The time was 1.40pm when I arrived. There were not many lessons left for fourth-years, while the freshmen were all over the campus looking around.

Ah, that’s right. It’s October huh. There’s quite a few of them this year. I wonder how many of them would end up in our department this time.

I returned to the dorm and changed into casual wear. No one seems to be in. Are Fatso and the others out with the freshmen already?

Well whatever, if there’s anything urgent they can just call me later. I stuffed my wallet and phone in a bag, as well as some packed lunch I brought for Shiori and the others. Leaving a note that I’m going to the club for a bit, I locked the door and left.

Joining a club is not compulsory in a university, but I had joined one anyway. While it has been 3 years already, I thought that my presence there was more of a ghost member as I didn’t attend the club activities frequently. So for me to join those guys again, it might have been the first time in months.

I arrived at a five-story block building for club activities on campus. It was one of the newer buildings, and as such there were many modern furnishings and aesthetics which made the main blocks where we usually go to have our lectures pale in comparison.

When I approached the entrance, an elderly man in a blue uniform by the window glanced at me and then smiled. The wrinkles on his face made his welcome seem even more genuine, it had a mysterious effect of lifting one’s spirits every time you see it. This person was Yamo-san, the security guard here.

『Why, isn’t it Yato-bō? What kind of wind blew you over here?』

「Well, it just kind of happened. Anyway Yamo-san, it’s been awhile. How have you been?」

I greeted this white-haired uncle while shrugging my shoulders. Almost all the club-goers were practically acquainted with Yamo-san. We would always give our greetings whenever we come here for our club activities for his hard work here.

Many of us think that Yamo-san should retire already at his age since he has a filial son who already sends him enough money every month to enjoy retirement, but the old man himself wanted to do something other than sitting idle at home. “I feel younger talking to younglings like you guys”, he would often chide us while giving us snacks his son had brought from overseas. In any case, Yamo-san had become a neighbourhood uncle-like presence for us who frequent the club block.

『Oh you know, the same as usual. That aside, Yato-bō’ you got a new hairstyle?』

「I gotta be neater for my job interviews after all. Oh right, I bought a little something on the way here. It’s a new brand of coffee which was supposedly good for the bones.」

『Ou? That’s something. I’ll gratefully accept this then.』

While Yamo-san was looking at the packaging of the box with interest, I dug into my wallet to look for my student ID.

「Ah.」

Halfway through, it was then that I realized that I had already pawned it off to that ojou-sama from earlier. This was a little awkward.

「Uhm… Actually, I’m here for a rehearsal with those guys.」

Yamo-san was also quick on the uptake, but he didn’t make things hard for me. Since I was a registered student on the member list, Yamo-san simply smiled and said.

『Ah, now that you’ve mentioned it… I do recall that rowdy bunch telling me to come see their Christmas play. So Yato-bō is also helping out for that huh. Mm, okay. You better hurry along then, I think they’ve started already.』

「Right. Sorry about that, Yamo-san. I kinda lost my card today. I’ll tell you the details next time.」

I bowed while scratching my head.

『Then I’ll trouble you for a cup of coffee at the usual place next time.』

Yamo-san chuckled and waved me off.

Entering the block, I took the lift to the fifth floor and stepped out. Although the club block only had less than 10 clubs altogether in this building, the premises were surprisingly spacious and extravagant, almost as if one has stepped into some kind of entertainment district.

From a swimming pool on the first floor, tennis courts on the second, pool tables, bowling alleys on the third, gym and a few offices on the fourth, the club block allowed the students inside to have many opportunities for recreational activities. But the clubrooms were mainly on the fifth floor. There were many empty rooms there which were filled with furniture and decorations brought from the students.

It wasn’t like this in the beginning though. I heard that this new way of ‘learning’ was suggested by the current student council president, a fourth-year like me. The board of directors took the suggestion and decided to implement it on the club block, allowing us to “express ourselves freely without restrictions, to nurture more mature thinking and independence outside of conventional learning”.

While most of that is babble for the riffraffs, no one would complain if the students got a nice place to hang out on campus. Although of course, you would need to join a club to come here.

I followed the familiar path to the clubroom and arrived before a sliding door. On it was a sign that wrote 〖 Modern Theatrics Club 〗.

It has been such a long time, that I didn’t know what to say when I entered. Would things get a little awkward if I did? Should I apologize? Or should I just walk in like normal? I had brought lunch for them too, so maybe it’ll be natural if I just come in and drop it off like that…As I was contemplating on how to make my entrance, I felt someone blowing on my right ear suddenly!

