However, when the door was pushed open, what met her eyes wasn't the dust-filled, cluttered scene she had imagined.
On the contrary, the club room was very clean.
There were clear signs of regular cleaning on the floor, and the dark wooden floorboards shimmered softly in the evening sun.
Two bookshelves stood in the corner of the room, neatly lined with various astronomy-related magazines and books. Some of the spines had faded to white, clearly having been read many times.
Many stickers were plastered on the wall above the bookshelves, mostly of cartoon characters. At the edges of the stickers, one could faintly see memories of the classroom's own past.
And in the center of the club room, the most eye-catching thing was an old astronomical telescope.
The brass barrel glowed with a warm light, its lens pointing diagonally toward the window at a slightly upward angle, quietly waiting for the arrival of each night's starry sky.
As naturally as if she were returning to her own home, Rin entered the room and brought out two folding chairs from the corner.
She first unfolded one by the window and sat down, then pushed the other in front of Reina.
"Sit."
She took her phone out of her bag, lowered her head, and stopped talking.
"...Um, okay?"
Reina didn't stand on ceremony either. She took the chair and found a spot to sit diagonally behind Rin.
Then, she fell into a state of confusion.
She watched the short-haired white-haired girl in front of her sit cross-legged, holding her phone, her thumb occasionally swiping once or twice.
The screen seemed to be some kind of game interface, and faint sound effects occasionally leaked from the speaker, only to be drowned out by the noise outside the window.
After about half a minute of this, Reina finally realized she should ask a question.
"Um... Rin," she said a bit cautiously, "what exactly is... our club activity?"
Surely we aren't just going to sit here and play on our phones until nightfall?
Oh, right, speaking of which... she hadn't told her family yet that she would be coming home late tonight...
Thinking of this, Reina quickly rummaged through her bag for her phone, opened a messaging app, and began composing a message to her parents:
[Participating in club activities with a classmate, will be home a bit late. Don't worry.]
?
Hearing Reina's question, Rin's thumb, which had been swiping listlessly, paused slightly.
She slowly turned around, meeting Reina's eyes just as she finished her report and looked up.
—Did I not say so?
Reina easily read those words in those azure eyes.
Because the "innocence" and "righteousness" in that gaze were so pure, Reina actually began to wonder for a moment if something was wrong with her own memory.
She carefully searched her mind for every scene from the school gate to this room...
She probably... really hadn't said it.
"You didn't tell me..." Although she felt she was the one in the right, Reina's voice was still very weak, her tone even trailing upward involuntarily.
"Is that so?"
Rin's tone was as calm as ever, devoid of any fluctuation.
But after that brief response, her gaze uncharacteristically dodged to the side for a moment.
"...Star-gazing."
She uttered the words briefly, her gaze falling back to her phone screen, but her thumb didn't resume swiping.
[Couldn't hold it in]
[Haji Rin, you...]
[Children, I am the Historian; I can testify that she really didn't say it.]
[Treasure Rin looking so self-righteous even when she's in the wrong is so cute.]
[She's feeling guilty! That glance just now was definitely out of guilt!]
[Oh my, the progress is so fast. How long has it been since they got on track, and they're already alone together in a room? This is a milestone the other four couldn't reach in over ten episodes.]
[Investing everything into the Yukina ship, All in!]
Reina stared at the white head lowered once again, stunned for a few seconds.
Is it just for star-gazing?
So, bringing her here without explaining anything clearly was just for that?
She suddenly felt like laughing.
Not because it was funny, but because this was truly something only Rin could do.
She lowered her eyes, her gaze unconsciously falling on the quiet back diagonally in front of her.
The light outside the window was gradually dimming.
...In a little while, when the sky completely darkens, one should really be able to see the stars through that window.