Blackout

This has been bothering me for a while now. For some braindead reasons, I put Nitta's given name as Yuki and Takaki's Yuka. Also I made Miyagawa's name Riko and Kanae's Rika. Should I change their names, or should I keep them? Please help me decide by voting on the poll below

   Today is the day clubs hunt for new members. Well, “hunt” is too stong a word, but you know what I mean. All clubs are allowed to pick a spot outside the school buildings and appeal their clubs to the first years so that they might be interested in joining.

   The Love Consultation Club, while not being a real club, is given a spot anyway since Chairwoman Seki gave us special privilege. So here we are, waiting for the first years to come down like the rest of the clubs.

   A few minutes later, the first years have started to come down. The whole place immediately turns into a war zone with a lot of the clubs fighting over new members. Some of the students head straight to the club they want to join, while some are wandering around and deciding slowly. Needless to say, no students came over to where we are.

   Just as I was about to get bored out of my mind, Takaki and Nitta walk appears out of nowhere and walk towards us. And surprise, surprise, so are Motozawa and Amano.

   ‘Are you people supposed to be the new student council or something?’ I ask them. ‘Aren’t the old batch supposed to retire next month?’

   ‘That’s true, but Shishido-senpai told us to make a round so that we could get used to this as soon as possible. Considering that we have some new members, it is a sound advise.’ Takaki replies.

   I look at Motozawa and Amano. Both of them look kind of uncomfortable.

   ‘The two of you actually joined the student council?’ I ask them. ‘To be honest, I’m extremely surprised.’

   ‘Takaki-senpai invited me.’ Motozawa tells me.

   ‘I saw him helping around during the fair. He was quite dependable and helpful, so I told him that I want him on my team.’ Takaki says.

   ‘Let me guess. He’s the new Manager of General Affairs.’

   ‘That’s right.’

   ‘Well he’s definitely more dependable than his predecessor.’

   ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ the person in question growls.

   I ignore the idol and look at Amano curiously.

   ‘Certain things happened.’ was all she said.

   I shrug. If she doesn’t feel like telling, I’m not going to press further.

   ‘May I introduce you to the new treasurer, Amano Maya-san.’ Takaki introduces formally.

   ‘So she’s the one that will be replacing Itoh-senpai, huh?’

   ‘Indeed.’

   I kind of saw it coming, but I wonder what made Takaki recruit Amano in the first place. I wonder if she knows her background.

   The first years go on a frenzy the moment they saw Nitta.

   ‘Look, it’s her!’

   ‘I’m so glad that I managed to get into this school!’

   ‘Please look over here, Nitta-senpai!’

   Nitta herself is absolutely loving the attention. Right now she’s smiling and waving at the first years like this is one of her live events. I think the only reason they’re not swarming her is because Motozawa’s standing near her.

   ‘You sure it’s fine that she’s drawing attention?’ I ask Takaki.

   ‘Well, she is famous. There’s no denying that. As long as she’s separating her idol work with her student council ones, I have no issues on it. By the way, how are things going on your side? Any luck in finding new members?’

   Nagano hangs her head in dismay.

   ‘None at all. Not even one person approached.’ she answers. ‘At this rate, we’ll be getting zero new member.’

   ‘That sounds serious.’

   ‘Do we really need more members?’ I ask Nagano.

   ‘Oh come on. We still need one more member in order for the Love Consultation Club to be an official club, remember?’

   ‘If Takayu became the new student council president, it doesn’t have to be disbanded anymore~.’ Suzu says.

   ‘Exactly.’ I agree. ‘And it’s not like we need any club funds.’

   ‘But what about after we graduate?’ Nagano asks. ‘The club will be disbanded without any members around!’

   ‘And?’

   ‘You just don’t care, do you?’

   ‘Not in the slightest, no.’

   ‘Whatever, it’s not like I was expecting anything from you, anyway. More importantly, can you try to convince your cousin to join us? She looks dependable.’

   ‘I hate to break it to you, but she’s already made up her mind to join the Tennis Club.’

   ‘This club is doomed…’

   ‘I love to help, really I do. Unfortunately, I cannot abuse my position as the new Student Council President. You would have to find students to join your club on your own.’ Takaki tells Nagano.