A chill ran down my spine creating goosebumps as I backed off a few steps on instinct.

「...」

『Fufu, not even a sound of surprise... You’re as calm as ever eh, Yato-kyun?』

The clicking of heels came closer to me, as my eyes raised to look at who it was.

It was a bespectacled woman with wavy brunette hair that cascaded down her firm waist. Dressed in a black OL attire and provocative stockings on her thighs, her chest volume was buttoned up at the front yet it still taunted a size that would spill out of her clothes. Of course, her long yet somewhat scruffy hairstyle indicated that this adult also had a sloppy side to her as well.

This person was a professor in this school, Amamiya Chiyu-sensei.

『Hmm? What’s wrong, is there something on my hair?』

「...Chiyu-sensei… Please don’t blow into my ear again, I thought my heart was about to stop.」

I said with a sigh.

But when she heard that, Chiyu-sensei laughed heartily.

『Really? You’re just as expressionless as the last time we’ve seen each other, so I can’t really tell. As expected of our “Blank Actor”.』

That’s right, “Blank Actor”. My supposed ‘stage name’ for the Modern Theatrics Club’s performances, mainly because of my stony demeanor. Despite being a complete novice and untalented actor, I was still able to pull off many roles consistently because I never had to worry about a case of stagefright, or at least show it on my face. This was the reason why the club finds me for many of their roles. I could play all of them to a certain degree without fail, hence the stage name “Blank Actor”.

『Well, never mind---- that!』

Chiyu-sensei came closer to me and suddenly hooked my neck under her shoulder.

「Gehh---」

『I can forgive you if you don’t come by the club often, but you’ve even been neglecting this old lady recently~ How cruel~ Thanks to that, I realized that I. Can. No. Longer. Live. Without. You. Anymore~ Say, how can your own conscience bear this? How about you take responsibility for this body that’s already...』

She blew into my ear again, and when I tried to break free, I realized that her grip had locked me up completely! This woman---!!!

「You're talking about cleaning right, cleaning! I’m not your maid, do the cleaning yourself you useless adult!」

I retorted while panting for breath.

Chiyu-sensei is unexpectedly bad at housework, or rather, she lives a degenerate lifestyle outside of her perfect teacher model on campus. Various things happened, and I started to visit her apartment a few times a month when I became a second-year. But it seems like she’s the same as usual, her apartment is probably a mess now.

『Ara...』

「Haah, Chiyu-sensei, please don’t say something that would make others misunderstand. And also, will you… g-get off my back already...」

『Cheapskate, it’s not like you have a girlfriend anyway, little virgin~』

「Kuhh...」

She really spared no effort to throw me a low blow as usual huh, the way she treats those words like normal hurts me even more.

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While hanging over my back, Chiyu-sensei seemed to have noticed the plastic bag I was holding. When she noticed the different packaging inside, her eyes lit up.

『That’s quite a bit of food. Are those for me?』

「There’s enough for everyone’s share, I bought different stuff for each person. Here, a shortcake for Chiyu-sensei.」

『Ooh! So you do understand me!』

Chiyu-sensei responded with a smile, the edges of her sharp teeth could be seen. But as she was about to grab the pastry box from behind, I moved the bag away from her reach.

「Get off my back first.」

『What, you don’t like it?』

「It’s not a matter of liking it or not… …I-Isn’t it inappropriate for a teacher to do this...」

She seemed to have caught on to something from the uncomfortable twitch on my face, and suddenly her eyes narrowed with interest.

『Oh…? What, you mean this? Hmm~? Wow, I can finally see a little bit of red on your face, isn’t that rare? Hehe, little virgin you’re so cute~』

「Agh!!! Get off, get off, get off! Pervert, where are you touching! This is rape! This is a crime, sensei!」

Her chest pressed against my body even more tightly as she said that.

On purpose! She’s definitely doing this on purpose!

『...Ah, I guess fun time is over. Tehe~』

But just as quickly, Chiyu-sensei suddenly let go of me for some reason.

Huh?

『----Can the two of you move aside.』

Suddenly I heard a cold voice from behind.

As I darted my eyes over, I saw a familiar face again.

「Shiori...」

A girl with a bob haircut stopped right before me and glared at me with her round sapphire eyes. Shiori is my underclassman on her second year, and was also a member of the Modern Theatrics Club. She was wearing the club’s grey tee and a set of black tights, accentuating her petite body.

