As they walked back down the hallway, Tomoe remained silent, her head hanging low. Tetsuo, gripping the rejected membership form in his hand, clenched his jaw. The whispers and murmurs from the students they passed were subtle but unmistakable.
"See? I told you," Tomoe finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "No one will join because of me."
Tetsuo didn't respond immediately. Instead, he stopped walking and turned to face her. "Do you really think that matters?"
Tomoe looked up at him, confused. "Of course it does. You saw what happened. It's always the same."
Tetsuo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So what? We keep trying. If they don't want to join, then fine. But I'm not going to stop just because a bunch of idiots believe in rumors."
Tomoe shook her head. "You don't get it, Tetsuo. They're not just rumors. Even if they're twisted versions of the truth, the fact is… my brother did attack Jirou-senpai. And I… I was involved, even if not in the way they think."
Tetsuo studied her for a moment. "Then tell me what really happened."
Tomoe froze. "What?"
"If everyone thinks they know the truth, but you're saying they don't, then tell me the real story."
Tomoe took a step back. "It doesn't matter now."
"It does to me," Tetsuo said firmly.
For a moment, Tomoe hesitated. Then, shaking her head, she muttered, "Forget it," and turned to walk away.
Tetsuo watched her leave, his hands tightening into fists. He hated the way she was retreating into herself, the way she seemed resigned to being alone.
"Hey," he called out before she could disappear around the corner.
She stopped but didn't turn around.
"If you won't fight for yourself, then I'll fight for you," he said.
Tomoe stiffened. "...You don't understand what you're saying."
"Maybe not. But I'm not stopping."
Without another word, she walked away, leaving Tetsuo standing alone in the hallway.
He exhaled sharply and looked down at the membership form still crumpled in his hand. The literature club wasn't dead yet. And neither was Tomoe's chance to move forward.
If no one else was willing to stand beside her, then he'd do it alone.
"And with that, we found that x is equal to 9. If you're not understanding so far, just let me know," said Hamada-sensei as he fixed his glasses.
"Um, sir," said Noboru as he raised his hand.
Anticipating what Noboru would say, Shunpei held back his anger and asked, "What is it, Noboru?"
"I understand this topic. I just wanted to let you know that," said Noboru with a smile.
"What? Am I hearing things? Have the gods finally touched his stupid brain?" said Hamada-sensei as he smiled.
"Well, that's great news. I'm glad that you're finally absorbing the knowledge I'm teaching."
"Sike! It's lunchtime," said Noboru as the bell rang, and the rest of the class chuckled.
"I'll see you in detention after school today, Noboru," said Hamada-sensei.
"Wait, but sir, I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Well, constantly disrespecting me and damaging my reputation every single class is wrong, so we'll address this matter after school. And don't be late," he said before leaving.
"What are you going to tell Nanaho?" asked Shino, concerned.
"Well, it can't be helped. At least now I can probably get away from her clutches," said Noboru as he sighed.
"Are you sure about that? Do you think if she finds out that the reason you missed training was for detention, she would go easy on you? I can just imagine how many suicides she would make you do," said Makoto in a low tone.
"You're right, I'm screwed. She'll kill me for sure," said Noboru as he started to panic.
"So he's at it again today," said Sachiko.
"Yes, serves him right. Hamada-sensei finally took action on him," said Naomi.
Tetsuo, who was reading the forms he printed, got up from his desk and left the classroom.
"Yo, Tetsuo, where are you going? Aren't you going to eat lunch with us?" asked Noboru.
"I won't take long. I'll be right back," said Tetsuo as he left.
"Jeez, for crying out loud, he's really a strange one. Ever since Takahashi drew him out of the class to be an errand boy, he's been leaving the classroom every lunchtime, and only God knows where," said Noboru.
"Wait a minute, maybe the bastard is visiting a girl. It couldn't be... Don't tell me he bagged a hot chick," said Noboru.
"Shut up and quit your yapping. Stop jumping to conclusions. I'm trying to take a nap over here," said Makoto as he yawned.
"Oh, did you hear that, Sachiko?" said Naomi with a mischievous smile.
"Heard what exactly?" asked Sachiko.
"Tetsuo might have gotten himself a girlfriend now. I told you that you should have just been honest with your feelings."
"It's not like that between Tetsuo and me," said Sachiko, emotionless.
"Oh, well, it's no fun if you don't get all flustered, so I'll stop. Me and Tetsuo have gotten way closer than we used to be, but I still feel as though something is missing because we still feel so far away from each other," said Sachiko, concerned.
"Oh, so you're back again today. Remind me, why are you coming by so often again?" asked Tomoe.
"I'm not sure myself, but you could say I just felt like it," replied Tetsuo.
"So other than reading, what exactly does the literature club do?" he asked.
"Well, for one, we write stories and publish them together. We also enter essay contests to win prize money and gifts for ourselves and the school. We also go on trips, and my favorite of all, we put on plays based on one of the storybooks during the sports festival," said Tomoe.
"Oh, I see, so that's how it works."
"Well, that was the case when I joined last year, but..."
"Do you miss those days you spent in this club?" asked Tetsuo.
"Well, that's only natural. Those were the happiest days of my life, and they got taken away from me just like that."
Tetsuo, who heard her true feelings in her words, stood up and said, "Let's go."