   ‘That’s okay. Your thoughts are good enough.’

   ‘We would love to stay and chat some more. Unfortunately, we would have to continue with our rounds. So you’ll have to excuse us.’

   She then turns to look at Nitta who’s still busy giving out fanservice.

   ‘We’re leaving, Yuki!’

   ‘Okay~! well then everyone, have fun choosing your club!’

   With that, the student council members have left. It was an hour later when Nagano finally starts to break.

   ‘Why isn’t anyone coming here?’ Nagano asks while being close to tears.

   ‘Cause they’re not interested in joining.’ I answer bluntly.

   ‘I guess you have to give up on getting new members, Aiai~.’ Suzu tells Nagano.

   Even though no one is coming near, I notice that a lot of the students are sneaking glances towards here. It’s probably because they want some consultation.

   I sigh. I’m so going to regret this.

   ‘Why don’t you have an impromptu consultation so that they could see the greatness of the club?’ I suggest to Nagano. ‘Even if they’re not joining, at least it will be a good advertisement.’

   Her expression immediately turns hopeful.

   ‘That’s right! There was that method!’

   ‘Seriously? You never thought about it?’

   ‘Aiai is kind of slow, after all.’

   ‘That was unnecessary, Suzu.’

   Nagano looks towards the sea of first years. She then inhales deeply.

   ‘IS THERE ANYONE WHO HAS LOVE PROBLEMS HERE?’ she asks loudly.

   At first, no one comes forward. Then, a male student comes forward.

   ‘I have one. Is it okay if you give me some advise?’ he requests nervously.

   ‘Of course. Do tell us about it.’ Nagano tells him.

   The consultation didn’t last long, and he looked much confident at the end of it. Whether he would succeed or not is still undecided, but I guess having confidence is a big factor by itself.

   ‘Next!’ Nagano announces loudly.

   After the first male student, more and more people are coming to us for advise. Some comes with worse trouble than others. Some need advise and encouragement in confessing. A few are straight up lost cause. Either way, the more students consults us, the happier Nagano gets. And it didn’t matter that most of the cases are solved by yours truly.

   Eventually, a plain-looking girl with black square-framed glasses and pigtails comes forward.

   ‘Hello. What kind of love problem do you have?’ Nagano asks the girl.

   ‘Actually, I would like to join the club.’ she says after a slight hesitation.

   Nagano gasps loudly. If this is an anime or manga, her eyes are probably sparkling.

   She pulls out a registration form out of nowhere.

   ‘Of course! Please fill up this form.’ she tells the girl while handing her the form and a pen.

   ‘Hold it. Not so fast.’ I tell our supposedly club president.

   Nagano glares at me.

   ‘What is it, Bandou-kun?’ she asks me while trying to control herself from losing her temper. ‘She wants to join us out of her own free will. Do you have any objections to that?’

   ‘Not at all. That said, I kind of doubt she knows what she’s getting into. I need her to understand that before she signs the form.’

   Nagano points at the line that was forming behind the female students. ‘But we need to get this done as soon as possible, or the students might not get their problems solved!’

   I shrug. ‘You can continue with that, and I’ll interview…’

   I look at the female student.

   ‘Futaki. Futaki Haruka.’ she introduces herself.

   ‘I’ll interview Futaki here.’

   ‘Fine.’ Nagano agrees reluctantly. ‘But come back quickly, you hear? No slacking off!’

   ‘Translations: she can’t handle the clients without you around~.’ Suzu says while stifling a yawn.

   ‘Shut it, Suzu. That’s not true.’

   I bring Futaki to a quiet courtyard so that we won’t be disturbed. There’s a vending machine that sells drinks at a corner. I stand in front of it and look at her.

   ‘Would you like something to drink, Futaki?’ I ask her.

   She put her hand inside her pocket, presumably to get her wallet. ‘Green tea, please.’

   ‘Sure thing. And keep your money. It’s my treat.’

   Her hand stops moving. ‘Oh. Thank you very much.’

   ‘No problem.’

   I got her what she wanted and got myself a hot cocoa. We then sit down on the ground.