『Senpai you’ve come. Here, I’ll help you carry those. Ah, I see my ice-cream inside. Thank you, sen-pai~』

Shiori smiled while signalling me with her eyes.

「I-It's nothing...Here.」

I handed the bag of foodstuff I bought for the rest over to her.

For a moment when Shiori swept her eyes across, I thought that her glare became several times colder when it rested on Chiyu-sensei. But it must have been my imagination.

『...What are you standing around here for, aren’t you coming in?』

Shiori asked me as she slid open the door to the clubroom. I turned to look at Chiyu-sensei who had been quietly standing behind me, and she smiled ambiguously.

「...Err, are you coming in as well, Chiyu-sensei?」

Shiori’s smile seemed to have stiffened when I said that, but did not say anything. On the other hand, Chiyu-sensei made a pondering gesture and said:

『Weelll, I still have a lesson later but coming in for a quick lunch isn’t such a bad idea too. It is time sensei drops by once in a while as your club advisor too.』

『...Let’s go then.』

The three of us entered the clubroom, and inside was a spacious room just like a dance studio. On the left side were some cameras, lighting and various sound equipment. It seems like a stage was already set up, seemingly for the rehearsal today so there were some unfamiliar stage props lying around. But apart from that, this place is the same as ever.

「Has the rehearsal not started yet?」

I asked Shiori while the three of us walked together.

『Don’t worry about that, we have already practised a few times this week beforehand so there shouldn’t be much problems. All that’s left is senpai’s ‘role’.』

I understood immediately when she said that, and simply nodded silently.

We went past the professionally-set stage in the studio and opened another sliding door further in with the door tag 〖For Club Members Only〗.

We left our shoes at the entrance and stepped inside.

The interior was a small office room packed with all sorts of stuff brought by everyone. There was a mini fridge that stored plenty of drinks, a whiteboard on the wall, an 80-inch smart television screen, game consoles from Playstation 4 to Xbox, coffee brewers, portable kitchen, and a wide, circular conference table at the center. It wasn’t an exaggeration to call this paradise for a NEET if they could live here forever.

『Shiori-chan, you’re laaate-su~』

A lively voice greeted us as soon as we entered. It came from this guy with a crew-cut who stood up from his seat loudly. When he noticed that the other two that had come along with her, his eyes widened a little and gasped.

『Is that… Yato-senpai!? Uhaaaaa, it’s really senpai in the flesh!』

Wh-Who on earth is this spunky kid? A newcomer?

『Ah, that is Takata Shinji-san. A freshman who joined last week.』

Probably sensing my confusion, Shiori stepped up and explained to me.

「I-I see, nice to meet you, Shinji.」

『Likewise-su! I’ve heard many things about senpai, I’ll be looking forward to the rehearsal later!』

「R-right. Ahahaha...」

Seems like the youngins are pretty energetic this time. But what do you mean looking forward to my performance? ...Don’t you know what my role is? Shiori chuckled while covering her mouth as if noticing my unease.

When my name was called, a few others who had been sitting around the conference table leisurely also realized my presence. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at me as if I was some kind of rare animal, which made me a tad bit uncomfortable. Finally, someone broke the silence after a while.

『Waah, Yato’s finally here! Kanade-chan, Kanade-chan!』

An imouto-character pranced up to me excitedly while beckoning her best friend to come over.

I smiled wryly while patting her head. Chitose Hiyori, a second-year. She ties a bun at the back of her hair, and coupled with her rather short height makes her look much younger than she is.

Next, a young man who looked to be the silent-type greeted us.

『Good afternoon, Yato-senpai, Chiyu-sensei.』

『Afternoon, Usui-kun~』

Chiyu-sensei replied with a wave.

This polite underclassman was Hatagi Usui. He bowed lightly towards me and then took a seat again. In his hands was a book titled 〖Mysteries of a Shrouded City〗. Usui likes to read crime mystery novels, also the main reason why he joined the club. He is our main scriptwriter for the Modern Theatrics Club.

『...You’re late.』

An emotionless voice said so, coming from another girl sitting at the corner of the room while tapping the buttons of a controller. This was Ayanokouji Kanade, a year younger than me. Her hair is tied up neatly and is dressed in a bright, colorful dress unlike the rest of us who were in club-tees. However, her baggy eyes from gaming overnights destroyed her overall ‘princess-like’ image. She’s also pretty good at video games.

Kanade also doesn’t speak up much, as most of her words are contained in her thoughts.

