On the next day, I got called to the chairwoman’s office. I’ve never done anything wrong ever since I became a high school student, so I’m not freaked out at all.

   More importantly, I didn’t know that our school actually had a chairwoman. She didn’t stand in front of the podium to welcome the new students during the welcome ceremony of the first years, and I’ve never seen her during the six months of my time here. Well, I guess this is a good chance as any.

   Currently, I’m standing right in front of the doors that lead to her office. I’m busy preparing myself mentally in case she’s a real she-devil. After taking a few deep breaths, I knock on the doors.

   ‘Come in.’ a muffled voice tells me.

   I open the doors and did exactly that. Behind the expensive-looking office table, a woman who’s probably in her thirties is sitting on a expensive-looking chair. The woman in question wears a black rectangle-framed glasses on her nose, and her black shiny hair is curled at the tip. She’s wearing red business suit and a skirt that reaches until her thighs that matches the suit. She’s also wearing a pair of black high heels. Overall, she looks kind of intimidating.

   Her name is shown on a plastic plate displayed at the front of her table. It reads Seki Kumiko.

   I know I’m in trouble when I see Nagano standing right next to her. I have a really bad feeling about this.

   ‘Bandou Takeru-kun of the first year, is it?’ Chairwoman Seki asks me.

   ‘Um, yes ma’am.’ I answer meekly.

   ‘Come, have a seat. No need to be shy.’

   I do as she says and sit down at one of the chair which is at the opposite side of hers.

   ‘Now then, Ai here told me that you have made a wish to make all the couples around the world break up with each other until you yourself get a girlfriend, and it was actually granted.’

   ‘That I did, ma’am.’

   ‘I see. Well, I’m not to reproach you or give you a punishment for acting so childishly. However, I do believe that you should at least take responsibility for your action.’

   ‘Take responsibility how, ma’am?’

   ‘If you insist on not doing something about that wish of yours, you could fix the relationship of those who have broke up. You could start with this school. To that end, I plan to start a club where students who lost their other half are allowed to consult you and have their problem fixed.’

   ‘I refuse.’ I tell her bluntly.

   Her eyebrows furrow in anger. ‘I beg your pardon?’

   ‘Like I said, I refuse. Chairwoman, I need to work a part-time job so that I could get food and pay my bills. Worst of all, I also have to spend most of my hard-earned money to pay this institution that teaches me mostly useless knowledge. If I have to join this club of yours, who’s going to pay for all those things?’

   ‘I am the chairwoman of this school. You will do as I say.’ she tells me in a frosty voice.

   ‘Is that a threat, ma’am?’

   ‘I didn’t want to go this far, but you left me no choice. If you are still being adamant on this, I will make sure that your school life will be a living hell.’

   I calmly take out my phone that had been on recording mode all this time. ‘I’m pretty sure the media would be delighted to hear that.’

   Her anger suddenly switches to fear. ‘W-Wait. Let’s talk about this. I was just joking.’

   ‘We’ll let them decide that.’

   She gets up and knocks her head on her table while putting both her hands on it. ‘No! Really! I’m sorry! Please forgive me for threatening you!’

   Nagano sighs softly. ‘I told you that it was a bad idea to threaten him, chairwoman.’

   ‘Is she the airhead you mentioned yesterday?’ I ask Nagano while pointing at the chairwoman.

   ‘No. That girl is a college student. Chairwoman Seki is just incompetent. She’s not even part of our group.’

   ‘I’m right here, you know!’

   ‘Then why is she helping you out?’

   ‘She’s a long-time acquaintance of the Koikana Shrine’s owner.’

   ‘Ah.’

   Chairwoman Seki lifts up her head. ‘With that wish of yours, there might not be visitors that go to the shrine anymore, which is why I-’

   ‘Did I say that you could lift your head?’ I demand.

   Her head slams the desk once more. ‘My deepest apologies!’

   ‘Anyway, even if I have the time, I have better things to do. So I’m not going to join the club. Period.’

   ‘Please reconsider. Ai said that you’re very good in this, and she needs all the help that she could get.’ Chariwoman Seki pleads. ‘If you schedule is too tight, we could let the students make appointment. You can see them whenever you have spare time.’

