“You’re sure you’re sure?” I asked on our way to the club room. “It’s not exactly a party where we’re going. It might not be your thing.”
A day was all it took to learn what I needed about the lit club. And what I learned was that it wasn’t exactly where the cool kids hung out.
“Eh, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I used to do needle felting,” Yanami insisted. “That thing where you poke wool a whole bunch to make cute little dudes.”
“Again, literature. We are going to the literature club. Not the little-dudes club.”
Forget it. She wasn’t worth the energy. I opened the door.
I paused. “Oh, hello.”
“Nukumizu-kun.” Tsukinoki-senpai brushed a lock of hair behind her ear without looking up from her book. “Good to see you.”
Komari glanced, frowned at me, and then froze upon noticing the stranger with me.
“She’s with me. Wanted to have a look at the club,” I explained.
“Hiya. Hope I’m not a bother,” she said. “I’m Yanami. Nukumizu-kun and I are in the same class.”
“Welcome, welcome! I’ll get us some tea.” The vice president jumped up, adjusting her glasses, and nudged me as she passed me by. “Nice catch. She’s a cutie.”
“R-right…” I said.
“She your girlfriend?” Tsukinoki-senpai asked out loud.
Oh, Jesus Christ.
“N-no, we’re—”
“Oh, no, no,” Yanami butted in. “Just classmates.” There was nothing on her face. No hint of emotion. No hesitation, not even displeasure. She may as well have been commenting on the weather. The moment came and went like dust on the wind. She was then quickly preoccupied with surveying the room. “You guys sure keep a lotta books around here. What for?”
Suddenly, it was like you could hear a pin drop. Senpai and Komari stared holes through me, their expressions completely deadpan.
Just as the atmosphere was becoming crushing, the door swung open. “Whoa, we havin’ a party?”
A fairly tall man entered. The president, if I had to guess. Tamaki Shintarou—my savior.
“Well, well. Look who decided to show up.” Tsukinoki-senpai made her best attempt at a wrinkly scowl, only to be betrayed by her own upturned lips.
“Cut me some slack.” The president put a suave hand on her shoulder. “I’ve been studying for exams.”
“Uh-huh. And I’m the queen of France.”
“What, you don’t believe me? Oh, hey, Nukumizu-kun. Good to see you again. And who’s that? A new member?”
“Just here to check things out,” said Yanami. “Nice to meet you. I’m Yanami.”
Tamaki-senpai welcomed her with a smile, stepping toward us. “Make yourself at home.”
Before he could make it far, Komari jumped out in front of him. “P-P-Prez, I—” she stammered. “I r-read the book you lent me! It was good!”
“Already? Dang, glad you liked it,” Tamaki-senpai said. “Koto over here just doesn’t respect sci-fi.” He gestured to her with his thumb.
The vice president shot him back a look. “I respect the genre well enough. It’s you who won’t read Haruki.”
“Since when were you a Harukist?”
“I’m not that into him. You’re still sitting on that Usami Rin novel I gave you, by the way.”
“Hey, I finished that! Boy, did that idol burn.”
They were so a thing that it wasn’t even funny. I let my eyelids hang, unamused, while they went off.
“I-I, um… I like Egan!” Komari interjected. What a trooper. “Even if he’s a bit…c-confusing.”
“For real?” said Tamaki-senpai. “I knew one of us had good taste!”
The president ruffled her hair. She yiped.
Tsukinoki-senpai swatted his hand away. “Are you trying to get #MeToo’d? You just let me know if he’s getting too handsy, Komari-chan. I’ll set him straight.”
“I-I don’t…!” Komari jumped at the volume of her own voice and hung her head. “I…don’t mind.” Her cheeks turned bright red.
“Look at her, Koto. Why can’t you be that adorable?” Tamaki-senpai teased.
Groaning, Tsukinoki-senpai said, “You really shouldn’t spoil him. He’ll let anything go to his head if you’re not careful.”
The president glanced at his watch and sucked air through his teeth. “I gotta get going. There’s a meeting for club presidents, and I’m cutting it close. At least I get to brag about our new visitor.”
“I’ll come with,” said Tsukinoki-senpai. “You’ll curl up somewhere and fall asleep on the way there otherwise.”
“You’re my favorite alarm clock, Koto.”
“We’ll see how you feel after I sign you up for janitor duty.”
The two left, their casual flirting echoing down the hallway and through the door. Leaving the rest of us to wonder what the point of that entire display had even been.
“H-he called me… The president…called me cute.” Komari was mumbling and giggling to herself, off in her own little world. Poor thing had no idea.
Yanami tapped me on the shoulder and furtively leaned in close. Very close. Oh god, I could smell her. “So, the prez and vice prez. They’re totally dating, right?”
“Dunno. Wouldn’t be surprised,” I replied.
Komari, with her sonar hearing, thrust her phone out at us. The screen read, “They are NOT dating! They are childhood FRIENDS!”
“Childhood friends?” Yanami narrowed her eyes like an activated sleeper agent.
“Yes! JUST friends!” Komari’s phone screen asserted.
Her nose scrunched, nostrils flared, and piece—well, not said, technically—either way, Komari stormed back to her book and shoved a pair of blaring earbuds into her ears. There was grumpy, and then there was her.
Yanami noisily scooched a nearby chair over to sit in. “What’s the phone about? She just do that?” she asked. I had no answer. “Anyway. So childhood friends, huh?”
“What? Oh. Right. Guess they are,” I said.
“Wonder what makes her so special,” Yanami muttered grimly.
“Innocent until proven guilty, Yanami-san.”
“Wait a second…” She slowly, dramatically raised her head. Her eyes landed on Komari. “Homewrecker,” she growled. Komari twitched.
“Okay, relax, we just established they aren’t dating. How does that make her a homewrecker?”
“It’s not about dating or not dating. As far as I’m concerned, any floozy that steps in on a man with a childhood friend is a dirty thief. How is that not obvious?”
I pictured a yuri couple. Many would rage and froth at the mouth at the mere suggestion of including a man in such a relationship. That made it click for me. Death was too light a punishment.
“Okay, I get it,” I confessed, “but let’s put a pin in that. Komari-san’s literally right there.”
“She’s got music on. She can’t hear.”
We turned to her. Komari seemed to shrink away, like she could feel us staring. Something didn’t feel right.
“What if she isn’t?” I said.
“But she’s got earbuds in,” said Yanami.
“She could be pretending to listen to music so she can eavesdrop on us.”
“Didn’t you hear it earlier, though?”
“Yeah, but do you hear it now? We’ve been hoodwinked, Yanami-san.”
The sweat of a liar poured from Komari’s face. She took out her earbuds, holding me in her disgruntled gaze, and handed me something. “S-spare key. Forgot.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
“I-I’mma g-go home now!” And out she flew, tripping over her own legs.
The quiet was sudden and overwhelming. Only two remained: the outsider and the technically-not-really outsider. What was there to even do? I couldn’t give much of an overview of the club, because I hadn’t been given one myself.
“Guess I’ll make some tea,” I said. “Write your name on the visitors list.”
“Thanks. Get me green,” Yanami replied. She signed her name and started flipping pages. “Lotsa people on here. Oh, there’s you. And there’s that one girl. Komari-san.”
Yanami quickly grew bored with the list and browsed the shelves. I prayed she’d stay away from anything Dazai or Mishima. For both our sakes.
“Tea,” I said, placing her cup down.
“Thanks. By the way…” She took a sip and stared me dead in the eye. “What club is this again?”