「Sorry… I had some matters to attend to this morning.」

『Don’t tell that to me. ...Onee-chan is inside. You go explain to her.』

「...Okay.」

Kanade’s a third year like Usui, and she’s somewhat of a freeloader in this place. Although technically, I didn’t have the right to call her that as I was also a frequent ghost member in the club.

『Oh, it’s Yato. Yahallo~』

『Yo, Yato. You’re here.』

「...It’s been a while, you guys here for the rehearsal too?」

Next were the Iwatoji siblings who are both fourth-years like me. The sister with a gyaru appearance from her tanned brown-skin was called Iwatoji Junko, while the delinquent-looking brother with sanpaku eyes was Iwatoji Takeshi. The two were labelled as delinquents at a very young age because of their style preferences and way of speech. However once you get to know them better, you would find out that they aren’t actually the stereotypes that their surroundings had labelled them as, and were instead very nice people.

『Yep, hehe. I’m bad guy #1, the toughest kind. The type that talks loudly and causes a public menace!』

『Nishishi! And I’m the bitch who tries to steal the protagonist from his girlfriend!』

...Discounting the fact that they would still try to act out their stereotypes as a hobby here. Perhaps it’s also a way to relieve their stress from being judged in public. ...As for what kind of stress they can relieve with these kinds of roles... Well, I have no qualms about who they want to become in this place. Acting shares no prejudice, only a way to express oneself. That is why everyone here had gathered in this place. Mn, let’s leave it at that.

『Oh right, Yato-senpai got us lunch. There’s cake too.』

『Cake?! I call dibs!』

Junko flew from her seat towards Shiori who had placed the plastic bag on the table.

『...I’ll have the shortcake.』『...Oh there’s fried chicken, I’ll have that one-su!』

Usui put down his book and came over as well beside Takata-san.

Chiyu-sensei came to my side and watched this scene with a smile.

『I’m going to get the plates.』

「...Okay. I’ll come with you.」

While the rest were fumbling around the stuff I bought, we entered another room to the right. The walls hung various cabinets, a sink and a service station with neat stacks of plates and utensils.

『Yaa, Hibiki-chan.』

Chiyu-sensei waved towards a girl inside, sitting on a high chair.

She turned around, hurling her braided hair to one side and looked at the two of us. First it was Chiyu-sensei whom she simply stared at.

But when her eyes met mine, the girl suddenly frowned and stood up without speaking a word.

「...Uhm… Hibiki…-sama?」

『Since when have you ever used honorifics on my name.』

Hibiki stared at me as if trying to find something out of my facial expressions.

「...Hibiki.」

『---Ara, am I interrupting? My my, I guess I’ll leave you lovebirds alone~』

「...」

Chiyu-sensei abruptly left with the plates, leaving Hibiki and I in the room.

Dark hair with an indigo highlight, her sleek long bob is swept to one side covering her right eye. She was wearing an apron over her clothes, and seemed to be in the middle of brewing tea before we entered.

Ayanokouji Hibiki. She’s Kanade’s older sister, a fourth-year. Hibiki is the club leader of the Modern Theatrics Club, and incidentally is also the one who had invited me to join the club back then. Her family is pretty rich too, I heard that her father was one of the directors of XX University. She doesn’t spend much on herself, but pampers Kanade with whatever she wants to buy.

She seemed to want to say something again, but when Chiyu-sensei had parted with that strange statement, Hibiki gave up with a sigh and told me,

『...Since you’re here, let’s round up everyone. We’ll begin the rehearsal after everyone’s finished eating.』

She then took out a script tucked behind her back and handed it to me.

『Here, memorize your role in 30 minutes. We’ll begin immediately after that.』

30 minutes? ...Well, it’s doable if the script isn’t very long. Recalling what kind of roles the Iwatoji siblings were given, I decided to ask just in case.

「What’s outline of the performance?」

『The school is requesting us to have something up for the graduation show as part of the club showcase before Christmas Eve. The theme is decided to be a normal school drama but well, the script can be modified as long as it’s within the boundaries. I’ve talked to Usui-kun about this already so if you have any suggestions, feel free to let him know.』

「Mm… alright. I’ll do my best.」

『That… and also...』

Just before she left the room, Hibiki turned around and hesitated for a second, before she continued with a smile.

『Welcome back.』

「...Right.」

As I watched her joining the others for lunch, I heaved a troubled sigh. The strange tension between us had not been relieved just yet even after a few months, it seems. I shook those strange thoughts away, and chased the girl’s back shortly after.