Since Chiaki told him that it wasnât necessary to rush with his replies to the love letters, Seiji temporarily put them in his backpack and decided to look at them during the lunch break.
During class.
While under the effects of his systemâs [study] option, Seiji felt like there was a strong gaze upon him, and when he instinctively looked, he noticed⊠a purple-haired boy.
It was Takashi Kobayashi.
He and Kahei Watari were attending school like normal, with bandages on their bodies. It didnât seem like they were seriously injured. The classmates didnât pay their bruised conditions much attention either. As delinquents, it was only normal that they occasionally got injured.
When Takashi noticed Seiji looking back at him, he turned around and averted his gaze.
Seiji felt a bit confused. Kobayashi was one of the classmates he saved with his [do a heroic deed] action last Friday night. Even though that incident became a little out-of-the-ordinary, objectively speaking, he had saved two classmates and accomplished a good deed.
He was wearing a mask at the time⊠and no police or black-suited men came looking for him over the weekend.
When he searched the incident on the internet, he found videos taken by some bystanders using their cell phones, but due to the video footage being too exaggerated and the final result so outlandish, most comments doubted the veracity of the video, and there were relatively little views.
There were even less people blogging about it, so it didnât cause even a ripple.
Nothing special happened; a masked hero didnât become popular overnight after just one act of justice.
Seiji thought that the incident had been fully concluded.
But now, Takashi Kobayashi was silently watching him.
Had he⊠been exposed!?
Seiji felt quite tense. Did Kobayashi recognize him? Was it only Kobayashiâs intuition or imagination? Or was it a coincidence and Kobayashi wasnât even thinking anything, and he just happened be looking in Seijiâs direction?
Even if he had been recognized⊠it should be fine, right? He was the one who saved him, so it shouldnât be too much to ask them to protect his secret⊠right?
âIâll observe the situation before making a decision afterwards.â
Seiji decided to stop thinking about it since he didnât know Takashi Kobayashiâs true motives.
After class.
Takashi Kobayashi didnât approach Seiji to speak with him. Seiji glanced to see what he was doing, and found that he was chatting with Kahei Watari just like usual. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Seiji stopped observing them and was about to get up to go to the bathroom.
Just as he walked out of his classroom, a tall and sturdy boy walked up to him.
Seiji wasnât exactly short, but this⊠senpai? This boy was taller than Seiji by at least half a head, and he had a ferocious appearance like that of a bear.
Seiji looked at the tall boy in confusion, but Seiji wasnât the type to meddle in othersâ affairs, so he was about to walk around the tall boy.
However, he was intercepted.
âYouâre⊠the legendary transfer student, Seigo Harano, right?â The stocky senpai asked.
Legendary⊠when did he become legendary!? Seiji was quite astonished.
âIâm the captain of the soccer club, Daiki Takagi.â Before giving Seiji a chance to respond, the tall and sturdy senpai continued: âAfter hearing about your exploits at the tennis and basketball clubs, Iâm certain that youâre the person that the soccer clubâs been looking for!â
ââŠWhat?â Seiji blinked in confusion.
*Slam!* Takagi-senpai abruptly placed his large hands on his juniorâs shoulders.
âI request that you join our soccer club! Weâre not an incompetent club like the tennis and basketball clubsâweâre all hot-blooded, passionate boys! Come, aim for nationals together with us and spend your hot-blooded youth here!â
His voice was loud and full of spirit.
Everyone in the class and hallway could hear him clearly.
âThatâs Takagi-senpai from the soccer club⊠Heâs here to convince Harano-kun.â
âAs expected, since Harano-sanâs so strong at sports⊠I heard he singlehandedly defeated two clubs by himself!â
âI heard that as wellâwas it true? The tennis and basketball clubs wereâŠâ
âThatâs right, it definitely happened. The tennis club has collapsed on itself, and the morale of the basketball club is rock-bottom!â
âWow, that sounds like something only Harano-kun could pull off~â
âHeâs a destroyer of clubsâŠâ
People were gossiping secretly with each other.
âJust how did such rumors begin!?â Seiji was secretly astounded.
He had already anticipated that he might become infamous for the tennis and basketball club incidents, but⊠destroyer of clubs? What was with this immature nickname!?
It seemed that he had imperceptibly become a legendary creature himselfâŠ
Takagi-senpai was still staring at Seiji with shining hope in his eyes.
