Kamiyama-san goes into her locker.
We were looking for a fourth member of the conversation club and somehow managed to recruit Harusame Amano, who was conversing with a life-size panel of magical girls in a school hallway.
We then went to the homeroom teacher in the staff room and submitted an application form.
When the homeroom teacher and the other teachers in the staff room saw Amano-san, the fourth member of the club, they looked at her as if to say, “Oh… you got that student of all people?”
I’m sure this girl was a celebrity, too. She’s the kind of person who talks to life-size panels of magical girls, after all.
Anyway.
We have four members and successfully established the conversation club. However, it is highly doubtful that we will be able to continue our activities “safely” in the future.
We were given an empty classroom at the end of the corridor furthest in the school building as our club room. Today was the first activity of the conversation club.
I stand in front of the teacher’s table and begin to speak to everyone.
“Well… So now we would like to start the first activity of the Conversation Club…”
Arai sits on a chair and applauds grandly with a beaming smile.
Well, she’s got a great smile today, too.
“Haha, don’t say funny things, A-chan… so, have you been to the new clothing store yet? What? Did you already go? I told you to invite me too!”
At the very back of the classroom. Harusame Amano, with her back to me, has a panel of magical girls propped up on the blackboard behind her and continues to converse with the panels by herself.
Well, I’m glad to see that she seems to be well and sick today.
As for Kamiyama-san, she is…huh, not there?
She was sitting next to Arai a moment ago, sweating profusely.
I looked around the classroom while scratching my head. Then, I found a locker for cleaning supplies that are rattling and shaking unnaturally.
Hmmm, what’s going on here…
I walked up to the locker with a blank expression on my face and slammed the door open.
Inside, I saw Kamiyama-san’s body folded into a strange shape, somehow fitting into the locker.
I asked Kamiyama-san a question, as she folded her body inside the locker like a slaughtered corpse in a horror movie.
“Well… what are you doing?”
Kamiyama-san is writhing around cramped in her locker, with sweat dripping from her soaking wet uniform.
“I’m so… embarrassed that I hid in a place where I could… hide…”
Well, I don’t know what to do anymore…
I called out softly to Kamiyama-san, who was folding herself up in her locker.
“Just come on out.”
“…yes.”
Kamiyama-san crawls out of the locker, dexterously straightening her elbows and knees.
Now, all that’s left is that girl.
I walked over to Harusame san’s side, who was in the middle of a conversation with magical girl A-chan and forcefully interrupted the conversation between the panel and Harusame.
“Harusame-san, have you and A-chan finished talking? I think it’s time for us to start our club activities.”
Even though I was standing right in front of her, Harusame continued her conversation with the panel of magical girls as if I didn’t exist at all.
“What? Oh, I’m sorry, some human that is like trash is talking to me, so I’ll talk to you next time. Yeah, yeah… then, I promise, bye-bye.”
It would be a trashy person to say that.
Harusame-san reluctantly sat down next to Arai-san, her smile now replaced by a Buddhist smile.
I was mildly shocked, but stood in front of the teaching table again and regrouped.
“Well… once again, I would like to start the first conversation club activity now… what can I say… is everyone… are you all okay with… the whole… thing?”
I was already at my limit. Meanwhile, Arai-san said with her usually smiling face.
“I’m fine, Kominato-kun! Do your best!”
With cheers from Arai-san, who had no idea on what basis I was asking if it was okay, I regained my composure and continued.
“Well… first of all, since today is the first time, I would like for us to decide on what we, the conversation club, are going to do. We’ve decided on ‘conversation practice club activities,’ but we need to decide together how we’re going to practice. Does anyone have any input?”
“Yes, I do.”
Receiving my words raises her right hand straight up. I picked Arai-san.
“Yes, Arai-san”
“The purpose of our conversation club is to help people communicate with each other smoothly, right? If that’s the case, why don’t we start by deciding on an agenda for each meeting and practice conversation by talking about it together?”
It was an honest opinion, just like Arai-san. I agreed with Arai-san’s opinion.
“Oh, that’s a good idea. For example, people often talk about ‘normal small talk,’ but sometimes it’s hard to know what is normal to talk about. If you have an agenda, it might make it easier to talk. I think it would be a good idea to start practicing with an agenda. So why don’t we all come up with an agenda first?”
“Okay, let’s give it a try.”
Arai-san is decent and makes me want to cry.
Now, how do we get an agenda, but if this were a normal club activity and the members were normal club members, we could have them raise their hands and each one of them could make a statement.
But.
I glanced toward Kamiyama-san and Harusame-san.
Kamiyama-san was sitting on a chair and fidgeting, and Harusame-san was staring at me with eyes that looked as if they wanted to curse me to death.
It would be difficult to get these two to raise their hands and speak while our attention was focused on them. In that case, I made a suggestion.
“Uh… since a verbal presentation from the beginning might be too hard, let’s write it down anonymously in a memo and read it out in turn.”
When I said this, Kamiyama-san exhaled in relief and patted her large b*****s. Her melon-like b*****s trembled and sweat dribbled from the hem of her skirt onto the floor.
As I shredded my notebook to the appropriate size using a ruler and made memos, I wondered whether we will ever come up with a decent idea.
I handed out the notes made from the notebook scraps to the three of them, feeling uneasy.