   I consider that. I still couldn’t care less about those couples who broke up, but they might keep on pestering me until I agree.

   I sigh in resignation. ‘Fine. As long as the consultation doesn’t clash with my schedule.’

   Chairwoman Seki slams her head on the desk a few times. ‘Thank you! Thank you! I shall make preparations at once!’

   And so, the Love Consultation Club is born. Under school rules, a club must have at least five members. However, this club is formed under the direct order of the chairwoman herself, so that rule can be ignored.

   We even received a club room for consultation purpose. The place is nothing grand, but it’ll serve its purpose well enough. On the first day we checked it out, Nagano already brought some teacups and an electrical kettle to make tea. She also brought lots of teabags and snacks.

   For now, the members consist of Nagano and myself. Nagano advertised the club aggressively, and posters about the club are seen on bulletin boards all over the school. Anyone who wants to consult us can just call Nagano via dialling her phone number that’s written on the poster to book an appointment. Luckily, students are sceptical of such a shady-looking club, so no one booked an appointment for one whole month.

   ‘This is bad, Bandou-kun.’ Nagano tells me one day when she forced me to have lunch with her. ‘With this, it’s gonna take forever for the couples in this school to get back together!’

   ‘And that’s a problem?’

   She glares at me. ‘Oh right, you don’t care.’

   ‘I’ve already agreed to join that pointless club despite having better things to do. If no one wants any help, it’s not my problem. Besides, it’s a good sign that no one is actually consulting us, right? That means everyone got things under control.’

   ‘That’s not true and you know it!’

   ‘Just so we’re clear, we’re not going to butt in on the affair of others. That would be plain meddling, which is something I hate to do.’

   ‘I know I know. Even I won’t go that far. We’ll just help those who actually want to be helped, and leave everyone else alone.’

   She sighs mournfully. ‘But that’s the problem here. No one is seeking help from us.’

   ‘Well duh. Who’s going to come over when the place has zero reputation?’

   She sighs again. ‘I hope someone will come here soon.’

   Someone actually came on the same day she wished that. I didn’t have to work when the boyfriend called Nagano to book an appointment, so I went to the club room after school’s over. He sits down nervously on one of the chairs we have. Nagano then serves him tea.

   ‘Your name and class?’ I request.

   ‘My name is Kiyabu Yuichi. I’m from Class 1-6.’ he replies.

   ‘You’re from the Drama Club, aren’t you?’ Nagano asks him. ‘I’ve seen you acting in a play every once in a while.’

   Kiyabu seems happy that someone actually knows of him.

   ‘Yes. None of my roles were anything major, but it was always fun to act as all sorts of roles.’

   ‘You ever acted as a tree?’ I ask him.

   ‘Um, no.’

   ‘Shame. Acting as a tree is the prime epitome of acting. You can’t say that you’ve reached the peak of acting without having taking on the role of a tree.’

   ‘Are you speaking from experience?’ Nagano asks me.

   ‘Sure am.’

   Nagano turns her attention back to Kiyabu. ‘Please ignore him and continue.’

   ‘Right. My girlfriend, Nakagawa Naomi from Class 1-3, is also a member of the Drama Club. The two of us joined the Drama Club around the same time. We were strangers at first, but we got closer as we practised our roles with each other.’

   ‘And one of you eventually confessed?’ Nagano asks excitedly.

   I look at her in scorn. She has the look of someone who’s having a love talk during a school trip.

   ‘Yes’ Kiyabu answers with an embarrassed look on his face. ‘There was a scene where my role is supposed to ask the character she was acting to be his friend. I took up my courage and ad-lib.’

   ‘And you changed “will you be my friend” to “will you be my lover” instead?’

   ‘Yes.’

   Nagano squeals gleefully. ‘That was so smooth. How did she reacted?’

   ‘She did say yes, but she gave me a forehead flick for giving her a surprise attack.’

   I feel like puking. There’s nothing I hate more than listening to a successful confession.

   ‘Cut the crap and just get to the part where the two of you broke up.’

