Club Day (1)

As someone who considered himself to be introverted, Reiji hated large crowds and walking through groups of people. Thankfully, at least he no longer needed to worry about that at school.

Whenever he tried to go somewhere, a clear and unobstructed path would magically appear, with throngs of students scrambling to make way and pretend that there was something very interesting on the walls and ceilings.

Reiji smiled grimly on the inside, making his way to class yet again. Though he really liked not having to barge through people to get to his destination, it came at the cost of being almost completely ostracized.

And he knew it would be much more noticeable today, because there weren't going to be any classes where he could essentially hole up in the corner and stick to himself.

It was Club Day!

One of the most important days for students outside of their studies, because today all the various clubs would hold orientations where they would introduce their activities and showcase why the freshmen needed to join them specifically.

For a school that placed a similar level of priority on these additional activities as their grades, students needed to decide very carefully which club they would spend the next three years with. Of course, you could switch clubs later down the line, but it was extremely cumbersome and also looked down upon.

Therefore, each club would host these events in their clubrooms in a separate building and try to recruit those who were really interested in their plans.

Reiji had pretty much already decided which two clubs he would join, but it wouldn't hurt taking a look around either. Having to take on two heavy responsibilities like this might be unnerving, but he was looking forward to it.

He walked into his classroom, pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, and saw every student chatting around in their own groups with excitement splattered across their faces.

A few were missing since today wasn't mandatory to attend, but that was only if you had already submitted your choice, so most were still here for the fun. The Trio of the Main Cast were already there, surrounded by almost half of the class, which showed their popularity.

Well, it was mainly Hina and Haruna's popularity, Riku was kind of talking with his own friends.

Haruna turned at the sound of the door opening, and she locked eyes with Reiji. Her eyes brightened up slightly, and she moved as if she was going to approach.

But a trace of hesitation flashed and she went back to talking with everyone else, though her eyes kept darting to where he was walking to.

Reiji placed his bag on his chair when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Reiji-kun, are you ready for today? Which club are you planning on joining?" Airi tilted her head expectantly, with Greeny fidgeting right beside her.

Ever since the Ichihara Ramen Incident, he looked like he wanted to say something but kept holding it back. Reiji obviously knew what it was, but he was not going to be the one to bring it up.

Ideally, he'd rather not talk about it at all, but he would if it came down to it.

"Actually, the Student Council decided to punish me by making me join two clubs. I know which ones I'm joining, but I'll still visit others to see if any catch my eye," he shrugged.

"Ah? Two clubs? Is that even allowed, and how on Earth will you find the time to study with that level of workload?" Airi's face scrunched up in confusion, her freckles contorting alongside it.

"I also thought you can only join one," Greeny added.

"Yep. That would be the case if you haven't fucked around as much as I did, but unfortunately I did."

Reiji wasn't too worried about studying, he had almost completed his senior year before graduating and was at the top of his class. This body was also cheat-like, because OG Reiji himself had managed to get into this high tier school with grades in the Top 10, even though he had barely studied.

In fact, one of the events in the game was for Riku to get tutored by either Hina or the student council president, depending on who's affection level you wanted to raise. This was because Yagami Reiji had mocked the protagonist about his below average scores, and enlisting the help of one of these really smart heroines would kill two birds with one stone.

Haruna herself wasn't great at studies, so she wasn't an option for this. The point is, Reiji was not the least bit worried about his grades, considering all the other hectic things in his life.

"That's crazy!! Though, honestly I'm a little jealous. One of the reasons I chose Souhei High is because apparently the clubs do a lot of fun things, take trips, and are also provided with big budgets for other things! If I didn't have to worry about my grades and also had the option to pick multiple, I'd do it in a heartbeat!" Airi got more and more excited as she rambled on, her pigtails swaying with her head movements.

"I-I don't think I'd do more than one club....In fact I don't even want to join a single one!" Greeny blurted out with a depressed face.

"Huh why not? You don't have anything you want to do?" Reiji asked.

"Um...I just get really uncomfortable with people that are overly excited. I can't match their energy so I always felt like I was bringing down the vibe.... That was the case in Junior High," he responded after hesitating a little bit.

"Greeny, that's absurd! Maybe you should look for a club that brings out that energy?" Airi tried to console him, but he just shook his head.

"Well.... what were you planning on joining?" Reiji thought of something but asked Greeny first.

"I was thinking of joining the Chess Club, it might be more quiet."

"Not too bad, but that's still a club where people get competitive. It might seem quiet but tempers can flare during some games, are you sure you'll be fine with that?"

"O-Oh...." Greeny looked flustered after he realized that it really might be the case.

"Can I make a suggestion? How about the reading club?" Reiji saw that he hadn't fully committed to the idea, so he gave him a different choice.

"The reading club?"

"Yep, it might be perfect for you. They usually assign books to be read over a certain period, and either read them during clubtimes or just chat about other books they've read recently. And once you finish the assigned one, they all get together and have a nice discussion."

"That sounds fun! I had considered it because I like reading a lot, but I'm not great at understanding the deeper meanings or presenting my ideas coherently..." Greeny looked a little more lively, but he quickly became depressed again, which made Reiji's eye twitch.

"Don't mistake the club's purpose for deeply analyzing the book's inner meanings and things like that. Although that's part of it, it's mostly about what you enjoyed about the contents. It's a lot more casual than people would think, so don't worry about those other thoughts," Reiji reassured.

In fact, the reason he felt that this club would be perfect for Greeny was because Hina joins this club in most of her routes for similar reasons. The protagonist himself has the choice of any available club, so Reiji/Alex sometimes chose the reading club to unlock more interactions with her in the game.

This meant that he knew what the club would be like, and felt it might be perfect.

"YES, YES! GREENY YOU HAVE TO JOIN!" Airi started jumping on her toes, adjusting her glasses that had slipped off due to her excitement.

"Eh? W-Why?"

"I'm joining the reading club too! We could join and discuss the books together!"

"You should join, if you don't mind reading I think it's the best option for you," Reiji smiled softly and patted Greeny's shoulder.

"O-Ok, I think I will...." he accepted with a flustered expression.

"Reiji-kun, why don't you join as well? It'll be so fun! It can be one of the two that you have to join!" Airi's happiness continued to overflow as she invited him as well.

"Honestly, I'm a little tempted.... It would be fun to do it with both of you, and I like reading as well. But I also have two other clubs that I had decided on joining...." Reiji scratched his chin, seriously considering the proposal.

In his last life, he hadn't made any friends that he would consider 'close', and even though he had only met them recently, these two dorks were genuinely very comfortable to be around.

Because with them, there were no hidden agendas. So the idea of being in the same club was interesting.

"Pleeaaasse Reiji-kun, we both want you to join as well! Pleaaassee?? Right Greeny," Airi pleaded, looking to the timid boy for support.

"Y-Yeah, it will be um.. fun, Reiji-kun," He mumbled, thought the hopeful light in his eyes were evident.

"Ugh.....Well, I'll take a look at the clubs with you at least?" Reiji replied weakly.

"YAY!!"

"Woo....Woo-hoo?" Greeny added

'Today is going to be exhausting...'