Yet her movement to squeeze between the two was unexpectedly ruthless.
"Shouldn't we... listen to little Reina's own opinion?"
Shiori tilted her head slightly, the gaze coming through the gaps in her bangs moist and soft, like petals soaked in morning dew, gently resting on Reina's face.
"Right... Reina-chan...?"
The end of her sentence trailed off lightly, as if she were merely confirming a trivial matter.
"..."
Reina, surrounded in the center, opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound. Her eyes darted around, looking at the four girls blankly, unable to find a single place to settle her gaze.
"Alright, there's no need to discuss this at all."
Another voice broke in, carrying an unhurried composure.
Yui ruthlessly pushed the first three aside. Her movements weren't large, but they carried the decisiveness unique to the Kendo Club's captain, like clearing away branches that hindered a sword stroke.
"The Kendo Club is the most suitable."
She briefly stated her conclusion, her flaxen hair swaying as her deep purple eyes calmly swept over everyone present.
"Everyone, leave."
[Ho ho, a shura field right at the start? How dramatic.]
[Do you know how I've spent this past week! Do you?!]
[See that? This is the suffering one must endure when trying to build a harem. Good kids shouldn't learn from this.]
[Please be sure to pack up a portion of this suffering and send it to me.]
[Just my daily life.]
[Sigh, delusions.]
Standing on the edge of the crowd, Rin looked away.
So they were fighting over which club Reina should join.
...She thought it was a cosplay of Shang Yang's Reforms; the atmosphere was so intense she half-expected Reina to step forward and establish trust by moving a pole.
But here's the question... was this in the original work?
She rubbed her chin, roughly searching through her memory.
No.
In the script summary she had read, Reina joining a club happened at a much later point.
The process was roughly: Yui invited her privately, Reina agreed to the Kendo Club first under the pressure of "being unable to refuse the young miss," then quit citing lack of physical strength, and finally joined the Anime Club she was relatively interested in.
Yes, that's right, that was the process.
Not like now, surrounded by four people like the last popular item on a supermarket's clearance shelf, being fought over until the packaging was about to fall apart.
So, what was the reason for things developing this way?
Without a doubt, it was herself.
The only and absolute variable in this script world.
Perhaps because she had pointed out Yui's thoughts ahead of time. Once that thin veil was pierced, the young miss Shimizu, who was usually accustomed to observing from the shadows, chose a bolder way to assert her dominance.
Her active invitation in the classroom stimulated the others, like knocking over the first domino.
So the other three were no longer subtle, raising the stakes layer by layer, eventually evolving into this overly lively kidnapping attempt?
That's probably it, right?
...How pitiful, but that's not important.
What matters is that she needs to hurry up and get involved.
This is a god-given opportunity. The four heroines who have already appeared are busy with internal friction and have no time to look elsewhere. At this moment, as long as any new face steps into this battlefield, the audience will naturally include her in the list of heroine candidates.
Act according to the situation, advance with the flow, rise by creating momentum, and soar by seizing the opportunity.
That's what The Art of War says.
Although she can't be a grandson now, she still has to use The Art of War.
Thus, while the smell of gunpowder between the four protagonists grew stronger and they were all too distracted to notice other movements, Rin quietly approached the crowd.
Then, she reached out her hand.
Her movement was light, like taking down a book from a shelf that no one would easily borrow. Her fingertips accurately bypassed all the tangled arms and bag straps, finding that hand with nowhere to go.
She grabbed it.
The strength was just right—not enough to break free, but not enough to cause pain.
Reina's hand was even smaller than she had imagined, her fingertips slightly cool, and her palm damp with sweat from nervousness.
Rin didn't look back, nor did she say anything to explain.
She just led that hand, like leading a lost child, walking straight into the classroom through the circle of those four, as if no one else were there.
[Oh no, the base is being backdoored!]
[With awe-inspiring might and murderous intent fluttering, protecting the king and showing merit, I shall surely protect my lord's safety!]
[Kill-happy players are really enough.]
[If this continues, I'm going to give Legends of the Three Kingdoms a positive review.]
[No, how did she dare? Huh? Just leading her away like that?]
[Rin, a type of white furball who is ruthless but says little.]
"Eh...?"
Not until she was led halfway across the classroom by a slender but exceptionally steady figure and stopped in front of her own seat did Reina's eyes, which had been unfocused for a long time, finally manage to regain their focus.
She looked blankly as the girl released her wrist, pulled over a chair from the neighboring desk, and naturally sat down beside her table.
Rin sat propped against the desk, her arms resting on the tabletop, forming a small, defenseless wall.
She buried the lower half of her face in the crook of her arm, revealing only a pair of azure eyes.
Her gaze rested steadily on Reina's face.
A somewhat muffled voice came from the crook of her arm, as light as a breath in her ear:
"...Want to join the Astronomy Club?"