The door opens, my eyes greeted by a familiar sight. I guess it’s still the same as ever, nothing has changed. Not the worn-out desks, not us, either.

Sunlight trickles through the window—a quiet reminder that the club still remains, at least for today. Has it really been a year already? Time does move fast, but time felt frozen whenever we were in this room.

To say this is nostalgia, is most definitely an understatement.

Even in this worn out club room, perhaps given to us out of pity, the 3 of us enjoyed our time here. I mean, since the beginning, we were never eligible to become an official club anyways. So, it’s completely fair that we got a less-than-average club room.

But, who cares? We are just happy enough to have a place to talk about things—Existential problems, school life and anything that comes in between. It almost feels like this will never end……

Enough with the reminiscing though, I need to return to the matters at hand. In the quiet hallway, footsteps emerge—Something feels... wrong. I know there isn’t anything like a ‘man’s intuition’, but I still can't get this feeling off of me.

Naturally, I turn towards the elegant lady behind me, and ask the obvious question.

“You heard it as well?”

She was spacing out, deep in her thoughts—Then, she looks at me with a hint of worry.

“Indeed, this may very well be the end of us as I had long feared.”

She nods.

I am sure that both of us had a similar thought—Who could it be? Our worries don’t stop there, though.

Not just the hallway, the school compound too—But, this time the footsteps sound more rushed. We turn our gaze to the window, anticipating an ‘ambush’.

It’s getting clear—We are being surrounded by enemy forces in quick succession.

“Yeah, we’re done cooked.”

She stays silent, but I could tell that she feels the same way.

At this point,

The Student Council is here—We come to a plausible conclusion, screaming in silence. They’re here to hunt us down to lay siege to our beloved club— A bit dramatic, I would say.

But still, this is high stakes for the club.

“It has been a year, huh? We did survive for quite long.”

A slight smile on her face.

“It was fun while it lasted.”

I let out a nervous laugh.

Of course they’re here to tell us to pack our bags and go home, especially with the arrival of many other exciting clubs. The school doesn’t have enough club rooms, so this has to happen in some way.

I guess we both accepted the club’s fate…….Not quite.

Sounds of wind enter the room—The windows are open, leaving the room illuminated.

My eyes—Our eyes, now greeted by yet another familiar sight…!

Jumping over the window in a…cutesy manner, with the blinding light concealing her…adorable face. She almost knocked herself on the head, though.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Right, given how preoccupied my mind was, I totally forgot about her absence…

“The Student Council—They’re here, they’re here!”

Her short figure agitated, panicking.

“...Arisa!”

I can’t stress how relieved I am to find out one of our enemies turned out to be the closest of allies.

“Eh…The two of you, in the club room together? I wonder what happened hmm~~”

“Come on, this isn’t the time for that!”

Not the first time I have to put up with her 'romantic tendencies', definitely not the last.

“You jest. Amusing as always, Arisa-san.”

She let out a soft chuckle.

“Wait, but where’s the Student Council?”

Arisa twirls her half-twins, in a cute way.

“The status quo presents itself to be quite unusual, does it not?”

This sparks my biggest suspicion…!

“What if there’s no one out there at all?”

“Indeed. It could’ve just been someone passing by.”

A reasonable guess by our ‘big sister’.

“Welll—Only one wayy to find out-”

“There’s definitely no way that someone would just walk to the entrance, stand there, and do nothing, right?”

I state a ridiculous possibility as a joke.

“Just open the doooorrr—”

She’s getting on my nerves.

But, she’s right, though. At least we know it’s most likely not gonna be the Student Council. No harm in finding out the truth…Isn’t that kind of boring, though?

“So…Wanna bet?”

I lean against the desk, with a wild smirk.

“Winner takes a week of free drinks from the losers-”

I know I’m right, I’ll win.

“What if more than one person wins?”

Shion interjects smoothly

“Woww, you think YOU’RE the only one winning this?”

Arisa pouts.

“No one’s outside, for sure.”

“You know what? Ren-kun, you always seem kinda smart to me, even if your grades don’t exactly match that. Alright, I follow.”

I’ll…take that as a compliment.

“Wise choice to stand on the winners’ side. Shion-sama, what’s your take?”

She looks into nothing for a while, before turning back to me.

“There’s someone outside.”

She brushes her long hair.

“From what I know about you, you always prefer reason more than intuition…”

Her odd choice fills me with intrigue.

“That’s true-But, I realised something.”

She looks at the door.

“Now, what might that be?”

“For this unusual situation, I simply lack the incentive and reason to have any logical reasoning.”

“Doesn’t this contradict with your previous thought?”

I’m also surprised by another thing.

Arisa has stayed quiet all this time—Observing us. The fact that she didn’t interrupt us is a new one for me.

“Whoaa…Looking at you two is like watching a drama, I almost didn’t want to interrupt-”

I said too soon, though.

“I think I will put my faith in luck, this time.”

She looks at the door, again.

“So it’s a complete guess—Or should I say a gamble?”

“A gamble worth the risk—Now, shall we see who’s right?”

She seems confident.

“Alright, bets are closed.”

I walk towards the door.

What am I so worried about? She’s the crazy one—To not choose the obvious choice. But, why? If everyone wins, then nothing happens. Why would she willingly put herself on higher stakes? Doesn’t make much sense—She doesn’t have any reason to-

Wait…!

“Most times we look for horses, not zebras.”

Did I miss something?

“I choose to look for zebras, this time. I might as well be crazy.”

She laughs.

There’s no way-

“I mean, who even visits this place?”

I reach for the door knob.