Class was over for the day, and I was walking through the halls of the high school building. The gates to the middle school and the high school were separated, facing each other about three hundred feet apart. That was why whenever you wanted to get to the high school, you had to leave the middle school grounds, walk outside, then enter through the high school front gate.
Walking it for the first time made me realize that it was a long way from the high school’s front gate to the actual building. This walk is gonna be so painful when I’m running late.
Not that it matters if you’re on time…
“She said…the clubroom for the Phantom Thief club was in a separate building.”
According to President Shiori, Rio would be in the clubroom after school.
The club itself was in the building with the music and art classrooms, separate from where the classrooms were. I’d gone to this spot during the culture festival, so I had a general idea of how to get there.
There should be a separate path from the front gate. Although…
As I walked through the school courtyard, I could feel the glances of my senior alumni peeking over at me.
Looks like this school uniform makes me stick out like a sore thumb. I actually might be starting to get a little nervous…
I arrived at the building, and there was a floor guide at the entrance. It must’ve been there for new students to quickly figure out where they wanted to go.
The guide included a floor map with each of the rooms and club names. The literary club, the home economics club, the photography club, the drama club, the culinary arts club, the computer club, the mystery research club…
Many of these clubs did something for the culture festival. I didn’t notice the Phantom Thief club back then, though.
Oh! There it is!
As I worked my way through the map, I found a room with PHANTOM THIEF CLUB written on it. It was on the second floor.
I went up the stairs and stood in front of the club entrance. There was only one door to the classroom, so it must’ve been a smaller one.
I could hear voices coming from the inside. I wasn’t sure if any of them belonged to Rio, but there were people there.
Knock, knock.
I knocked on the door.
“Yes!”
I heard an answer shortly before the door opened from the other side.
It was Rio, and her face brightened up the second she saw it was me.
“Asuka!” She held out both hands and tried to hug me.
“Wh-whoa! Hold on!”
Panicking, I held out both hands to push her back.
Did she just try to hug me? Is that a thing she does? I’m definitely not used to that.
“C’mon! Come inside.”
Before I could get my bearings, Rio grabbed my arms and pulled me into the clubroom.
“Waaagh!” I stumbled after her.
There was a brown wooden table in the middle of the room with metal folding chairs surrounding it. There, two boys were sitting at the table. Both of them were big and tall. The room seemed pretty chill, and the students seemed comfortable.
Wow…
They looked like adults.
“A guest? That’s unusual,” one of the boys said.
He had short hair, broad shoulders, and a dark suntan. I could tell from his wrists and neck that he was muscular. He must be into some kind of sport.
“She’s the girl I was telling you about yesterday, Daiki. The middle schooler who was at the Sky Towers.”
“Ah, you did mention something about that.”
Okay, so the boy was named Daiki. He nodded, seeming to recall what Rio had told him.
“Your terrible memory can be astounding,” the other boy said. He was slender, with long, pin-straight hair that fell just above his shoulders. His sharp eyes, framed by glasses, gave him a more reserved appearance.
“He’s right, Daiki. Sometimes, I wonder if you’re even listening to me,” Rio said with annoyance before looking at me. “Let me introduce these two. The tall one is Daiki Sawahashi. He’s practically an animal with how athletic he is—every sports club is trying to recruit him. And this guy in glasses is Kento Okihara. He’s a bit of an eccentric—one of the top students in the high school, always ranking in the top three, and full of random trivia you’d never learn in class. We’ve been friends since middle school.”
The two shrugged at their introductions, but Rio ignored their reactions and turned to me.
“And this girl is Asuka Kouzuki, a middle school student who was at not only the Sky Towers incident but also the hijacking of the Flower Song. She’s our highly anticipated new club member!”