The hallways were swarming. I still remembered yesterday's commotion, but today was worse. I walked faster than usual, desperately trying to forget my botched interaction with those two.
Deep down, I felt it: my year was already ruined. Between Ren, Mizuki, and this Haruka lurking around, the world seemed dead-set on rubbing salt in the wound. Could I still transfer schools? The year had only just begun, after all...
Nah, forget it. The paperwork, the transfers, it'd be a massive headache. Too exhausting. I sighed. Whatever, I'd deal with it.
Once I reached the cafeteria, I noticed it wasn't too crowded. Most students eat in class with their bento. I had just forgotten to prep one, or even to ask Kaede. But given last night's atmosphere and my inability to explain my "bullying" to her, she wouldn't have let it go. Asking her for anything was a dead end.
I waited in line and paid for my meal: 500 yen for rice curry, some compote, bread, and cheese. A basic menu. I sat alone at a table for four. There was nothing smaller, no tables for lone wolves like me.
As I was tasting my curry, footsteps approached. They grew louder and louder before stopping dead right in front of me. I kept my head down over my plate, but out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a skirt.
I looked up.
It was her. That smile... The person I wanted to see least after she'd ruined my yesterday and was currently ruining my today. Haruka stood there, a grin on her face, staring at me with a gaze loaded with pride and arrogance.
"Hey, Salkony, how's it going?" she tossed out, crashing my table without even asking.
She set down a black bento that looked impressively well-filled. I lowered my head, avoiding her gaze, and focused on my curry without a word. She noticed my silence and lost her smile for a second, just long enough to think. Then, she beamed even wider, but this time, it was pure mockery.
"Aw, are you sulking? I'm really sorry for stringing you along; it's just that it was so funny I couldn't help but laugh yesterday."
I gritted my teeth. She was saying that just to make me snap and force me to talk. Because of her, I had officially lost my appetite. She settled in comfortably, head resting on her hand, and continued to stare at me with that unshakeable smile.
"Don't you want to ask your leader anything? Since you're now officially my first member..."
I raised my head and looked her straight in the eyes. "I want to quit the club."
Her smile didn't flicker. "No. And if you actually do it, I'll harass you until you come back. I will ruin your life, Salkony," she added with a dark glint in her eyes.
Her threats sounded serious enough to make me stay. Besides, I didn't see much difference between quitting the club to be harassed or staying to work like a slave. Given her personality, I didn't need to be a genius to guess what was waiting for me.
She started opening her bento. The scent of seasoned beef, shrimp, and deep-fried octopus tickled my nostrils. A feast compared to my sad rice.
"Anyway, now that you're a member, there's something more important than our activities that I need to entrust to you."
"No, wait, let me guess..." I interrupted. "I have to help you recruit other members, right?"
She instantly lost her smile. She suddenly looked very uncomfortable.
"Uh... yes."
"Not just anyone,"
She specified.
"You have to recruit Ren, the new guy in your class."
My spoon clanked into my curry with a dull thud. I was shocked by what she was already asking me to do, the ink on the contract barely dry.
"You want me to try and recruit him?!"
She nodded three times with an assurance that made my head spin. I sighed, feeling a migraine coming on.
"And why him and not someone else?" I asked.
"Because a guy like him in a 'Social Club' is bound to draw attention. That's why you absolutely have to bring him in."
"And if he refuses?"
She knit her brows, her gaze suddenly turning icy.
"No. You must recruit him. Failure is not an option. You won't be allowed to sleep until you've done it!" she yelled, slamming her fist violently against the table.
The noise made half the cafeteria jump. After drawing every eye in the room, she regained her calm instantly, straightened up elegantly, and finally began enjoying her meal as if nothing had happened.
As for me, I couldn't swallow another bite. At that precise moment, I truly felt like luck was never on my side.
The start of afternoon classes finally saved me, snatching me from Haruka's suffocating grip. But as I walked toward my classroom, the regret of yesterday's signature weighed heavier and heavier in my stomach, even heavier than the industrial curry I had just swallowed.
I had no choice. I had to attempt the impossible. To be honest, I knew absolutely nothing about this Ren guy, so maybe there was a tiny chance of recruiting him? The problem was the how.
Before we parted, Haruka had shoved the registration papers into my hands, along with a piece of advice I never imagined coming from her mouth:
"You have to stay yourself when you talk to him, Salkony. Never show him a fake personality."
But before I could ask her where she'd gotten that advice, she'd already turned and walked away.
And why did she seem so serious all of a sudden? Was it a new ruse? Or did she know something I didn't?
I pushed open the classroom door, the crumpled forms in my pocket. My head screamed for only one thing: peace. But I knew that by sitting between Mizuki and Ren, peace was the last thing I was going to find today.