Seiji slowly opened his mouth and was about to say something when another voice interrupted.
âLet him go, Takagi, the legendary transfer student should belong to our volleyball club!â
A tall and slender senpai in a sports uniform with a bright and handsome face and wearing a ponytail suddenly appeared.
âYour soccer club already has quite a strong team; itâs not like you need a new student, right? Do you intend to make one of the senior students mad by adding a first-year newcomer to the varsity team, or do you intend for a talent like Harano here to be a benchwarmer?â
The ponytailed senpai chuckled coldly as his words hit the mark.
âOur volleyball club is differentâwe still lack a consistent, reliable ace! Harano-san can definitely join our club and compete with the other candidates. As long as he proves that he has sufficient talent, thereâs no problem with him joining the main team! Everything in our club is decided based on talent! Harano-san, Iâm the volleyball club captain, Shouta Eguchi. I sincerely request that you to join our volleyball club!â Eguchi-senpai exclaimed as he showed off his glistening teeth in a brilliant smile.
Seiji was rendered speechless at this.
âHeh, it seems that I was a bit late to the party, but thatâs not important. I believe that the legendary transfer student will make the correct decision.â
Another senpai appeared; this one was short but well-built, and he had a spiky hairstyle.
âFor a talent like Harano-san who has such incredible stamina, the track and field club is obviously the best place for him to utilize his ability! Unlike team sports such as volleyball or soccer, track and field has both individual and team categories. Such a sport is definitely the most suitable for such an outstanding talent like Harano-san to show off his true ability! He can help raise the level of the entire team as well as joining individual competitions without worrying about any of his teammates being too much of a burden on him! Thatâs why you should come to our track and field club, Harano-san. In fact, as the track club captain, I, Kogorou Fujimoto, will promise that youâll shine spectacularly in track and field!â The stocky Fujimoto-senpai spoke with great spirit.
Seiji didnât know what expression he was showing anymore.
âThe volleyball, soccer, and track club captains are all here⊠Theyâre all the captains of major clubs!â
âIs this the true ability of Harano-san? Destroyer of clubsâŠâ
âHarano-san is too amazingâthis is the first time Iâve ever seen anything like this~â
âWhich club will he choose?â
The spectators continued to gossip between themselves.
âHarano-san! Please join our club!â Three voices rung out simultaneously.
Each of the senpais had such a fierce atmosphere about them that it felt stifling and difficult to breathe.
âSomebody save me!!!â Seiji shouted mentally.
âŠ
It took much effort, but Seiji finally managed to clarify that he wasnât interested in joining any club for the time being, and convinced the three captains to leave him alone.
However, other clubs kept coming for him.
Baseball, swimming, football, bicycling, weightlifting, wrestling, gymnastics, mountain climbing, handball, ping pong, badminton⊠Just about every sports club he could imagine came to invite him!
Most of the club captains personally invited him, while the others were all vice-captains or managers. Even some strange clubs such as the fitness club, idol club, public affairs club, and butler club sought him out.
âSo this school had that many clubsâŠâ Seiji thought as he collapsed listlessly onto a table.
âHahaha, youâre so popular, Seigo! Youâve become the target of every single sports club~â Chiaki couldnât stop laughing. âBut of course, your stamina is like that of a monsterâs, and your reactions are incredible as well. You crushed your opponents in the tennis and basketball clubs with purely your physical ability, even if your technique wasnât up to par. As long as you master the techniques of any sport, youâll probably become the ace of that club, or maybe even an ace among aces! As long as youâre not held back by your teammates, it should be quite simple to obtain some awards~â
Mika next to her silently nodded; it seemed that she agreed with Chiakiâs conclusion.
âBut I truly donât want to join a club right nowâŠâ Seiji moaned from his position on the table.
As an otaku, his true nature wasnât one where he liked sportsâall the exercise he previously did was purely in order to raise his stats; going to the tennis club was only to test his newfound strength, and basketball was for the purpose of grinding points.
Joining a club without actually enjoying the relevant sport⊠That would make himself feel shackled, and it also felt disrespectful to the members that truly loved that sport.
How about⊠not going to any sports clubs to test himself in the future? But he still wanted to grind some points on occasion, especially this week⊠What should he do?
Time passed by as Seiji battled with his frustrations, and it was now lunch break.
Another wave of events were about to come for Seiji.