Yawning as I went, I walked to school with Mika along our usual route. I’d stayed up late finishing the poster prototypes I now carried in my bag. Selecting the right photos had taken much longer than I’d anticipated, and the lack of sleep was weighing on me.
Still, the effort had paid off; I thought the prototypes had turned out quite well.
"You look exhausted, Onii-chan."
"Hm? Yeah, well, picking the photos took forever."
"Hmm. So, what do the posters look like? I haven't even seen them yet..."
Mika kept glancing at my bag, clearly eager for a look. I didn't necessarily mind showing her then and there, but...
"I’m going to show everyone when we gather after school. Why don't we save the surprise until then?"
"What!? Come on, you can show me now! Onii-chan, you’re so stingy!"
Being called stingy actually hurt a little.
"Stingy? I just thought it would be more fun to surprise everyone at once..."
"Hmph!"
"Hey, don't give me that look..."
As I hesitated, Mika puffed out her cheeks in a pout. While we were going back and forth, a voice called out from behind us.
"Good morning."
I turned to find Hiiragi-san standing there.
"You two are certainly lively this morning. What are you arguing about? You’re drawing quite a bit of attention from the other students, you know."
Following Hiiragi-san’s warning, I looked around. She was right—the students walking near us were all staring.
"..." "..."
"See? Told you so."
Mika and I both looked down in embarrassment, while Hiiragi-san gave us a sympathetic, wry smile.
"I have a suggestion: why don't we pick up the pace and get away from here? It’s probably uncomfortable for both of you to be the center of attention like this."
"..." "..."
Mika and I jumped at the suggestion, nodding silently in unison.
We quickened our pace, and once we had distanced ourselves from the curious gazes of the crowd, we both let out deep sighs of relief.
"Sorry, Hiiragi-san. I didn't mean to drag you into our mess first thing in the morning."
"Don't worry about it. So, what were you actually arguing about?"
"Ah, right. Well..."
I explained the situation to her as we walked.
"I see. I suppose it makes sense that Mika-chan would want to see them immediately, given that you live together."
"Exactly! Yukino-san, tell Onii-chan he should just show me."
"Well... but I also understand why Kokonoe-kun wants to see everyone’s reaction. After all, he worked hard on these. It’s only natural to want to see the surprise on everyone’s faces. Mika-chan, it’s only a few more hours. Can’t you wait until after school?"
"Muu..."
It seemed Hiiragi-san was taking my side. Under her persuasion, Mika still looked a bit disgruntled, but she eventually agreed to wait. Behind Mika's back, I gave Hiiragi-san a small nod of thanks.
Once we arrived at school, Hiiragi-san and I said goodbye to Mika at the entrance and headed to our classroom. About half the students were already there, though Yuji hadn't arrived yet.
I parted ways with Hiiragi-san and sat at my desk, taking my textbooks out of my bag to prepare for the day. That was when Shigemori, who was already at his desk, came over to talk.
"Yo, Kokonoe! I heard the news—you actually started a club!"
"Hm? Oh, Shigemori. Morning."
"Morning. So, what’s the deal? Why start a club this late in the year?"
Shigemori sat backward in the chair in front of mine and asked for the details. I continued setting up my desk while I answered.
"Why... I guess you could say it became a necessity."
"Huh? A necessity? Starting a club?"
"Yeah."
There was no reason to keep the circumstances a secret anymore, so I gave Shigemori a brief rundown.
I told him about the trouble caused by the Repeating Students. The precarious situation the first-years were facing. How my sister, Mika, and her friend, Saori-chan, had decided to take a stand. How the three of us were acting as their backers, and how the school had supported the club's formation.
"Wow. So that's what’s going on with the underclassmen..."
"What, Shigemori, you didn't know?"
"...No. I'm an only child, and I'm in the go-home club. Information about other grades doesn't really reach me."
"I guess that makes sense. Without a specific connection, that kind of talk doesn't really spread."
I let out a small sigh. To a regular student, trouble in another grade was someone else’s problem. Combined with the closed-off nature of a school environment, you really wouldn't hear about things unless you were looking for them.
It made me realize once again how cleverly the Repeating Student Group had handled their business.
"If you don't have a sibling or a close friend in the first year, you’d have no reason to look into what’s happening down there."
Presumably, the Repeating Student Group was intentionally avoiding students with older siblings in the upper grades for their recruitment. That was likely why the second and third-years with younger siblings hadn't stepped in yet. Had the group been careless enough to target those students, the upperclassmen who had been staying silent would have moved long before we ever had to form a club.
"Still, you guys... why would you volunteer for something that sounds like such a headache?"
"Mika... my sister made up her mind to work hard for this. As her brother, I want to support her however I can."
"I see... Then what about Hirose? Why did he decide to help?"
"Well, partly because I owe Kokonoe, but mostly because I just didn't like the idea of knowing what was happening and doing nothing."
Shigemori looked behind me as Yuji, who had arrived at some point, answered the question. Even though I’d been focused on the conversation, for Yuji to slip into my awareness so easily after our training with Genya-san... he’d really gotten good at suppressing his presence.
I turned around and gave a blunt greeting to Yuji, who looked like he was enjoying having surprised me.
"Morning, Yuji."
"Morning. You two were having a very interesting conversation."
"Personally, it feels less 'interesting' and more like a total surprise..." Shigemori replied with a shrug.
Yuji gave a wry smile at Shigemori’s reaction, set his bag on his desk, and then leaned over toward us.
"Well, if you don't know any first-years, I guess it can't be helped. It seems the Repeating Student Group has been using a few tricks to keep word from reaching the upperclassmen."
