Another seemingly peaceful day of school has passed. The corridors were filled with fatigued students amongst which some made their way home, while others stayed to partake in their respective after-class club activities. The ruckus could be heard clearly even through the closed door of the Student Council room. The Sun was still high in the sky and didn’t want to give in, despite every person on this forsaken land begging it to take a break and make room for rain to take over.

As this picturesque scenery of fruitful and careless Japanese adolescence stretched all around, I was standing there, in front of Nagayama High School’s Student Council President, Yuuri Kanazaki, ruefully outraged.

“What’s up with that rule?! Why isn't three enough? You could make an exception for  us, right? Come on, Kaichou, don’t do this to me! 

“Daaaa~me. If I made exceptions so carelessly, I’d have to make them for everyone, don’t you think, Sekuhara-kun?” Her speech pattern was sophisticated as always, yet strangely playful at the same time. Deep down I knew very well that there’s no point in begging her to turn a blind eye to the paragraph stating that all clubs need at least four members to be officially recognized as proper ‘clubs’. She takes her post seriously, I could tell even though I’ve known her literally for a single day. Kanazaki-kaichou isn’t the type to give in easily. But I still had to give it a shot.

“By the way, Sekuhara-kun.” She said shortly after denying my earlier request. “What is the club you wish to create? You do seem very passionate about it, so I suppose it must be something you’re truly keen on?”

“A Harem Club-” What the hell man?! I went completely braindead and answered involuntarily, exposing my darkest fantasies and questionable hobbies.
“...Is that so?” Oh boy, I’m done for. “Please come with me then.”

“Huh…?” A clueless reaction made its way out of my throat. Kaichou however, opened the door and exited the Student Council room completely unmoved.

“Sekuhara-kun.” She stopped to make sure I didn’t grow roots through the floor.

“...Ah, yes, coming…”

 

We didn’t have to walk for long. We went down the stairs and through the main corridor until we reached a familiar place. A very characteristic and familiar place that was vaguely introduced to us yesterday. It was the peculiar classroom with countless seals and warning signs glued onto the door.

“I’m afraid that not only will you have to find a fourth member, but you’ll also need to come up with a different theme for your club.” She stopped by the cursed room. I noticed that all of a sudden, the corridor became devoid of any life other than the two of us. I felt a sinister breeze of an unknown origin tickling my legs gently. 

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“The Harem Club… already exists… And this is their clubroom.”

“HUH?!” I don’t know if I was shocked by the fact that that’s what this room is, or that a ‘Harem Club’ already exists at this clusterfuck of a school.

“I will not dare to approach the door, but feel free to do so if you are brave enough.” She warned me.

“... What do you even do in a harem club?” A quite obvious question escaped my mouth.

“What happens in the Harem Club, stays in the Harem Club.” She says immediately with a grievous face.

“...” I gulp my saliva and approach the door. I felt my body tensing up, like it wanted to warn me not to go and just peak through the keyhole. This time, I decided to follow my gut. I carefully put my eye towards the keyhole.

What my pupil saw cannot be simply put into words. A hellish view of a place so disgusting and degenerated that I could not believe my eyes, was taking over my brain. It felt like the thin wooden door was the portal to another planet. No. To another realm. For inside, logic did not seem to apply. The reality was not real and the law of physics - completely subverted. The space-time continuum was being distorted by the ungodly amount of huge anime tiddies covering every single square centimetre of the room. Hell? Heaven? Purgatory? I could not tell. Part of me was screaming in ecstasy, while the other was holding back vomit. Figurines of waifus from various shows of all genres were neatly put on display and I did not feel proud of myself for recognizing every single one of them. Some were still in their boxes, suggesting they were a part of a limited collection. Amongst the madness, there was a single round table with three people sitting around it, all with their elbows on the table top and hands connected in a triangular shape, making them look like the overlords of the Weeb-Illuminati. 

My body began moving on its own. I reached for the door knob, even though I was repeating to myself not to do it, under any circumstances. But my muscles didn’t heed. My hand was about to open the portal. And at that very moment…

*clap*

My hand was hit from the side lightly but assertively. It successfully woke me up from the trance. I looked to the side and saw Kaichou standing next to me, frightened. She slowly opened her mouth and said…

“One does not simply come back from the abyss. Not as the same person.”