   ‘Would it kill you to listen to this kind of sweet story?’ Nagano asks while glaring at me.

   ‘It sure will. Kiyabu, if you will.’

   ‘Okay.’

   He takes a deep breath before starting. He also a pained look on his face. Not my problem, though. If he wants help, he’ll need to spit it out, painful memories or no.

   ‘We were talking about our dreams for the future.’

   I whistle at that. ‘How mature of you.’

   ‘We had different opinions about what to do after we graduate. I have serious plans on pursuing my career as an actor, but she thinks being in the acting industry is too risky, what with the unstable pay and requiring lots of connection. We were just planning to discuss it lightly, but somehow it turned into a huge fight.’

   Nagano throws a side-way glare at me.

   ‘Ever since then, we haven’t talked to each other at all. To make things worse, we have a play coming up and the two of us has some major roles in it. If we can’t improve our chemistry by then, the play will be ruined.’

   ‘I know of Nakagawa-san. She’s usually a sweet and kind girl. I’m sure she’ll understand if you really talk things over with her.’ Nagano tells him.

   Kiyabu hangs his head in despair. ‘I know that Naomi is kinder than any other girl I know. But she’s also incredibly stubborn. It’ll be very difficult to change her mind.’

   ‘Say, what’s the play that you’ll be performing about?’ I ask him.

   ‘Is that important right now?’ Nagano asks.

   ‘Shush. Just answer me, Kiyabu.’

   ‘Well, it’s about the story of a wandering swordsman who’s travelling around the world to help those in need, and a female thief who happened to steal his wallet. I’ll acting as the swordsman, and Naomi is the thief.’

   I give some thoughts to it. I look at Kiyabu once I’m done thinking up a plan.

   ‘Is the Drama Club doing anything right now?’

   ‘Currently, we’re on the process of making backgrounds.’

   ‘Okay. In that case, tell your club president that I want to speak to him and the person in charge of the script right now. Tell them to come here.’

   Kiyabu has a bewildered look on his face, but he takes out his phone and calls his club president straight away. Five minutes later, a male and a female senior arrive at the doorstep.

   ‘This is Kawai Hiroyuki-senpai, the club president of the Drama Club. As for her, she’s Itsuki Hanako, the vice president who’s also in charge of writing the script.’ Kiyabu introduces us to the two seniors.

   ‘Thanks for calling them over. Now then, I don’t really want to treat you like a tool that outlived its purpose, but can you leave for the day? I promise you that your problem will be resolved.’ I tell Kiyabu.

   He looks quite reluctant, but he nods anyway.

   ‘Okay. I believe you.’

   The rest of us wait patiently until he’s out of listening range before we start talking again.

   ‘Thank you both for coming over on such short notice, senpais.’ I tell the two of them.

   ‘No worries. The two of you are members of the Love Consultation Club, right?’ Kawai-senpai asks.

   I point a finger at Nagano. ‘No I’m not. She’s the sole member in this club. I was forced to join in.’

   ‘Hey now, don’t be so cold~! Didn’t we exchange promises that we’ll be helping out all the couples?’ Nagano asks in her fake cutesy voice.

   Her and her annoying facade…

   ‘I don’t remember ever doing that. Stop making up stories.’

   Itsuki-senpai lets out a soft cough. ‘More importantly, why did you call us over? Is it about Kiyabu-san and Nakagawa-san?’

   ‘That’s right. I heard from him that their current relationship is affecting your play.’

   ‘Well, we’re worried about that too, but above all we’re more worried about them. I mean, they’re so cute together. It’s such a waste for them to separate like that.’

   ‘Do you have any plan on helping them out?’ Kawai-senpai asks.

   ‘I do, but I’m not really sure whether it’ll work or not.’

   There’s that wish I made, for one thing.

   ‘The least we could do is try. We’ll worry about the success rate later.’

   ‘I guess you’re right. Okay, here’s the thing. The two of them are actors, so we should let them solve their problem with acting.’

   ‘Are you suggesting them to ad-lib?’ Itsuki-senpai asks me.

