Higashi Hazuki Got Some Cookies

“Haha, I’ve discussed a new activity with Kiyoshi!”

Kushiro Yoshiko stood with her arms crossed.

The black frames of her glasses reflected a bit of sunlight, yet couldn’t hide the confidence shining through her eyes.

Her braided pigtails swayed slightly, full of energy.

Well, even so, it always feels a little out of place.

Why does President Kushiro deliberately dress in such an old-fashioned, quiet-looking style.

That question.

I don’t really want to know either.

“So—what kind of activity is it?”

Amayama Kaoru hesitated for a moment, then finally asked.

“Hehe, about that.”

Kushiro Yoshiko always puts on this mysterious air.

In reality, she just wants to build up our anticipation before revealing the answer.

But in truth—

Everyone simply stared at her in silence.

In this clubroom, it felt like only the wind was responding to her, at least with a faint whooshing sound.

“President, have some tea.”

Nishimura Noriyuki isn’t very talkative, but he does know how to read the room.

He handed her a cup of tea.

“Ahem.

What we’re planning is to create a magazine belonging to our Classical Literature Club.”

Clearing her throat, Kushiro Yoshiko adjusted her black-framed glasses.

This time, she didn’t tease us any further.

“A magazine?”

Those of us who hadn’t been part of the discussion asked almost in unison.

“Yes.

We can write reading impressions of classical literature, and also introduce works suitable for everyone to read.”

“Like the Divine Comedy by Dante that I’ve been reading recently, or Shakespeare’s collected works.

We could each write an article about those.”

The more she spoke, the more excited she became.

Her gaze drifted toward the near future—well, the future she imagined.

“Um, President.”

Ichijou Rikuhiko raised his hand slightly.

“Do we also have to participate in the writing?”

“Of course.

Didn’t you join the club because you like literature?”

I’m very sorry, President Kushiro.

We actually joined the Classical Literature Club because of a coin toss.

Since that would be like pouring cold water on her hard-earned enthusiasm, it was obviously not something someone as considerate as me could say out loud.

“You must all have books that left a deep impression on you, right?”

Her burning gaze swept over us.

Unfortunately, I don’t really have any deeply impressive books.

And anything even remotely related to classical literature is completely out of my reach.

“As for books that left an impression.”

Ichijou Rikuhiko thought seriously for a moment.

“Probably the Man’yōshū.”

He answered.

“My grandfather collected the entire set.

He read it to me when I was little.”

In a sense, Ichijou Rikuhiko is the type who grew up surrounded by books and developed smoothly as a result.

That’s a very appealing character setup, Ichijou.

“As for me—”

I put on a slightly embarrassed look.

In reality, I was desperately searching my mind for any classical literature I’d read before.

“Probably, um—”

Ah, this is really troublesome.

My mind being completely blank at a moment like this is seriously inappropriate.

If anything, it’s my own fault for hardly ever reading classical literature.

“I’m the same as Yue!”

Amayama Kaoru’s voice rang out loudly, saving me.

Probably—

“We both like magical girls.”

At this point, it would’ve been better to randomly name a classical masterpiece.

Even though I’ve grown used to Amayama Kaoru’s occasional airheadedness, I still couldn’t help sighing inwardly.

The fact that she managed to make me feel a bit awkward means she’s quite impressive in her own way.

“Kaoru, magical girls aren’t classical literature.”

“Eh—

But magical girls are my favorite.

Didn’t you say ‘impressive,’ President?”

“Well—

Even if it’s not classical literature, our magazine could include other content.

If it’s nothing but classical literature introductions, people might not want to read it.”

Unexpectedly, Kushiro Yoshiko actually took that into consideration.

This president really isn’t a simple person.

Still, for me, it wasn’t particularly noteworthy.

“Oh yeah.

President, you’re the best.

I’ll make sure to properly write about the ideals magical girls represent.”

Amayama Kaoru clenched her fists.

“That’s my dream too.”

“That’s it, that’s it.

That kind of passion is exactly what will make the Classical Literature Club great again.”

Kushiro Yoshiko stood up excitedly, as if she’d found a kindred spirit.

“Yes, yes.

President Kushiro is the same.

Someone who dreams of reviving the Classical Literature Club.

Someone also pursuing happiness.”

“Well said, Kaoru.”

No matter how strong your fan enthusiasm is, you really shouldn’t force movie lines onto real people.

But seeing how the two of them were already resonating emotionally, there was nothing to say.

I turned my gaze toward the window instead.

It was already starting to feel like evening.

The sunset was slowly fading.

A light breeze wandered through the not-so-large clubroom, bringing a pleasantly cool feeling.

“So, President, are you really planning to distribute the magazine within the school?”

Ichijou Rikuhiko spoke up.

“Of course.

I’ve already informed the student council in advance.

They approved my proposal and allowed our Classical Literature Club to distribute publications on campus.”

