“Yuki…” A voice came through my ear, “You’re sleeping too much. You gotta wake up!”

A few more minutes…

“Hello?” Another followed.

“Takeya-san? Takeya Yuki-san?”

I felt the nudge of a book over my head, followed by faint whispers. I looked up, realizing that I had fallen asleep in class… again.

“...Good afternoon”

“I don’t want to see you sleeping in my classroom again”

“Yes Sensei”

Kamiyama lowered her book, continuing with her board. I felt the wave of looks coming at me from my classmates.

“Sleepyhead…” I heard a faint mutter from beside me.

I turned over, noticing Yuzumara looking at me amused.

“Hehe…” I sheepishly scratched my head, “I don’t get a lot of sleep nowadays”

“We can tell”

As the class continued, I couldn’t help but look over at my left from time to time. Ryu-kun, who seemed equally as bored out of his mind as me, continued to stare at the board while resting his face over his hand.

I don’t know why. But ever since we had joined the club, it seemed that Ryu had been quite social compared to before.

I reached for my notebook, tearing a piece of it while reaching for a pen.

Are you bored? I wrote on my piece of paper before folding it.

“Psst, pass this to Ryu-kun” I passed the paper to Yuzumara.

“Sure– Ouch, that papercut!” Yuzumara whispered as she dropped the piece of paper.

Ryu turned over, grabbing onto the piece of paper I had left on the floor.

He took a quick stare at Kamiyama’s board while writing on the note before quickly passing it back to me.

Yep.

I hid the note under my desk.

Ryu continued his focus on the board in the meantime as I followed suit, noticing how he wrote his notes without having to look down.

The bell rang, making us all rush out of the classroom. I ran across the hallway with my bag over my back, narrowly avoiding the groups of students around me.

“Wait, Yuki-chan, where’re you going?” A voice called out from behind me.

“Wah!” I raised one leg, keeping myself balanced.

“Are you okay?”

I backed away from the stairs.

“Geez. It’s your fault for calling me all of a sudden Megu-nee” I turned around.

“It’s not Megu-nee, it’s Sakura-sensei to you”

“Yeah… so now what?”

“Don’t you have club activities?”

“Ah! You’re right!”

“What a silly girl…” Megu giggled.

“I’ll head over right now~ what about you?”

“I’ll be there later. Please let them know”

“Yeah,” I continued running down the hallway.

I’m in love with school lately.

I know it might sound weird, but I think school is a wonderful place.

The physics lab is full of funny looking machines.

The music room has beautiful musical instruments and scary portraits.

For the Broadcast Room, the entire school is its stage.

It has everything! It is just like your own country. You can’t find a building as strange as a school anywhere else.

And my favorite is…

Barely anything has happened during the month since my last entry. But I’ll just mention a few matters.

Yuki has pretty much been in the center of the stage in terms of everything. She has the most creative ideas yet at the same time it almost pushes us into this delusion of hers.

Yuki’s delusions had reached a scale never before. It keeps me up at night thinking about it. Yet during the day, I can’t break the facade that I have over my face.

Kurumi’s been someone you could depend on to get the dangerous jobs done while having a good laugh out of it when we’re in the safety of the clubrooms. She does hesitate frequently, but I can’t judge her.

Yuuri reminded me of Hano’s older sister, Ayame in a good way. Her leadership was comparable to mine, perhaps even at my level, but she seemed soft when needed, especially towards Yuki.

Hearing the footsteps from across the hallway, I placed my hand over the microphone, flicking a switch.

Here goes.

“Good afternoon Megurigaoka High School! A reminder for all students to not run across the hallways… that includes you Yuki Takeya-san!”

“Wah!” Yuki screamed from across the hallway, followed by a thump.

I couldn’t help but laugh from it.

“Tanaaaaka-kun!” Yuki called out my name from across the hallway, her voice getting louder until she reached the door, “Good afternoon!”

“Hey Yuki-san” I flicked the switch to my microphone, “Like my announcement?”

“You made me slip and fall because of it,” Yuki pouted.

