The next day, before classes started, in the clubroom.
We were surprised to find not only Aki and Haruna, but also Natsumi there.
"What a surprise to see you here, Natsumi-chan." I greeted her cheerfully, after all, she had always helped Raimon's soccer club.
Last time, in fact, it was Natsumi who gave Kabeyama a great idea.
"Starting today, you'll be seeing me every day, Endou-kun. Because now, I, Raimon Natsumi, will be a manager of the soccer club."
"HEHHHHHHH?!" Everyone shouted in surprise at the news, while I stepped forward with sparkling eyes.
"So now you're officially part of our club, Natsumi. I'm really happy! Welcome to the team!" I grabbed her hand and shook it up and down, thrilled that she was joining the group.
---------------------------------------------
During the break, in the classroom.
Today it was just me, Aki, and Ootani. Gouenji didn't bring a bento, so he went to buy something to eat.
"Aki-chan, Endou-kun, have you ever heard of the 7 mysteries of Raimon Junior High?" Ootani, as always, was great at starting conversations.
"I've heard of a few of them." Aki nodded in agreement.
Since it wasn't about soccer or Hissatsu, I didn't pay much attention at first.
Until one line caught my attention.
"One of the seven mysteries is called 'The Door That Never Opens.' A long time ago, a student suddenly disappeared there. Ever since, they say whoever enters… never comes back. Because of those rumors, students avoid that part of the school." Ootani explained in a mysterious tone.
Could this be something supernatural? I got excited just thinking about the chance of finding something out of the ordinary in that hidden place.
Even when the bell rang to signal the end of break, my mind was still stuck on that mystery.
After class, before heading to the club, I decided to go check it out. But as I was leaving the classroom, I bumped into Natsumi.
"Hmph. Endou-kun, today is my first day as a manager, so of course I'll walk with you to the soccer club." Natsumi said with her usual proud Ojou-sama tone.
After spending so much time with her, I had learned to recognize when she was nervous. And it seemed that, even as the student council president, Natsumi was a little anxious about her new role in the club.
"Natsumi-chan, you came at the perfect time. As student council president, maybe you know something about the mystery of 'The Door That Never Opens'." I took the chance to ask.
"'The Door That Never Opens'?" Natsumi looked at us, confused, not understanding what we meant.
"We heard about it from Ootani-chan." Aki explained the seven school mysteries to her. It seemed that, even as president, Natsumi hadn't heard of them.
"Endou-kun got all excited when he found out about a student disappearing after going through that door." Aki sighed, already used to how I am.
"Then I'll come with you. Now I'm curious about this Raimon school mystery." After thinking for a moment, Natsumi agreed to join us.
+1 companion heading into the unknown.
On the first floor of the school, where the first-year classrooms are, we heard a voice call out. "Endou-kun, where are you going?" It was Haruna.
"We're heading to a spooky place where they say a student disappeared forever. Muhaha!" I tried to scare her, but she just looked at Aki and Natsumi next to me and smiled.
"Then I'm coming with you too." She didn't even know where we were going, but already wanted to tag along. Haruna really is brave.
After we explained about 'The Door That Never Opens,' Haruna didn't get scared—she got even more excited. She even pulled out her little notebook. She's been the team's manager for so long that I sometimes forget she used to be in the journalism club. She's a lot braver than she looks.
+1 companion heading into the unknown.
Me, Aki, Natsumi, and Haruna made our way to the location of the infamous 'Door That Never Opens.' It was still on school grounds, but in an isolated area surrounded by thick vegetation.
The door had the emblem of Raimon School, which looked like a lightning bolt.
"So this is the mysterious door?" Aki asked as she looked over my shoulder at the locked entrance.
"Yeah. I've heard of it before, but after a student disappeared, no one had the courage to go near it again." Haruna confirmed. As expected from our manager—she knows everything about the school.
"If a student really had disappeared, my father would have contacted the authorities. There are no official records of any missing students." Natsumi crossed her arms seriously. Besides being the student council president, she was also the daughter of the owner of Raimon School.
"So is it just a rumor, then?" I asked as I stepped closer to the door.
I tried pushing it, but it didn't budge an inch.
"Is it locked?" I muttered, feeling like all my strength had gone to waste.
"Endou-kun, maybe this door opens by pulling instead of pushing." Aki suggested, and I agreed.