“President—”

Ichijou Rikuhiko hesitated.

“You’re not planning to make money from this, are you?”

A very tactful way of putting it.

As expected of a protagonist, he’s very considerate of others’ feelings.

After all, this plan looks extremely unreliable.

You could practically declare it dead on arrival.

Unfortunately, this president lacks that level of self-awareness.

“Of course we’re making money.

Otherwise, what’s the point of starting a magazine?”

“Uh—”

There’s no need to look so hesitant, Ichijou.

Right now, you’re the only one who could shatter her unrealistic fantasy.

Thinking that, I spoke up.

“Yes, yes.

I believe our magazine will definitely be warmly welcomed by everyone.”

“Eh—”

Don’t look at me like that, Ichijou.

Higashi Hazuki wouldn’t do something that kills the mood.

This was simply a reasonable response based on role-playing.

In truth, I had no desire to stop this plan.

Other than going home, it’s hard for anything to really capture my interest.

“Then it’s settled.

Ichijou, don’t say anything more.

All right, next, we’ll need to raise funds for the project.

Everyone in the Classical Literature Club will contribute some money as activity funds.”

Ah—

Now that money is involved, this really does concern me.

“President, I think we should reconsider this.”

Even someone as accommodating as Higashi Hazuki couldn’t agree to that.

“Eh, eh?!”

“President, I really want to support your decision too, but—eh-heh.

I spent all my allowance on magical girl merchandise, so I don’t have any extra.

But Yue is right, we should think about it more.”

“Kaoru, even you?!”

“President, it’s getting late.

Why don’t we discuss this another time.

We’ll head home first.”

Ichijou Rikuhiko decisively grabbed his bag.

“President, we’re heading out.

Yue.”

“Sorry about that, President Kushiro.”

I made sure to keep up appearances.

I’m really sorry, President.

If Higashi Hazuki weren’t so poor she can barely afford food, she’d definitely support your idea.

Of course, that’s only if.

“Waaah, Noriyuki.

In the end, the Classical Literature Club can only rely on you.”

After leaving the room, we heard Kushiro Yoshiko’s fake crying, along with Nishimura Noriyuki’s calm reply.

“President, you got my clothes wet.”

“Eh, Noriyuki, are you that heartless too?!”

At the school gate.

After parting ways with Amayama Kaoru, I walked home together with Ichijou Rikuhiko.

For quite a while.

“Want to listen to music, Higashi?”

Ever since the time we listened together, he always asks now.

Naturally, I never refuse.

“Mm.”

“Let’s play the same one as before, Higashi.

You seemed to like it quite a lot.”

“You noticed that, Ichijou.

I guess I was being too obvious.”

“It’s not that you were obvious.

I just guessed.”

As he spoke, he queued up a gentle piece of music on his phone.

“After all, Higashi is actually pretty easy to guess sometimes.”

“Mm-hm.”

I adjusted my earphones and slightly narrowed my eyes.

“Then guess what I’m thinking right now, Ichijou.”

Really, you should save tricks like this for the people you actually need to攻略 and save.

Still, I don’t mind being used as practice.

After all, it’s preparation for helping me get home smoothly.

If you work this hard, I’ll probably be happy.

Maybe.

“Let me guess.

You’re definitely thinking about going home.

And maybe also wondering why I haven’t taken action yet.”

“That’s about right.

You got half of it.”

After a brief silence, I said.

“You’re pretty good, Ichijou.”

“After all, you’ve always been very fixated on that.

I can tell.

But—”

“I still hope you won’t do something like you did before.

If your body breaks down, then even wanting to go back will become meaningless.”

He spoke seriously, referring to what I did last time.

“Whether it’s for the original Higashi, or for yourself, please don’t act irrationally.”

“That depends on whether Ichijou can successfully攻略 them like we planned.”

“So you’re the type who doesn’t listen to advice, huh.”

He let out a sigh.

“If Ichijou can truly persuade me, then I might listen.”

“In that case, I’ll pass.

That sounds even harder than攻略 girls.”

“Hehehe.”

I laughed softly, mostly just going along with it.

“Ah, right—”

He said, taking a box of cookies out of his bag and handing it to me.

“These are—”

“Homemade cookies.

We made them in class today.

Higashi, would you like some?”

My gaze lingered on the cookies, glowing with an inviting color.

“—Did Yue have any?”

“Ichijou, you weren’t planning to give these only to me, were you?”

He froze for a moment before realizing.

And then—

He looked a bit awkward.

“Eh-heh—”

I successfully captured that reaction and absorbed a dose of pleasure, wearing a strange smile.

“Hehehehehe.”

“Then I’ll gratefully accept them, Ichijou.”

I’ll treat them as tonight’s dinner.

Even though I don’t have much of an appetite, my stomach does feel genuinely hungry.

So.

This really is perfect timing, Ichijou.