"Tricks, huh?"
"Though all that will likely go out the window now that we’ve formed the club."
"Right. Our involvement might be the catalyst that gets the upperclassmen who’ve been staying on the sidelines to start moving too."
"The Repeating Student Group might be a large organization, but ultimately it’s just a bunch of first-years with low levels and very little explorer experience. If they get glared at by upperclassmen who outrank them as explorers, they’ll either have to scale back or disband entirely."
In other words, the real target of our recruitment efforts was first-years with older siblings in the upper grades. By bringing them into the fold, we might gain the support of their "bonuses"—the older siblings—for free. While the three of us were enough in terms of actual combat power, having a large number of upperclassmen in the club would be far more effective for the purpose of intimidation.
I nodded at Yuji’s logic and turned back to Shigemori.
"It would be easier that way. If things escalate into a direct clash between organizations, the school will definitely step in, and we’ll end up with injuries and disciplinary actions on both sides. Settling this without a fight is the best-case scenario."
"Yeah... hopefully it ends peacefully."
Yuji and I both looked up at the ceiling simultaneously.
Setting aside the general members of the group, the leader—the Repeating Student himself—seemed to have an incredibly high sense of pride based on what Mika and Saori-chan had said. Whether a simple show of force would be enough to make someone like him back down was something I honestly didn't know.
Shigemori watched our despondent state with a flat expression before speaking up tentatively.
"Well, uh... look. If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. Hang in there, okay?"
"Yeah, thanks."
Yuji and I looked back down as Shigemori offered his encouragement. Just then, Hirasaka-sensei walked into the classroom. We’d been so focused on our talk that we hadn't noticed homeroom was about to start.
"Right, I'm heading to my seat."
"Me too."
Yuji and Shigemori hurried back to their places.
Between the lack of sleep and the morning's discussions, I already felt exhausted, and the day had barely even started.
Once classes were over for the day, we all gathered in the clubroom. Everyone was there except for Hashimoto-sensei.
"Alright, Onii-chan! I waited until after school just like I promised. Now, hand it over!"
Mika made her declaration and thrust her right hand toward me. Hiiragi-san, who knew the whole story, just smiled, while Yuji and Saori-chan watched the exchange with confused, curious eyes.
"Alright, alright. Just give me a second."
I pulled a clear file from my bag containing the printed prototypes and laid them out one by one on the desk. There were six in total; they all shared a similar layout, but the photos varied.
"Okay, let me give you a quick rundown. The first one features Yuji and Mika. The second is me and Saori-chan, the third is Yuji and Hiiragi-san, the fourth is me and Mika, the fifth is Mika and Saori-chan. Finally, the sixth uses a shot of the three girls—Hiiragi-san, Mika, and Saori-chan. Pick the one you like best for now. We can talk about specific improvements afterward."
At my explanation, the four of them leaned over the desk, studying the prototypes with intense, serious expressions. This was the advertisement that would define the club’s future, so it was only natural for them to take it seriously.
While they were debating, I powered up the club's laptop and loaded the USB drive containing the digital versions. My plan was to make any final tweaks here at school and then use the faculty room’s printer to produce the large-format posters.
"So, has everyone reached a verdict?" I asked, once I saw them pull back from the desk.
"Yeah, I think I've got mine," Yuji said.
"I’ve decided as well," Hiiragi-san added.
"Me too!" Saori-chan chimed in.
"I’ve made my choice too," Mika said.
"Alright. On the count of three, point to your favorite. One, two, three!"
At my signal, everyone pointed simultaneously. Every single finger landed on the first draft.
It was the one featuring Yuji and Mika.
"Unanimous, then."
"Well, at a glance, this one just had the most impact. It really stays with you," Yuji explained.
"I agree," Hiiragi-san said. "The photo of Hirose-kun facing down a Big Bear is incredibly intense, and the contrast with the shot of Mika-chan focused on her bookkeeping creates a great dynamic."
"It's a little embarrassing to think my face will be plastered all over the school, but I agree that this one is the most eye-catching," Mika admitted.
"This was definitely the most memorable one for me as well," Saori-chan said. "The most important thing is to make people stop and actually read the poster, and this one definitely has the impact to do that."
With everyone in agreement, we officially selected the first design. Hashimoto-sensei hadn't arrived yet, so I hadn't heard her thoughts, but with all the student members in accord, I decided to move forward with the final edits. I worked on the laptop, incorporating their small suggestions for fine-tuning while they watched.
About fifteen minutes later, the recruitment poster was finally complete.
"Alright, that’s it!"
"Good work, Daiki. Sorry for just backseat-editing and leaving all the actual work to you," Yuji said.
"I’m sorry as well, Kokonoe-kun. But thanks to you, we finished much faster than I expected," Hiiragi-san added.
"Great job, Onii-chan! It looks amazing!"
"Thank you so much. I’m sorry we ended up making you do all the technical stuff," Saori-chan said with a slight bow.
I raised my hands in a stretch, satisfied. "It's fine, guys. It wasn't that big a deal, so don't worry about it."
"Well, if you say so. Thanks. Now that it’s done, should we go print them and start putting them up?" Yuji asked.
"Yeah, that’s the plan. But we need to use the faculty room copier, so we have to wait for Hashimoto-sensei to check in first."
Classes had been over for about half an hour, so I figured she would be showing up any minute. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the door opened.
"Sorry I’m late, everyone... Oh? What’s with the blank stares?"
Hashimoto-sensei stood in the doorway, clutching a thick stack of files and a laptop. She certainly had her hands full.