   ‘So why do you want to join the Love Consultation Club, Futaki?’ I get straight to the point.

   She takes a few sip of the green tea before answering.

   ‘I had a good friend when I was in middle school. We were together since kindergarten, so we’re very close. One day, she fell in love with a boy. She mustered up her courage and confessed to him. The boy accepted her feeling, and the two of them started going out. A few days later, I found out that the boy is actually a player who was dating multiple girls at the same time. I wanted to tell my friend, but I also didn’t want to break her heart, which is why I just kept quiet. In the end, she found out anyway. She also found out that I knew about the boy being a player. She was so furious she broke off our friendship.’

   She hangs her head in shame.

   ‘I don’t blame her. I should have told her to prevent her from finding it out the hard way. Some friend I was.’

   ‘So, when you heard about our club, you wanted in because you can’t bear the sight of seeing other people getting hurt over their relationship.’ I try to conclude from her story.

   She nods in conformation.

   ‘All right. I got your motive in wanting to join this club. I have to tell you one thing, though. We’re strictly here to give out advises. If our client refuse to heed our advise, whatever that happens next isn’t our problem anymore. You can’t force them to listen to you, and you absolutely can’t meddle. Got it?’

   ‘Yes. I understand.’

   ‘Good. I got two more things to say to you. One, welcome to the Love Consultation Club.’

   ‘Thank you very much.’

   ‘Two, go and make up with your friend.’

   ‘But, that can never happen. She hates me now.’

   ‘Well, you would stick to her like glue until she forgives you if your friendship meant anything to you.’

   ‘It does mean something. In fact, she’s a really important friend of mine. But I don’t have the right to be her friend anymore. Not after what I did to her.’

   I shrug. It’s not my problem anyway.

   ‘Either way, let’s go back so that you could get the form from the club president.’

   She stares at me in astonishment.

   ‘Please wait a moment. Aren’t you the president?’

   ‘Who, me? No way. Nagano, the girl who spoke to you was.’

   ‘But, I saw you solving most of the love problems.’

   ‘Being capable doesn’t mean that you get to climb up high in the hierarchy. You would do well to remember that. Also, I was forced into this, so I’m not interested in that position.’

   ‘I see. I’m sorry for misunderstanding.’

   ‘No worries. Just don’t bring it up in front of her. She might get upset.’

   ‘Understood.’

   Right after we got back, Nagano looks at Futaki expectantly.

   ‘Meet our new member.’ I tell her.

   Nagano’s expression brightens up at once. She hands her the form and the pen once again. Futaki fills it up immediately.

   ‘Welcome to the Love Consultation Club, Futaki-san.’ Nagano tells our new member.

   ‘I’ll be in your care from now on, senpais.’ Futaki tells us while bowing.

   ‘Likewise, Futaki-san. I’m Nagano Ai, and this is Yoshinaga- Suzu.’ Nagano introduces herself and Suzu to her.

   ‘Heya~.’ Suzu greets Futaki lazily.

   ‘Now that the two of you are back, let’s continue with the consultation. We need all the help we can get, after all.’ Nagano tells us.

   ‘Yes. I’m ready to help out.’

   There isn’t enough chair for all of us, so I gave mine to Futaki and go get another for myself at the storeroom inside one of the school buildings. Once I’m back with the chair, I notice that Futaki is already much capable than our club president.

   ‘...and that’s my problem.’ a male student was telling them. ‘What do you think I should do?’

   ‘Well, um…’

   Nagano struggles to answer him. I could imagine her brain cells are working overtime.

   ‘First of all, you shouldn’t rush things.’ Futaki tells him. ‘Just give her some time to cool down so that you have a better chance of making up with her. I think a week or so should suffice.’

   ‘Got it. Thank you.’

   Wow. Futaki has just started and she’s already more useful than Nagano.

   ‘Maybe we should change president from Nagano to Futaki.’ I suggest while putting down the chair.

   ‘I second that suggestion~.’ Suzu agrees.

   ‘What? No way!’ Nagano protests.

   ‘I would never think of it. Compared to Nagano-senpai, I’m still very much inexperienced and have much to learn.’ Futaki says modestly.