“You didn’t break a bone, right?”

“Yep”

“Did you get in a water fight?”

“Yea” Yuki smiled, “How’d you know?”

“Your shirt says it all” I pointed, “Who won?”

“Kurumi won…” Yuki scratched her head sheepishly before turning to her right, “What’s with the radio?”

“That?” I pointed to a sleek radio set placed close to the microphone, “It’s nothing”

“Do you use it to talk with Megu-nee without going up to her?”

“I’m not that antisocial…” I scoffed, “Right?”

“Yea…” Yuki looked up at the roof, “You do seem like a robot recently…”

Robot?!

Yuki turned over.

“Oh, hi Shouji-san!” She waved towards the door.

I stopped to think while Yuki talked with the imaginary guy.

Shouji-san… manga… childish personality… likes to be casual towards everyone…

“Hey Shouji-san!” I looked over at the door, pausing, “Did you like the manga recommendation?”

I kept a pause, pretending to listen.

“I loved the cliffhanger of the story… got me at the edge of my seat. Do you know any good thriller manga that you could share with me?”

You’re probably thinking, have I gone crazy? But in reality, I’m just being a friend.

It is true that I’m not social, but one thing I excelled in was a surface-level understanding of people’s personalities. Mainly thanks to my experience talking with them paired with my obtaining of every student file.

Calculating the scenario of each conversation while being consistent with their personality isn’t exactly the easiest, but I often had to resort to just avoiding open ended questions.

Pretty much, it was a game of guessing to see if I can follow what Yuki’s delusions are saying. A game that I’ve managed to have some luck with.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

But perhaps I’ve been that lucky that Yuki hasn’t noticed anything weird.

“Mmmm, perhaps I could give it a try one day” I smiled towards the door, giving a glance at Yuki “Anyways, I have to get going now… bye”

I seem crazy, but I’ve kept another promise to ensure that whatever happens, Yuki’s delusions will remain intact until she stops. Even if it means playing the fool in any situation.

“Yuki-san, what did you mean when you said I seem like a robot from time to time”

“Well… it feels like you have only two answers to something…”

In my defense, I cannot realistically guess what Yuki’s imaginary version of a person would say. Hence why I had to limit the options. But I don’t think it’ll hurt Yuki’s delusion.

“Believe it or not, I have tinnitus”

“What’s that?”

“Constant ringing in the ears”

“Does that happen a lot?”

“Of course”

“Well, can you hear me?” Yuki’s voice turned soft.

“Pardon?”

I suck at lying.

“Nothing,” She smiled, “Hopefully you get better from it”

“Thank you” I smiled.

While walking down towards the Clubroom, Yuki’s gaze was focused on a nearby classroom.

“Um, I forgot something… I left my homework on my desk” Yuki chuckled as she walked inside the classroom.

I stood close by the door, keeping watch of her as she walked through the mess inside the room.

“This? We had a water fight on the rooftop… yeah, I’m still doing club activity”

Sometimes, I often wished Yuki would grow out of it. I didn’t know exactly why, other than the fact that it would be too dangerous.

“Ok, see you later” Yuki waved before leaving the class, “I think you left your bag at your classroom Ryu-kun”

“All of my classes are in that room excluding Art…”

“Ah…” Yuki looked out the window, “Oh by the way, about the dossier of you… I forgot”

“Did you see my comments?”

“Of course… but I’ve been procrastinating about it”

“Did you seriously have to spend an entire fortnight over it?”

“Hehe… but I’ve always wanted to ask you about something”

“Go on?”

“What’s your birthday?”

I kept silent.

“Did you forget?” Yuki nudged her face close to me.

“August… August 3rd…”

“Your voice seemed shaky when you said it”

She’s sometimes hard to fool. Yet at the same time easy to.

“Sorry. I’ve forgotten a lot of things recently… studies have been going through my head”

“I barely see you in the study rooms… Do you study in your office?”

“The office’s pretty much my home”

“Hehe… so that’s your birthday?”

