"Don't worry, I'm here. If you're scared, just hide behind me."
Amane's words eased Horikita's nerves quite a bit.
Just like that.
With Amane acting as a shield, the two made their way to a corner seat for the club orientation. It seemed Ayanokouji had gotten separated from them after being approached by three guys.
But the separation was just as well. Amane sat there looking perfectly content, listening to the club presentations.
She watched as club after club came up to introduce themselves before stepping down.
"Amane-san."
Amane suddenly heard Horikita's soft, slightly endearing voice.
Ooh!!
That voice is super pleasant.
"How long do you plan on holding my hand?"
Amane awkwardly let go of Horikita's hand, which she had placed on her own shoulder.
She'd just done it because it felt nice to hold, that's all...
What bad intentions could a girl like her possibly have?
The club orientation was a bit boring.
It wasn't until a sleek, black-haired woman with hair down to her waist introduced herself as the Kyudo Club president that Amane sat up straight and paid close attention.
It wasn't that she was particularly passionate about Kyudo. But that bowing form of hers was super impressive!
Some boys had already started taking pictures with their phones.
Amane also raised her phone to take a picture.
"So Amane-san likes that style?"
At Horikita's single sentence.
Amane's entire body froze right there.
"I just... It's just..."
"That kind of clothing style doesn't seem very suitable for you, Amane-san. Though it might sound a bit harsh to say, your height would probably make it difficult to pull off an outfit like that."
Horikita analyzed seriously.
"O-oh, so that's what you meant by 'style,' Suzune."
"What did you think I meant?"
"Nothing."
Amane sheepishly put her phone away. Horikita examined Amane with a suspicious gaze.
They waited until almost all the clubs had finished.
Only one man remained on the stage, Horikita Manabu.
His cold gaze swept over the noisy, chaotic first-year students below.
It had to be said, Horikita Manabu cut a fine figure.
Around 170 cm tall—not exceptionally tall for a man—with a somewhat slender build. Yet, one could tell from his physique that he maintained a well-exercised body.
His neat short hair and very stylish glasses added quite a few points to his first impression.
Most importantly, those intelligent eyes of his were very striking.
Just like...
Ah!
Just like Suzune's.
Amane turned her head.
She saw Suzune's gaze fixed intently on the figure on the stage, not leaving for a moment.
The look in Amane's eyes as she watched Horikita Manabu instantly changed.
On stage, Horikita Manabu frowned slightly.
For a moment, he'd felt an intense, hostile gaze.
But when he tried to locate it, the gaze had vanished without a trace.
Could it have been Suzune?
He shook his head inwardly.
Pushing the distracting thought aside. What he needed to do now was give these fledglings who had just entered this school...
A firm warning.
Seeing Horikita Manabu remain silent, the students below began to voice taunts and 'encouragement.'
"Too nervous to speak?"
"Hey, big bro, you can do it!"
"Didn't prepare a speech?"
Horikita Manabu stood motionless, as if the external noise had no effect on him whatsoever.
The wave of sound, after reaching its peak, began to recede.
Everyone looked puzzled at the man on stage.
Unsure what he was doing.
A tense and quiet atmosphere began to permeate the entire gymnasium. Horikita Manabu, with his presence alone, was overwhelming the entire first-year class.
"I am the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu..."
Amane didn't really listen to Horikita Manabu's speech.
Unlike Horikita Suzune, she kept her head down, trying her best to avoid Horikita Manabu's line of sight.
She had been a little out of line earlier.
When the orientation ended, everyone swarmed en masse towards the various club recruitment booths. Faces excited, either asking questions or directly filling out application forms.
However, due to this school's unusually high standards for clubs, the sports clubs actually weren't accepting any complete beginners.
Amane, curious, went up to ask.
The answer she got surprised her.
This school's basketball, baseball, soccer, and other sports clubs were regular participants in the national tournaments and they even achieved relatively high placements.
Under those circumstances, there was no way they could take in complete novices.
After all, they only had three years.
Who could guarantee a novice could grow to a national tournament level within three years?
So that single policy filtered out a significant number of people.
Amane originally planned to just look around and then leave, but Horikita noticed the Kyudo Club's recruitment booth.
Thinking back now.
Amane wanting to take that picture earlier probably meant she had some interest in the Kyudo Club.
Maybe she even had some experience.
'I'll help her out,' Horikita thought.
"Hello, Senpai. I'm Horikita Suzune from Class 1-D. I have a friend who would like to join the Kyudo Club. Are you still accepting members?"
The senior first looked Horikita over, then glanced at Amane, whom Horikita was holding onto and who was looking around everywhere.
They both seemed a bit... unreliable.
"I'm sorry, we are recruiting, but we require prior Kyudo club experience. Also, for girls... it might be quite strenuous. We don't have smaller bows here."
Horikita pushed Amane forward like presenting a treasure.
"Huh? Suzune, what are you doing? K-Kyudo Club? I... I suddenly feel a stomach ache coming on."
"Are you sure you want to leave right now?"
Horikita's voice made Amane, who was preparing to make a quick escape, stop in her tracks.
"I just recommended you to them. If you run away now, are you going to leave me here alone to face the embarrassment?"
Horikita knew that recommending Amane without discussing it with her first was rude, but she did it anyway.
It wasn't to deliberately cause trouble for Amane.
But because she thought Amane might make more friends in the club. Strictly speaking, Horikita felt she wasn't suited to being anyone's friend.
She couldn't smile prettily, didn't know how to say flattering things, occasionally her words were sharp, and her attitude sometimes wasn't the best.
Horikita wasn't unaware of these problems.
So she believed Amane should try to interact more with people from other classes, even other grades. Perhaps she would be happy to make more friends.
"Alright, alright. I can give it a try for your sake, Suzune. But you'd better treat me to something nice tonight."
Amane winked at Horikita and stepped up to the Kyudo Club president.
"Hello, Senpai. I'm Miyako Amane. I have some experience and would like to try shooting."
"I'm the Kyudo Club president, Fujiwara Mayu, Class 3-B. Please fill out this form first."
"Okay."
While Amane filled out the form, Fujiwara looked her over.
Her physique looks good.
Her arms, then.
Fujiwara's eyes lit up.
Those were nearly perfect arm lines.
She had definitely done arm training, but how did she maintain such a pleasing muscle shape?
Maybe she'd done some specific body sculpting.
Her gaze then dropped to Amane's chest.
Fujiwara's heart made a 'crack' sound.
'Are first-years this impressive nowadays?'
'Bigger than the club president's... Can we really accept a member like this?'
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.