“...” Hearing her dreadful statement, I decided to stand up and leave this place. Unfortunately however, I heard one of the people inside say… My name. Whether I was being tempted or accursed, I did not know. But in the end, I took one more glimpse through the keyhole, signaling to Kaichou to be quiet with my finger.

“So how should we deal with that little deepshit? Any ideas?”

“I believe our only choice is to, Lady Haru-chan, forgive me the words I speak… Curse his very existence with our most powerful spell.”

“Blasphemy! The Dark Bind is to be used only against otherworldly beings! If we were to use it on a human…”

“Silence, both of you! We agreed not to bring up arcane matters within these walls.”

“You’re right, Prez, I apologize. 

“Forgive us our foolish behaviour.”   

…

What the hell even is this? It looks like the weirdest LARP session ever. And are they really planning to kick my ass or am I imagining stuff? Anyway, the thing I’m definitely not imagining is their identity. I know those guys. They are those three losers that mocked me not in one, but in two different timelines already. The Aggressive, the Matey and the Virtuous that were furious about me supposedly knowing NPC Mai in the first timeline, and then for being an alleged sex offender in the current one. Although now, they were all… in character? Their dialogue patterns didn’t line up with what I remember for the most part. Maybe it’s this cursed room’s fault? Or they’re actually LARPing. I don’t want to know, to be honest.

I get up from my knees at last with my brain hurting, presumably from all the bullshit it was just forced to process. My eyes meet Kaichou’s.

“Forget about this place. You’re leaps and bounds above those posers.” She says.

“Wh-what do you mean? I don’t think I understan-”

“Well then, I’ll better get going.” She interrupts my sentence and turns around in the direction in which we both came from. As she was about to pass me by however…

“Woa- WOAH!” She tripped. And was inertly heading boobs-first at my innocent face.

 

A split second. That was all I needed. I’m more than a mere protagonist that mimics all the losers that came before him. I’m a trailblazer.

 

Kaichou closed her eyes in preparation for impact with either me or the floor. However…

“Eh? What happened?” She asked, dumbfounded.

“Yare yare, you should watch your step, Kaichou.” I looked deep into her eyes, while holding her in a pose reminiscent of that one climactic tango move. She looked around confused to assess her surroundings and blushed upon finding out she’s now in my arms, not on the floor.

“...” She opened her mouth, but didn’t mutter a word for a short while. “Th-thank you, Sekuhara-kun…”

“You’re welcome.” I say, and then, once again…

*FLASH*

A familiar sound and burst of light hits us both violently. To the point I broke my chad character and dropped Kaichou that hit her head on the floor with a dull sound.

“Kaichou! Sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

“Ouch… No, no, it’s alright, I’m fine~” She says with a forced smile.

“Hiyaoka, what the hell was that about?!” I shout at the one responsible for the flash.

“Please excuse my tactless remark, but how dare you lay your filthy hands on Yuuri?” Short-haired, and apparently short-tempered Vice-President said without a trace of actual emotion in her voice.

“Kaichou tripped and I simply caught her, that’s all!” 

“You will be testifying to the judge, not to me.” I swear, Hiyaoka has a riposte ready for anything. “Besides, you dropped her anyway. Congratulations, you epitome of manhood.”

“He’s telling the truth, Rin.” Kaichou finally stood up. Seems like she’s fine, fortunately. “It could’ve ended up way worse if not for the well-timed grab~ Thank you, Sekuhara-kun.” She said that once again and looked at me with appreciation, although there was something vaguely seductive in her gaze.

“...” Hiyaoka didn’t comment on that one.

“Anyhow, be careful on your way home, Sekuhara-kun. There’s still some matters I have to look into today, so I’ll be going now.” Kaichou turned towards the direction of the Council room again and asked Hiyaoka to accompany her with a hand movement. “Oh, I almost forgot. Next week, all the second-year students will be going on a two-day field trip to the nearby mountains. Maybe you’ll find the final member for your club during the trip~” 

“Huh… A field-trip?” 

