The next morning, Yamada High was already buzzing with the kind of energy that made Takumi wonder if high school was secretly a testing ground for chaos management.
"Are you telling me," Riku whispered as they walked through the hallways, "that there's a club fair today?"
"Yes," Takumi replied, adjusting his backpack. "And yes, it's exactly as dangerous as it sounds. People will try to recruit you into every club imaginable, and some of them… actually enforce the rules."
Riku groaned. "Why do clubs exist? For fun? For socializing? For slowly destroying students' free time?"
"Exactly," Takumi said. "And if you don't join one, the guilt alone will haunt you until graduation."
As they arrived in the gym, dozens of tables were already set up, each one representing a different school club. The Airsoft Club had a full obstacle course set up in the corner. The Cooking Club had already created three minor smoke clouds. And the Calligraphy Club… well, someone had spilled ink across half the gym floor.
Takumi eyed the chaos. "Yeah… normal school life is definitely overrated."
Riku, meanwhile, was being pulled in three directions at once. First, the Student Council tried to recruit him with promises of "responsibility and prestige." Then, the Drama Club waved him over, offering "leading roles in plays and unlimited stage time." And the Gardening Club… well, the Gardening Club just threw a small shovel at him.
"Uh… can I just sit here and… not join anything?" Riku asked, ducking behind a banner.
Takumi laughed. "Sure. And the volcano outside will probably erupt in sympathy."
Hinata arrived shortly after, moving gracefully through the crowd like she was some kind of elegant storm. She waved politely to a few students and nodded at the chaos around the Cooking Club's smoke cloud.
"Morning," she said. "Mind if I join you guys?"
Riku nearly tripped over himself. "You ask? No, you just walk in like a ninja princess and—"
"—look terrifyingly competent," Takumi finished, smirking. "Yep, that's Hinata."
The three of them wandered past the clubs, each table trying to outdo the other with flashy presentations, free snacks, and increasingly aggressive sales pitches.
"You should join the Chess Club!" one student shouted. "We strategize life itself!"
"The Manga Club!" another countered. "We eat snacks and draw!"
"Or the Archery Club!" a third interjected. "Deadly accurate… and fun!"
Riku's eyes darted between all of them. "I… don't know… maybe none of them?"
Takumi shrugged. "We'll survive this. Mostly."
Lunch was another battlefield. The cafeteria, already overcrowded, was the perfect place for small disasters to multiply.
Riku, sitting at their usual table, accidentally nudged his tray. A stray piece of sushi rolled across the floor and bumped into a student's foot, causing a chain reaction that ended with someone spilling an entire carton of milk on the lunchroom floor.
"Nice going," Takumi muttered. "You just created a dairy tsunami."
Riku looked horrified. "It's not my fault! The tray betrayed me!"
Hinata, ever calm, produced a stack of napkins from her bag and began cleaning up with surgical precision. "It's okay. It's just lunch," she said, smiling.
Takumi leaned back, impressed. "She makes chaos look easy."
Riku groaned. "That's cheating. She's cheating at life again! I don't even know why I try."
Across the room, another small disaster was unfolding: the Drama Club had set up an impromptu rehearsal, and someone had tripped, sending a bag of props tumbling into the salad bar.
"Why is there a salad bar in chaos?" Riku asked, genuinely panicked.
Takumi shrugged. "Welcome to normal school life."
By the end of the day, the trio had survived the club fair, a minor cafeteria flood, and an accidental pep rally initiated by the overly enthusiastic Cheer Club.
Riku flopped into his chair. "I think… I think I need a nap. Or therapy. Maybe both."
Takumi laughed. "Relax. Tomorrow will be… slightly less chaotic."
Hinata tilted her head. "You say that like tomorrow will actually be calm."
Riku groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Why do I even go to school?"
Takumi smirked. "Because if we don't, someone else will have all the fun messing things up. And let's be honest… we are fun."
Hinata just smiled politely, which somehow made both boys feel like they had survived a small war—and maybe, just maybe, that made the chaos worth it.
And somewhere in the back of their minds, they knew tomorrow would be even worse.