"What do you mean? To where exactly?" she asked, confused.
He then took the membership forms out of his bag for her to see. "We'll be attempting to recruit some members in order to keep the club alive since we're the only two members left," said Tetsuo.
"But I told you already, no one would want to join this club because of me," said Tomoe.
"Did I ask? Are you coming or not?" asked Tetsuo as he stood at the door.
Tomoe was reluctant about going through with it. However, she eventually agreed. "The third years are busy with exams and preparing for life after high school, so I doubt any of them would join. Let's ask the second and first years," said Tetsuo as he walked toward the second-year classes.
Tomoe, who knew that almost everyone in their second year despised her, awkwardly walked behind Tetsuo with her head down.
"Wow, that's so cute, Kumiko. Where did you get those?" asked a girl in class 2S.
"I got them for free in a retail store. The owner was kind enough to give them to me because I'm one of his loyal customers," said Kumiko.
"Well, that's nice of him. They look really good on you," said another girl.
Tetsuo, who noticed them, walked towards the group with a handful of paper.
"Wow, that guy is hot. What class is he in? It's the first time I'm seeing him," said Kumiko's friend.
"Shush, he's coming over here," said the girl from class 2S.
When he was face to face with Kumiko, she gulped and blushed bright red, confused as to why he came up to her.
"Um... Hi, are you here to see me?" she asked.
"Yes, how'd you know?"
"Well, anyway, I'm part of the literature club, and we're currently facing a crisis. The club will be disbanded if we don't have five members, so would you be willing to join?" asked Tetsuo, handing her a membership form.
"Sure, I'm not good at reading books, but I'll definitely give it a shot," said the girl, smiling.
"Wow, she already fell head over heels for the guy," said her friend.
"I can't blame her. He's so handsome and mysterious," said the girl from 2S.
"Wow, he actually got someone to join. Maybe he was right. Maybe I'm still paranoid about what happened. Maybe I might actually be able to revive the club," said Tomoe, smiling for the first time in a long while.
However, the moment was short-lived when Kumiko's friend noticed Tomoe's face and put two and two together about an incident that had occurred a couple of months ago.
"Wait, can I borrow Kumiko for a bit?" she asked.
"Okay," responded Tetsuo.
The girl then dragged Kumiko aside and started whispering to her.
"You see that girl standing behind him? That's Tomoe Yukimura from class 2O," she whispered.
"Do you remember the incident that happened when we were in our first year with Jirou-senpai being beaten to a bloody pulp and sent to the hospital?"
"Yes, I remember," responded Kumiko.
"Well, the guy who did it was her older brother, Hiroki Yukimura. I heard that she was the one who told her brother to do it because she confessed her feelings to Jirou Suzuki, and he rejected her. Her older brother was sent to prison, and he's still currently an inmate."
"I would stay as far away from her as possible."
Kumiko's expression changed after hearing her friend's words. She walked back over to Tetsuo and bowed with the membership form in her hand.
"I'm so sorry, but as it turns out, my friend and I were planning on joining the tennis club this year, and I completely forgot about it. I'll have to turn down your offer," she said with guilt in her eyes.
Tetsuo, who knew she was lying, took the paper from her and walked off. Tomoe followed closely behind him with her head down.
"Poor guy. He's really cute and helpful, trying to assist her like this. However, he has no idea that she has him in the palm of her hands. I guess the rumors are true about her," commented a girl in 2S.
Tomoe, walking behind Tetsuo, overheard the girl's words and felt a deep depression overwhelming her. She felt like tearing up but held onto the back of Tetsuo's shirt. He stopped and turned around.
"Tetsuo, I really thank you for caring, but can we just stop? We'll only get the same response each time we ask, and I can't take much more of their lies," she said with her voice shaking.
Tetsuo ignored her and proceeded to continue asking the second- and first-year students, but he got the same response each time.
"Sorry, I have a lot of responsibilities at home," said a boy.
"My cat died, and I'm still grieving for his death, sorry," said a girl.
"I'm already part of a club, so no thanks," said another boy.
"Would you like to join the literature club?" asked Tetsuo.
"What? There's no way I'd join a club like that. Are you crazy? Come here, kid. Let this be a warning to you. Stay away from that girl. She's bad news. She's a manipulative slut, and she's really dangerous."
"Take that back," said Tetsuo, who was ticked off by his words.
"What? I'm not taking it back because it's the truth."
"Take it back right now!!" said Tetsuo as he gripped the second-year's hand, causing him a lot of pain.
"Ahh!! Alright, dude!! I take it back! Are you going to break my frickin' arm?" screamed the guy in pain.
Tetsuo, realizing his action, stopped. "I apologize for that," he said as he walked away.
After a series of failed attempts, Tomoe couldn't take it anymore and stood in front of Tetsuo to stop him in his tracks.
"Listen to me, I really appreciate your efforts, and I thank you so much for trying. But there's no way anyone would join my club with all those rumors floating around, so please just stop. You've done enough," said Tomoe, her eyes full of sadness as she headed back to the clubroom.
"What have I done? Her eyes… they look even emptier than they were when I first met her. Maybe if I didn't involve myself with her in the first place, then she wouldn't have sunken so deep into that pitch-black place where you lose all hope," said Tetsuo to himself regretfully as the school bell rang.