   ‘Yes. That’s the sole reason I ask the two of you two come here. I need the permission of the club president to do this, and the script writer to modify the script.’

   Kawai-senpai nods. ‘As the club president of the Drama Club, I approve of the plan.’

   Itsuki-senpai nods too. ‘As the club’s vice president and the script writer, I also approve of it. I’ll also work on the script again as well.’

   ‘Thank you. And not one word to the two of them please. I want them to improvise on the spot.’

   ‘You think it might work out?’ Nagano asks me after the two of them has left.

   ‘Who knows? There’s my wish, for starters. There’s also they themselves. I for one hope it won’t, though. It would means that my wish really has a loophole, and I have to keep on helping out.’

   ‘Like I keep on saying, none of these were necessary if tou hadn’t go and made that wish!’

   ‘Yeah yeah. I’m reflecting on my mistake. Not.’

   Three days later, it’s finally time for the play. The play is to be shown in front of the general public inside a community hall near Jindai High. To see how the whole thing might turn out, Nagano and I went to see it. I was quite reluctant as I was supposed to be working this evening, but Nagano insisted strongly on it.

   Before the play begins, Itsuki-senpai came over and hand us two copies of the script so that we know exactly the timing of the ad-lib. I look through the whole script. Apparently, the ad-lib is at the third and final act. Which means I got to sit through pretty much the whole play. Oh joy.

   I was never interested in this kind of thing, so I was barely paying attention majority of the time. One thing I do notice is that their costumes look very nice. Props to whoever designed them.

   After almost an hour, the part is finally here. Kiyabu paused for a second, probably thinking up of what to say next. And he actually manged to thought up of something in that single second.

   ‘Alice, why do you insist on walking the path of thievery? Why do you always steal from others?’

   Another pause from a girl whom I assume is Nakagawa.

   ‘What would you know, Leonio? I have no dreams that I could call my own, and no ambitions. I am lost, Leonio! Often I wake up and wonder whether I could survive another day. The mere thought frightens me.’

   I could tell that this is her real thought as her acting skill suddenly got much better. The reason is obviously because it’s not acting at all.

   ‘All of us have been there, Alice. Myself, the Duke whom you stole from, each and every person on the street. You’re not alone in this!’

   ‘What of it?’ Nakagawa screams. ‘At least you lot are lucky to find your own path. I am scared of the risk a change might bring. That is why I am reluctant to leave my comfort zone!’

   Wow, she’s really good. Her emotions are kind of getting to me.

   ‘Why do you insist on looking for your path on your own?’ “Leonio” asks in an emotional tone. ‘Did you really think I reached the conclusion to be a wandering swordsman myself! Nay! Unlike you, I was never afraid to seek help from others whenever I was in trouble. As such, I made the decision to travel around the world so that I could help those in need. Please Alice! Allow me to help you!’

   Kiyabu reaches out his hand to Nakagawa. She stares at it with misty eyes.

   ‘Is it really fine to believe?’ she asks fearfully.

   ‘Of course. Let us venture towards the uncertain future together. Not just as friends, but lovers.’ Kiyabu declares.

   Nakagawa sniffs loudly. She drops the green jewel she was holding and takes his hand.

   The audiences applaud thunderously. Majority of them are standing up, and some of them are even openly weeping. Nagano is also doing the same. As for me, I have complicated feelings. On one hand, my plan actually worked. On the other, if this keeps on, my wish would be pointless if the couples can make up through the loophole.

   After the play is finally over, the whole Drama Club had an after-party. They even invited Nagano and I. I was trying to decline, but they’re having none of it.

   ‘Thank you. We manage to make up because of you. Really. Thank you.’ Kiyabu keeps on telling me on verge of tears.

   ‘Alright alright, stop that. I didn’t do a lot. It was the two of you.’

   ‘Even so, we couldn’t have done it without you. So thank you.’

   ‘You want to thank me? You can do that by not telling anyone about what happened. I’m busy enough as it is. I don’t need more people to come to the club room and ask for consultation.’

   ‘Well, I can promise that if you want. I can’t say the same for others. And I think Nagano-san was just walking around and telling them to spread the word about your club.’

   I groan loudly.