“Take care, Sekuhara-kun!” While Kaichou properly said ‘bye’, Hiyaoka only looked at me suspiciously. Without overthinking the situation, I headed for the entranceway, where the rest should be waiting for me.  

 

…

 

“There he is! Ladies and gentleman, our lord and savior arrived, fashionably late!” 

“Thank you, thank you.” I reply to Hayato, continuing the over-the-top greeting theme he just started. 

“Haha, what’s with that waving?“ Saki, standing next to Hayato by the shoe cupboards, appreciated my parody of the ‘Miss something’ contest. She laughed out loud, but calmed down before I walked up to them. “So? How did it go?”

“Not good.”

“Heee? Was the ‘harem club’ already taken?~” 

“Actually, yes, it was. But I’ll tell you this story another time. Besides, how the hell do you know I wanted us to be the ‘harem club’?”

“A wild guess~” Am I this obvious? Let’s hope it’s because I’ve known this guy more than half of my life, technically speaking.

“What did Kanazaki-kaichou say?” Saki asked.

“Apparently, you need four people to form a club at this school. Which I call bullshit, but Kaichou was unyielding. Soooo yeah, we can scrap the club idea.”

“Oh, that’s too bad… I was really looking forward to it…” She saddened as soon as she heard my summary of what happened minutes before in the Council room.

“No no, it’s fine! Mai-chan will help us out, right?~” Enthusiastic and optimistic as ever, Hayato said.

But as he spoke those words, something on the other side of the cupboard fell on the ground with a powerful thump. I looked in the direction of the sound instinctively. However, before I could identify what made that noise, I heard a familiar voice.

“No way in hell! I told you, I won’t be taking part in any of your delusional schemes!” Yup, it was Mai. And the noise must’ve been her bag that she dropped upon hearing Hayato’s controversial statement. 

“She’s been standing there pretending to be looking for something since we’ve gotten here~” Hayato whispered creepily into my ear. “I wonder who was she waiting for?~” 

“Sh-shut your face! I was really looking for something… Right, I, ah… I was checking if I took everything from the classroom! And besides, that’s none of your fucking business!” Although she isn’t supposed to be a tsundere, she nails it, most likely unwillingly.

“Mai-san, calm down! We were just considering some possibilities…” Saki tried the diplomatic approach again.

“Then consider leaving me the fuck alone, thank you very much.” Ouch, a nice comeback from Mai. She was now peeking out from behind a cupboard and began picking up the stuff she dropped. 

“Mai.” I decide to try one more trick.

“What?” She answers harshly.

“Do you really want me to send the picture of your underwear to everyone?”

“...” Don’t tell me it worked? “I’m not that stupid. I’ve realized that you took that picture on a day that got reset. So there is no picture, correct?” Crap, she’s actually not that stupid. She answered without looking at me, in a surprisingly neutral tone, which in her case sounded almost kind. 

“Nice try, Hero.” Hayato patted me on the back.

“If that’s the case…” I continue to pressure her. “Then why were you waiting here for me while eavesdropping? There’s nothing keeping you here if the photo doesn’t exist.” 

“...!” Mai’s face reddened as she stood up abruptly. “Listen here, you little…” She walked up to me, so that we were now standing face to face amidst the silent hallway. While I remained unimpressed, she seemed like she was on the verge of dying of embarrassment. She couldn’t even finish her signature insult. After staying like that for a few seconds, she turned around with a ‘hmpf’, gathered the rest of the random utensils that were still lying by the shoe cupboard and headed for the exit without a word, leaving us three puzzled.

I felt a delicate bump and a wave of heat on the side of my body. Clinging to my shoulder was Saki. She was gripping it way stronger than usual, like I was a priceless trophy. I patted her head with my free hand lightly, reassuring her that I don’t mind her hugging me now. There was nobody in the hallway other than the two of us and Hayato, after all. 

