Chapter – 04
On the morning of the closing ceremony, Kazuki woke up two hours before his alarm was supposed to ring. Or rather, he had been forcibly dragged out of sleep by a phone call from Shioi.
“Morning, Kazuki! You awake?”
“I was sleeping.”
He checked the clock. It was four in the morning. In the distance, he could hear the sound of a newspaper delivery motorcycle fading away.
“Today is the decisive battle. Get to the school gate within the next hour.”
The sound of strong wind blowing could be heard through the phone.
“Don’t tell me, Senpai… you’re already at the school gate?”
“Of course I am. I’m going to stop every student who comes to school and talk to them. If we don’t go that far, we won’t avoid being shut down.”
“Ah… no way. I’m sleepy…”
He tossed his smartphone aside and tried to go back to sleep, but Shioi kept talking right into his ear, making it impossible.
“You spineless fool! Just hurry up and get here. And don’t worry about breakfast. I bought some for you too.”
That wasn’t really the issue, but he was already fully awake, so he reluctantly crawled out of bed. Even though it was March, the mornings were still cold.
As he sluggishly changed clothes, Shioi’s impatient voice continued to come from his phone.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Ugh… it’s freezing…”
“It’s been one hour and fourteen minutes. Well, whatever. Here, breakfast.”
Inside the plastic bag she handed him were a sweet bean bun and a carton of coffee milk.
“Are we staking someone out?”
“Sugar improves brain function. Now then, the morning practice group should be arriving soon. If you ask me, exercising intensely first thing in the morning isn’t healthy. They can’t even make it to the national tournament, yet they still do it every single day. Listen carefully. Can you hear it? The footsteps of fools.”
The students doing morning practice belonged to the soccer club, baseball club, and volleyball club. Since they were already in clubs, trying to recruit them seemed pointless.
“Ah, Iwasaki-senpai.”
A second-year student and the ace of the girls’ soccer team, Iwasaki Makoto appeared in front of the school gate.
She had a neat short haircut and large almond-shaped eyes. Her androgynous appearance made her popular with female students as well. Despite the early hour, she showed no signs of sleepiness and looked as energetic as ever.
“Huh? Kazuki? You’re up pretty early. What, getting fired up just because it’s the closing ceremony?”
The Osaka-born Iwasaki greeted him in her clear Kansai dialect.
“No, not at all. This person dragged me here by force.”
Shioi, who had bought plenty of food for herself in addition to Kazuki’s breakfast, looked at Iwasaki while chewing.
“Hm. You’re from the soccer club, right? I see. So the first fool of the day is Iwasaki.”
“What’d you say?”
“Ah, sorry, Iwasaki-senpai. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”
“No, she definitely called me a fool! Why am I getting insulted first thing in the morning?”
Iwasaki immediately confronted Shioi, who was stuffing a donut into her mouth.
“Working hard even on the day of the closing ceremony, huh? I have no business with the soccer club. Run along to practice already.”
Shioi waved her hand dismissively, as if shooing away a stray animal.
No matter how beautiful she was, Kazuki sometimes felt embarrassed that he found parts of her attractive.
“You don’t even have any impressive achievements, yet you never miss practice. That’s admirable in its own way. Say, should I make a banner for you? I’ll hang it on the school building. It’ll say, ‘Girls’ Soccer Club — National Tournament Qualification (Hopefully).’”
“What’s with the parentheses?!”
“I could make it ‘National Tournament Qualification (LOL)’ instead.”
“You wanna take this outside?!”
“We are outside.”
“Hey, Kazuki, what’s wrong with this girl?! She’s seriously ruining my morning.”
“Ah… I’m really sorry about our club president. It’s okay. She won’t have that title much longer.”
At this rate, recruitment was hopeless.
It would only be a matter of time before Shioi lost her title as president of the Contemporary Art Club and became just a cool beauty.
Actually, she wasn’t even cool, so maybe she’d just be a beauty.
“Iwasaki-senpai is amazing, though. You’re moving up to your third year. I’m looking forward to seeing even greater achievements from you.”
“Ah, about that… actually, I can’t play soccer anymore.”
“Huh?”
“I messed up my leg a while back. Walking normally isn’t a problem, but my body can’t handle soccer anymore. So from next year, I was thinking of supporting everyone as a manager instead. That’s why I come early in the mornings to get things ready.”
“I-I see… I’m sorry…”
“You don’t need to apologize, Kazuki. But you over there! You’ve been saying rude things this whole time. Why don’t you apologize for once?”
Completely unfazed by Iwasaki’s anger, Shioi calmly sipped her coffee milk.
“It’s unfortunate that you got injured. I sympathize with that. The soccer club must feel uneasy after losing its ace. Especially considering how weak they already are.”
That last comment was entirely unnecessary.
“You seriously wanna get beaten up?! Looking at you closely, you’ve got one of those irritating faces! What’s with those eyes that look down on people?”
One of the things Kazuki liked most about Shioi was her beautiful, cold eyes.
But now that it had been pointed out, they did seem a little irritating.
“Getting worked up this early isn’t good for your health. You should calm down for a moment.”
Shioi slurped the last of her coffee milk and tried to soothe her.
“So what exactly are you doing here?”
“Recruiting. Our Contemporary Art Club is on the verge of being shut down. We need to recruit two more members before the new school year—or more realistically, by the end of today.”
