo Club orientation. Can I go in?”
“Of course. Go have some peaches.”
“Peaches?”
Hiyori and Miho’s eyes went wide.
My sudden mention of peaches must have seemed strange.
As I was wondering how to explain, Chinami, having finished preparing for the second session, came out to call me.
“Junior! It’s time to come in... Huh?”
Then she saw Hiyori and Miho in front of me and hurried over.
“Hello! Are you perhaps interested in the Kendo Club?”
Was Chinami’s sudden approach and sparkling eyes a bit overwhelming?
A startled Miho answered timidly.
“Huh? Yes...”
“You’ve come to the perfect place. I’m the Kendo Club manager, Nanase Chinami. Why don’t you come inside and have a peach first?”
When peaches came up again, the two girls exchanged bewildered looks. As Chinami gestured for them to come, they looked up at me.
Their faces seemed to ask if it was okay to go. They looked like people who’d just been accosted by a cult missionary and were full of suspicion.
“Can you go inside and wait for a bit? The orientation won’t start for a little while.”
The two of them nodded and followed Chinami’s lead inside.
They seemed relieved after I spoke. Must be my imagination, right?
In any case, Hiyori was unlikely to join the Kendo Club.
Although the club room atmosphere was relaxed, the nature of a martial art meant a certain level of solemnity was a given.
Which meant it wasn't a good fit for the free-spirited her.
The hallway grew noisy with prospective students coming out of other club orientations.
I stood quietly by the back door, offering simple greetings to those entering the Kendo Club room, when my brow furrowed at the sight of a large man in a white uniform and black belt.
He was wearing a judo uniform... Is he the one who covered Chinami’s poster?
Since he’s attending the orientation, it’s highly likely.
I want to smack that buzz cut of his, but I’ll hold back.
I ignored the Judo Club member and continued stretching, but my eyebrow twitched when he spoke to me in a clearly provocative tone as he passed by.
“Class 1-D was the Kendo Club, right? What’s your name?”
I could fully understand his sudden aggression.
Just as I suspected he was the one who covered our poster, he probably thought I was the one who took down theirs.
I was the one who gave him a reason to act this way.
No, wait. Isn’t that conceding too much?
None of this would have happened if the Judo and Basketball clubs hadn’t covered the Kendo Club’s poster in the first place.
I wasn’t a good enough person to bow my head nicely to a guy with an attitude like that.
I held my head high, gestured to my name tag with my eyes, and said.
“Can’t you see my name tag?”
The guy’s expression soured, as if he didn’t like my tone, which bordered on arrogant. His gaze fell to my name tag.
“Matsuda Ken... Wait, are you that guy? The one who caused trouble in that club that plays yakuza?”
So the label from that childish Supuri Circle is still following me around.
I guess it can’t be helped, but it’s a little sad since I didn’t even join that club of my own free will.
Still, it’s kind of nostalgic to have that fragment of my memory brought up after so long.
As I remained silent, having nothing to say to him dredging up the past, the guy snorted and asked.
“You’re the one who threw away our club’s poster, aren’t you?”
So he knew. One wrong word and I might get hit with a shoulder throw.
Hoping he wouldn’t say anything else unnecessary, I replied.
“No.”
“What do you mean, no... The Kendo Club has really gone to shit. Taking in a guy like that.”
The Judo Club member said exactly what I’d imagined he would.
I couldn’t believe he’d actually use such an outdated provocation... It wasn’t even funny.
He’s such a cliché character—the hot-headed, ill-tempered extra from a sports club that the main character isn’t in. The kind of character you’d be disappointed not to see... but DokiAka is a rom-com, isn’t it?
Could it be that after I participated in the kendo tournament, the genre shifted to a sports story with a side of romance?
Come to think of it, Tetsuya once faced a similar situation.
Judging by that event, DokiAka is, indeed, a shitty game.
If a game with outdated events you wouldn’t even see in a shonen manga isn’t a shitty game, then what is?
No, maybe I’m the piece of shit for playing it even though I knew.
What should I do? If I try to solve this with force, I’ll have to worry about Hiyori’s affection level dropping, and I could even face disciplinary action for making a scene in front of the new students.
But just letting it go after hearing that doesn’t feel right either.
Tap. Tap.
Lost in my own thoughts, trapped in a huge dilemma, I was snapped back to reality by a somewhat heavy sensation on my cheek.
The Judo Club member was smirking as he tapped my cheek with just enough force to be annoying.
Such an extra-like thing to do.
By the book, this is where I should fight back...
It might be different if we’d drawn a crowd, but the Judo Club member was blocking the view with his large frame, so no one was paying attention.
No matter how I look at it, the cost-benefit analysis doesn’t add up.
If this is an event orchestrated by God, then I can say that our old-fashioned God has really, really bad taste.
“Hey!? What do you think you’re doing!!”
As I was quietly taking it, my eyes lit up at the sound of Chinami’s enraged voice. She must have noticed the situation.
Ah, so this is a cliché event where Chinami and Renka get to praise me for being so mature.
I feel a little more at ease now.
It’s a little obvious, but it’s not a bad thing. There’s a chance that Hiyori, who’s about to enroll, will see this and think, ‘Wow, that senpai has incredible patience...’ and raise my score in her mind.
This is an event that’s unconditionally beneficial to me, so I should just stay still.