“Yep”

“How about we celebrate it after graduation? Perhaps a final meet-up after the summer holidays? We could even bring some cake over and set up a party!”

“That’d…” I couldn’t help but smile while pausing, “That’d be great”

Yuki reciprocated my smile before proceeding to run down the hallway.

In the end, I would often understand why those moments of doubt I’ve had with Yuki were soon squashed.

I still had to thank what Yuki did.

Sakura and Yuki made me feel like life was a bit normal. Even I started to visualize Yuki’s delusions just for fun. In the end, it changed me in a way that I never knew it’d benefit me.

I still appreciate Yuki for what she had done on the roof since I didn’t want to go out like Hano.

“Tanaka-kun?” Yuuri’s voice blared into my ears, “Are you alright?”

I noticed Yuuri staring at me while having one hand on the soup ladle.

“Yea… yea… sorry”

Was I zoned out for that long?

“Yuki was right when she said you had hearing problems” Kurumi mumbled while leaning on a chair.

“Did she say that?”

“Just now”

“She spills a lot of things…” I looked at the hallway, “Where’s Megu-nee?”

“Megu-nee?” Yuuri turned over, “I don’t know”

“I’ll go ask her” Yuki ran out.

“Wait up! You can’t always move around alone at night!” I shouted towards the hall.

“It’s not even night silly,” Kurumi chuckled.

“It will be soon”

“I’ll go with her” Kurumi got up, grabbing her shovel.

“I guess… tell Sakura that I’d like to ask her about something tomorrow when I have the chance”

“Got it”

As Kurumi left, I looked over at the table, my Club Dossier still there except for a few rather amusing drawings. Yuki still hadn’t written my date of birth, but I didn’t mind.

“She still hasn’t written anything,” Yuuri turned off the stove.

“I did tell her my birthday just now”

“About time”

“May I have the dossiers of the club members on that shelf real quick Yuuri-san?”

“Of course” Yuuri grabbed a pile of folders, passing it to me.

“Thank you” I opened the first file.

As usual, Yuki had drawn something over each member's dossier. Even her one wasn’t safe from it, as she had drawn herself with sunglasses over her name.

My eyes wandered towards another detail.

Interesting…

I closed the folder, placing it back on the shelf.

“Everything alright?” Yuuri smiled, leaning close to me.

“Of course… Today's the 23rd, right?”

“Mmm…” Yuuri turned over to the calendar, “Yep”

“Okay… can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead”

“I know I’ve been just standing in the background helping you and Kurumi with matters, but can I ask for a favor”

“Uh… sure Ryu-san. What’s on your mind?”

I had a moment of hesitation.

Was she going to look at me weirdly? I thought to myself, Would it seem odd if I tried to overtake her role by accident? How would this impact group dynamics?

One way or another, I had to act decisive or else I’d lose that opportunity.

“Can you please teach me how to cook?” I followed up with a small bow for my request.

Yuuri’s surprise turned into laughter.

“Sorry, sorry…” Yuuri lowered her hand from her mouth, “I didn’t know you’d ask such a question”

“C’mon, the Council role means nothing at this point. Just pretend I’m a normal student asking this”

“Yuki and Kurumi still acknowledge it”

“Wouldn’t that shatter the power dynamic since you’re in charge?”

“... Yea” Yuuri looked over, “What would you like to learn?”

“How about some Udon? Yuki likes it”

Yuuri reached for her notebook, flicking through the pages.

“Kurumi had made a scavenging run on the third floor but couldn’t find any Udon. I assume the remaining storage areas are the ones you looted and the one at Home Economics. We have a bit of Udon left but I’ll conserve it until later…”

This feels like some sort of video game RPG task…

“Hm… I’ll go talk with her now”

As I walked towards the hallway, I noticed Yuuri’s expression.

“You’re confusing…”

“Hm?” I turned over.

“I didn’t know you would be this thoughtful over Yuki for some reason. Is this the Ryu I know?” Yuuri leaned towards me with a smile.