   ‘On, you’re such a good girl Futaki-san!’

   In the end, there were no more students who wanted to join our club, and Futaki is the only one. Even so, Nagano is satisfied.

   ‘The Love Consultation Club is finally an official club!’ she says. ‘Don’t worry, Futaki-san. We’ll definitely find more members so that you won’t be lonely after the three of us have graduated.’

   I let out a snicker before I could stop myself.

   ‘Do you have something that you would like to share with the rest of us?’ she asks while while looking at me coldly.

   ‘Oh, it’s nothing much really. I was just thinking that with your grades, you probably can’t graduate.’

   ‘I so can! You just watch!’

   ‘By begging me to tutor you every time there’s an exam~?’ Suzu asks her.

   ‘Suzu, don’t make me look bad in front of our junior!’

   ‘You’re already doing it yourself.’ I tell her.

   Futaki chuckles.

   ‘Is it always this lively in this club?’ she asks us.

   ‘I wouldn’t call it lively. More like annoying.’ I tell her.

   ‘Well, let’s just hand Futaki-san’s form to Rokujou-sensei.’ Nagano says to us.

   ‘Did we have a teacher with that name?’ I ask.

   ‘Of course we do. He teaches Japanese Literature, and he’s in charge of all the clubs. Are you really a student of this school?’

   ‘Hey, how could I know that he exists if he never taught me?’

   Rokujou-sensei turns out to be a male teacher who’s probably in his mid-thirty. Nagano is speaking to him normally, so I guess he’s not a scary teacher.

   ‘It’s good that you finally have five members. However, you still need a teacher to be your advisor for the club to be official.’ he informs us.

   ‘Oh right, I’ve forgotten about that. Any idea on who to ask?’ Nagano asks the rest of us.

   ‘I do.’ I tell her.

   ‘You do? Who?’

   I look at Shimada-sensei whose seat is right opposite Rokujou-sensei’s.

   ‘Can you be our advisor, Shimada-sensei?’ I ask my homeroom teacher.

   ‘Are you kidding me? I’m already the advisor of two other clubs. There’s no way I can be the advisor of a third club.’

   ‘Can’t you do something about it, sensei?’ Nagano pleads.

   ‘We’ll do everything all by ourselves. All you have to do is act as our advisor in name only.’ Futaki adds while also pleading.

   ‘Even if you tell me that…’

   She suddenly has a calculating look that I absolutely do not like.

   ‘Fine, I’ll do it.’ she agrees “reluctantly”.

   ‘You will? Thank you very much!’

   ‘That’s how it is Rokujou-sensei. I’ll be in charge of them from now now.’ Shimada-sensei tells Rokujou-sensei.

   ‘Got it.’

   Rokujou-sensei then looks at us.

   ‘Remember to join the next meeting held by the student council so that you could discuss about your club funds and stuff.’ he tells us.

   ‘Will do, sensei.’

   After that, we went home as it was well past school hours. Naturally, we didn’t accept any appointments since the time was used to recruit new members.

   Miiko came home an hour later than I did.

   ‘How was your first day at your new club?’ I ask her.

   ‘It was fun. Everyone I met there is nice.’

   ‘Well don’t hold your breath. They could be putting up a facade.’

   ‘Cynical as ever, aren’t we Takuya onii-chan?’

   ‘Someone has to. We’ll all go blind if everyone in this world is a bright sun. A few gloomy clouds are a must.’

   ‘I’m sure Maya-chan would agree with you.’ she says drily. ‘Did you managed to get new members?’

   ‘Just one. A Futaki Haruka.’

   ‘Oh, Futaki-san joined your club?’

   ‘You know her?’

   ‘Yes. She’s my classmate. She’s friendly enough, but she was always restraining herself from…something.’

   I recalled the part when Futaki told me her past. She was probably holding herself back instinctively after her friends broke off their friendship with her.

   ‘I wonder why.’ I acted stupid since I’m not a telltale.

   ‘I’m worried for her, though. She’ll be all alone once all of you have graduate?’

   ‘Ah, no need to worry. I’m sure someone will join the club by then.’