“Aaaaaw, how cute, Saki-chan got jealous~”

“N-no I didn’t! We just haven’t cuddled for a while…”

“Suuuure, you can fool yourself, but not your dear friend~” Hayato was teasing poor Saki like there was no tomorrow. She just blushed and turned her head away from Hayato, into my chest. I smile at her as our eyes meet and she answers in a similar fashion. Even though nobody said a thing, our smiles were getting brighter and brighter, to the point we both burst out laughing for no reason whatsoever. Hayato was looking at us like we were complete lunatics. 

“What’s wrong with you guys…”

“Haha, I don’t know, it’s just- pfff, hey, stop with the weird faces! Haha!” Saki tried her best to calm down, but I wouldn’t let her off so easily.

“You’re the one that started laughing all of a sudden! Don’t blame me!” We were caught inside one of those never-ending, stomach-hurting cackling loops. It took a minute or two for it to eventually ease off, after which we were mostly back to normal.

“Jeez, what was that about!” Hayato half-shouted, but he wasn’t angry or anything. Just his usual, playful tone.

“Ooof, sorry ‘bout that. What was I saying?”

“Nothing, Mai-chan went home and you guys were already pretty much like this.” Hayato reminded.

“Ah, right, I know.” Him mentioning Mai brought my thoughts back on track as me and Saki were letting go of each other at last. “It seems like next week we’re going on a field trip.”

“Huh? But the semester just started?”

“Yaaaay! School trip with besties!” 

While Hayato was being Hayato, Saki asked an important question.

“I know, right? Even for a rom-com anime it’s pretty early for a trip. But I guess there’s just a lot of things happening in the story later on usually, so this world decided to go with the trip first. Can’t say that's unreasonable.” Saki and Hayato were a bit confused upon hearing me explaining the basic course of a shitty light novel, but they must’ve gotten used to it by now and just brushed it off.

“Anyway, it’s gonna be suuuper fun with you guys! I’m lookin’ forward to it~” Hayato said in high spirits.

“Yea… I’ll finally have someone to enjoy the school trip with!” Saki’s expression darkened for a bit, but then brightened back up.

“You didn’t like the school trips?” I asked, without realizing it’s a sensitive topic that Saki only first raised in yesterday’s private message.

“I mean… I told you, I…” She struggled to say it out loud. “I didn’t have anyone like you or Hayato. I was kind of a loner… Pretty lame, haha” She tried to play it off with a laugh, but I knew that it was no laughing matter for her. It seems like that mental wound is yet to heal. 

“That’s not lame! It’s completely a-okay to like being by yourself!” Hayato tried to cheer her up.

“Thanks… But I didn’t want to be by myself…” Hayato couldn’t have heard that sentence, but I caught it clearly. All of a sudden, I felt really bad and guilty for bringing this up.

“Don’t worry about that world. Now we’re here, so treat it like a chance to do all the fun things again.” I might be dense, but all the anime and dating-sim visual novels taught me a thing or two about how to handle a girl that’s feeling down.

“Yea, you’re right… It’ll be really fun, right? Yes, It will! Thank you so so much! Both of you!” Saki went through a lot of mood swings over the course of this statement, but ended up on a high note, fortunately. She even skipped back closer to me and Hayato and hugged us both simultaneously in a matey manner.

“A hug from Saki-chan! Yaay!”

“Haha, you got this excited all of a sudden?”

“I can’t help it! And now I can’t wait for the trip!” I can’t help but smile seeing Saki get rid of some of the tension that must’ve built up in her mind since we got Isekai’d.

“Oh oh, maybe we’ll be able to convince Mai-san to join our club during the trip?” Saki said, still fired up.

“That might work. The Field Trip™ is an event full of cliches, so there will be plenty of opportunities to show her it’s not all that scary. Hopefully.”

“We’re counting on your otaku expertise then, Professor Chikakane~ Oh no, wait, Professor Sekuhara!” Hayato summarized while once again making fun of my surname.

“Eh, I’ll do what I can. Just give me a few days to figure it out.”

As we agree to do our best to enlist Mai to our not-yet-existing club during the field trip, we exit the school building. And immediately regret that, as we felt the scorching summer Sun burning our skin and the hot air getting stuck in our throats.