“Yes…”

“I don’t believe it”

“Nobody would, but perhaps I need to do something for the group”

I think that explanation got her off my back.

“Anyways, how about we meet tomorrow for the cooking session?”

“Of course. How about 5 PM?”

“I don’t think any of your ‘classes’ are the same with Yuki during the early afternoon. Why is it so late?”

“I’d like to keep my afternoon clear… it’d be nice if Kurumi could join in and play along with Yuki’s class if she weren’t making rounds”

“Not really…”

“What do you mean?”

“Wouldn’t it make sense to have someone like her ready in case of an emergency?”

“Yuki’s the most vulnerable of the group. I reckon you and Megu-nee could hold on their own”

“Well, what about you?”

“I’ll manage”

“Hm… do you have any ideas?”

“I tried broadcasting the daily school announcements and noticed when announcing for recess, a lot of zombies from the entrance loiter at the field. But that’s probably just a coincidence”

It wouldn’t hurt passing this information to Yuuri.

“Alright… but I reckon Yuki could protect herself when needed”

“ I can’t tell how far such delusions could go”

“She did say she almost went home…”

“Close call…”

“Also, have you been listening to music lately?”

“I downloaded a lot of things but music wasn’t on my list”

“Then why does your hair seem a bit… weird?”

“Just playing around with the headphones. I haven’t gotten anything…”

“You sure? You seem tense recently”

“You’d expect someone to find a safe haven and look for survivors. Silence in the radio keeps me tense…”

“...It still haunts me”

“Me too… such a school is equipped like this” I stared outside, “I’ve seen a lot of schools equipped like this in Megurigaoka, yet likely suffered the same fate”

We kept silent.

One issue was that while listening to the radio late at night, I heard several distant explosions outside.

I would’ve assumed that it’d be due to the lack of management of the reactors and power stations, but perhaps the helicopters I had witnessed two weeks ago had thought of that before.

I’d assume the military would put up a fight. However, considering where Megurigaoka was, I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t much activity here compared to Tokyo.

I do have some suspicions when I have witnessed a helicopter go down on its own though.

“Yahoo!” Yuki slid the door open, “What’s with the mood?”

“Nothing” I smiled, “We were talking about Kurumi’s break up”

“Really?”

“I heard that!” Kurumi shouted from across the hallway.

“Anyways, did you bring Sakura with you?”

“Yea… she’s just catching up”

Kurumi ran into the room, leaving her shovel close by the door.

“Jeez, you’re hard to outrun”

“Hehe, sorry!” Yuki turned over.

“Wow, you outran the Track and Field leader?” I smiled.

“Shut up” Kurumi chuckled, “She had a head start–”

“And your shovel…”

I felt Kurumi slap the back of my hair.

“Ouch…”

Sakura entered the room, holding onto her books as usual.

“You’re way too fast…” She panted.

“Sorry Megu-nee,” Yuki responded.

“It’s not Megu-nee, it’s Sakura-sensei!” Sakura corrected

“Yea we get it” Yuki chuckled.

“Afternoon sensei,” Yuuri and I said, “How’s your meeting?”

“It’s alright. Anything important you two needed to tell me?”

“Not at all,” I responded.

“Nope” Yuuri followed.

“Alright…” Sakura turned over, “Yuki-san, just a reminder to not be late for class tomorrow”

“Yeah don’t worry” Yuki chuckled, “I’ve started to sleep earlier than normal”

“That's perfect”

“By the way, sensei?” I walked up, “May I join you tomorrow?”

“Sure!” Sakura smiled, “It’d be nice for you to join in from time to time”

“Yaaay!” Yuki cheered.

“Well, have fun hanging out in class Ryu-san” Kurumi patted over my shoulder, “I’m out”

I approached Kurumi, ignoring what she had just called me.

“Hold on”

“Hm?” She turned over.

“Can we meet at 7 PM at the second floor barricade? It’s urgent”

“Sure!” Kurumi nodded.

I’ll be honest, I found it easy to become friends with Yuki in my opinion, but for Kurumi and Yuuri, it needed more than just playing the fool.