There was a latch that allowed the door to be pulled.
This time, it worked. The door scraped open with a loud, echoing sound, kicking up dust in all directions. A strong, stale smell hit me right in the face.
And then... a staircase appeared behind the door. It led downward, disappearing into darkness.
"This... looks strangely creepy." Haruna said, peeking over my right shoulder.
"I agree. Do you really want to go in there, Endou-kun?" Aki looked over my left shoulder, visibly uneasy.
"I still don't believe anyone disappeared through this door. Let's investigate, maybe we'll find something." Natsumi, a bit taller than me, stood on tiptoe to peek over my head.
"Let's go. There might be something interesting down here." I started descending the stairs first, with the three girls close behind me.
Aki clung tightly to the sleeve of my right arm. She was clearly the most frightened among us.
As we made our way down, a loud sound echoed behind us. I turned around and saw the door slowly closing on its own. The sunlight faded until we were left in complete darkness.
As soon as the darkness swallowed us, I heard the girls' trembling voices.
"E-Endou-kun, a-are you still there?" Aki asked quietly, gripping my hand tightly.
"E-Endou... w-why did the door close by itself?" Haruna, who was right beside me, clung to my left arm.
"D-Don't be afraid. The door just closed, that's all." Natsumi tried to keep her composure, but I could feel her hand gripping the back of my shirt.
"Come on, there's no need to be scared. We're almost at the bottom of the stairs." I stayed calm, and my eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness around us.
We continued down the steps more carefully now, making sure not to slip.
Soon, we reached the bottom. There was another door — much larger than the one at the entrance.
"Is this all there is?" I asked, but then suddenly, a part of the door lit up in front of us, like the eyes of a beast opening in the dark.
"KY-KYAAAAAA!!!" All three girls screamed in fear. Even I flinched a little from the sudden light.
Haruna tightened her grip on my arm, eyes shut tight. Aki buried her face in my chest, hugging me firmly. And Natsumi, who had remained calm until now, let out the loudest scream of all and hugged me so tightly she nearly choked me.
"Calm down, girls. It's nothing serious, it's just a backlit keypad." I slowly managed to calm each of them down. Aki still didn't let go of me, her face pressed against my chest, arms wrapped around my waist.
"I... I wasn't scared." Natsumi muttered quietly, but she grabbed my now-free right hand — hers was cold and trembling.
"Endou-kun, what is this thing?" Haruna asked, still clinging to my arm as she looked at the glowing keypad.
"Looks like one of those password-protected doors." I commented, almost certain of my guess.
"You're right, Endou. This is a password lock. Some parts of the school still use them." Natsumi answered, a little more composed now.
"Natsumi, do you think you might know the password for this door?" I asked hopefully. After coming all this way, not getting through would be a real letdown.
"I can try. We usually have a general password for these kinds of locks." Natsumi agreed and stepped forward to type, without letting go of my hand.
After entering the code, she stepped back beside me.
The door opened with a loud, rusty creak.
Once fully open, it revealed a large hall. Within seconds, lights came on throughout the room.
"This... What is all this?" Aki finally pulled her face away from my chest and looked around in amazement.
The room was filled with completely unfamiliar equipment.
Now calmer, the girls finally let go of me. I won't lie... I felt a bit empty afterward. It had actually been pretty comfortable being surrounded by them like that.
As we explored the space, we soon realized what kind of place it was.
"This looks like some kind of soccer training facility. There's even a goal over there." Haruna said, surprised after walking around.
"The last officially recognized soccer team at Raimon was the Inazuma Eleven. This place looks old... maybe this is where they used to train." Aki suggested, and I agreed wholeheartedly.
Despite how old it looked, the machines seemed way more advanced than anything I had seen in my past life.
"Guys, come over here." Natsumi called from near the entrance. There was a panel that looked like the main control for the entire hall.
She pressed a few buttons, and the machines whirred to life.
Some were clearly rusty, but still functional.
"Amazing..." I was thrilled to see so many different kinds of machines. If our team trained here, I was sure we'd improve much faster.
"I'll ask my father about this place. We might need to make a few adjustments, but the facility is almost in perfect condition. I'm sure you'll be able to train here soon." Natsumi tapped her chest lightly with confidence.
Well... we didn't find anything supernatural, but discovering this training center got me really excited to start using everything here.