“Contemporary Art Club? Was there even a club like that at this school?”
The Contemporary Art Club had apparently become so insignificant that people didn’t even know it existed anymore.
Kazuki was starting to feel embarrassed about belonging to it.
“Actually, Iwasaki-senpai, can I ask you something, even though it’s probably hopeless?”
“Hm?”
“Would it be possible for you to join the Contemporary Art Club, even if you’re also staying involved with the soccer club?”
Even as he asked, he knew it was an unreasonable request.
Iwasaki had devoted her youth to soccer. Even after being forced into early retirement before achieving her goals, she hadn’t become bitter and still wanted to support her teammates.
Kazuki could never imitate that spirit.
Inviting someone like her into the Contemporary Art Club felt almost disrespectful.
But his selfish desire to draw pictures with Shioi as a model won out.
He expected an immediate rejection, but Iwasaki actually paused to think.
“Hmmm. That’s kind of sudden.”
Maybe this could actually work.
One more push.
“Contemporary art sounds difficult, but it’s really not. Honestly, I don’t fully understand what contemporary art even is. We draw paintings too, kind of like a regular art club. And, well… you’re really cool, Iwasaki-senpai, so I’d love it if you’d model for one of my drawings.”
He could feel Shioi glaring at him.
“You’re quite the cheater. Weren’t you supposed to want me as your model? Besides, a masculine woman like her isn’t worth painting.”
He had only said it to encourage Iwasaki, but apparently Shioi wasn’t pleased.
“What’s wrong with being masculine? I’d rather that than someone who walks around acting like they’re obviously beautiful. Aren’t you the type people hate?”
“People have told me they like me. No one has ever told me they hate me.”
“Can you two stop fighting for a second…?”
“Hey, Kazuki, she’s the club president, right? She’s been mocking the soccer club nonstop, but has she ever actually won anything herself?”
“Um… no.”
Kazuki had spent the past year seeing—or rather, being forced to see—Shioi’s works.
According to her, they were all contemporary art.
Kazuki understood none of them.
And not a single one had ever received recognition.
Since she simply created them and left them in the clubroom, the Contemporary Art Club room had become a bizarre sight.
“How pathetic! Acting all high and mighty when you’ve got no accomplishments either.”
“You fool. Truly a fool. An exceptionally foolish fool.”
“What was that?”
Kazuki had heard that for Kansai people, being called a fool was a severe insult.
Maybe she should have used “idiot” instead.
“Contemporary art isn’t created to be evaluated by others. If the goal were simply to create something beautiful, that would be easy. There would be a clear correct answer. But contemporary art doesn’t provide answers to its viewers. It asks questions. It challenges the way people see and think.”
“Quit talking like you’re so smart. You’re just not getting recognized because you’re bad at it.”
“You fool.”
“You wanna go?!”
Apparently, “fool” was also forbidden.
She really should have just said “idiot.”
“Fine! I’ll join. Hand over the application form.”
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“I’ll join. But don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t care about contemporary art at all. I just want to make something better than hers and crush that annoying arrogance. Believe it or not, I got good grades in arts and crafts back in elementary school.”
For completely unexpected reasons, Iwasaki agreed to join.
For Kazuki, it was the best possible outcome.
Well, except for the fact that after-school hours would probably become painfully tense from all the fighting.
“This is great, Senpai! We only need one more member to avoid being shut down. I’ll go get the application form.”
“Wait, Kazuki. Who said I was accepting Iwasaki into the club?”
“Huh? What do you mean? She just said she’d join.”
“Whether someone joins or not is the club president’s decision. And Iwasaki!”
Shioi pointed at her.
“I do not approve your admission.”
“W-What are you talking about?! You’re the one who said we needed more members! No one else would ever join a club like this!”
This couldn’t possibly be sane.
Kazuki grabbed Shioi by the shoulders and desperately tried to make her take it back.
Even as her head was shaken back and forth, Shioi continued.
“I can’t allow someone who has no understanding of contemporary art to join. I’ve already failed because of that once. The two members who stopped showing up, and even you, Kazuki. You have absolutely no interest in contemporary art. There’s no point in filling the roster with people who have no passion.”
“You really think you’re in a position to say that?!”
“That’s right! Stop acting so high and mighty when your club is barely hanging on!”
Kazuki couldn’t understand Shioi’s thinking at all.
They needed two more members before the deadline.
In that situation, there was no reason to reject Iwasaki.
Did Shioi actually want to save the club?
If he shook her any more, she might get a concussion, so he stopped and tried a different approach.
“Listen, Senpai. We’re not in a position to be picky. And this is Iwasaki-senpai we’re talking about. She’s popular with both girls and boys. The fact that she’d even consider joining a bizarre club like ours is a miracle!”
“You’re praising me too much, Kazuki. You’re kind of cute, you know.”
Dropping the murderous glare she’d been directing at Shioi, Iwasaki smiled warmly and ruffled Kazuki’s hair.
Her movements were rough, but somehow she hit all the right spots, and it felt strangely pleasant.
“Hm. Very well. Then we’ll hold an entrance test. If you pass, Iwasaki, I shall welcome you into the Contemporary Art Club. Reluctantly.”
“Bring it on, idiot! I’ll get in for sure!”
