Chapter 18: First.

“Good morning.
You’re early today, senpai.”

I headed to the clubroom first thing after class, but she was there first, just as when I went to get my admission form.

“Heya, junior”

“…Kinda weird to call me ‘junior.’”

“You say that, but you call me ‘senpai.’”

Well, I think “senpai” is pretty darn common.
(T/N: I know it doesn’t really make sense for westerners like us, but Japan has a pretty hierarchical culture, so you’re taught to really respect your elders.
His way of thinking isn’t unusual.)

“I mean, yeah,” I started.
“But it just doesn’t feel right.
Also, from your point of view, aren’t there going to be two juniors? Pretty confusing.”

“You’re junior Takasaki.”

“Just Takasaki.
If you don’t want to call me that, just call me Takasaki-kun.”

“Got it.
Then you call me Tachibana-san, too.”

Why not Tachibana-senpai? I really feel most comfortable addressing her as a senior.

“Okay, Tachibana-san.
Well, the other one doesn’t seem to be here yet.”

“True, though I just got out of class.”

“So she’ll be here soon.
Hmm, but what are we doing today?” I asked.

“Hmm…”

Just as she was about to think of something to say, the classroom door opened.
I turned my head to see a familiar student there.
Timidly, I tried to say hello.

“Hey…”

“…”

No words.
She glared at me through the neat golden of her hair then turned to look at our senpai.

“Everyone’s here.”

“…”

“…”

I wonder if this club will be okay.
It’s as if dark clouds hung over the room.

“Erm, what should we do?” I broke the silence.

“First, we need to make this place more comfortable.
Right now we only have two chairs.”

“So, we’ll have to bring it from the main school building? That’s a lot of work.”

“Nope, we’ll go around to the equipment and unused rooms at the club building.”

The three of us took one look at the equipment storage and the empty classrooms, checking them out.

“I’ll take a long desk and a pipe chair from the storage.
I’ll also take a sofa from the Robotics Lab since it’s no longer in use effective this year.”

“Is it okay to yoink without permission?” I voiced my concern.

“Probably.”

Her words shook unreliable.
Still, I don’t want to walk all the way to the teacher’s office just to confirm whether or not it was okay, much less to spend time explaining the minutia of wanting some furniture.

So we first headed to the prep room to grab a chair and a desk.

“I’ll get the chair…”

“No, leave it to me.”

As soon as our senpai was about to take the chair, the blonde spoke up for the first time.
She had quite a dignified voice.
Then, she turned to look at me, and I could guess exactly what she was thinking.

“I’ll get the desk then,” I said.

“What about me?” Our senpai Tachibana asked.

“Please lead the way and take care of the doors,” I said as quickly as I could.

“Got it,” she agreed.

After we managed to carry the chair-desk pair, we headed to the former Robotics Lab.

“Hrngh—!” With that, one side of the sofa lifted gently off the ground, but barely.

“Tachibana-san, it’s not safe to carry that.
The two of us will do it.”

“And what about me?” She asked once again.

“Show us the way.”

“Okay…”

“Um, and could you hold the other side for me?” I turned to the nameless blondie, and she moved to help. That’s the first time we’ve worked together! I would have said that, but it was just too weird.
I dropped it.

Gripping the couch, I could feel its heftiness.
As a guy, I don’t have any issues with this much pressure, but I wonder if the blondie is okay.
—Oh, she is doing wonders.
Quite a strong person, let me tell you.

Thus, we headed to our own club room.