Chapter 5

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Watanabe Tetsu stretched out his hand from under the blanket, turned off the noisy alarm clock, and lay in bed for another ten seconds before sitting up.

It was 7:15 AM on Thursday.

With his eyes half-closed, he brushed his teeth, washed his face, put on a white shirt and dress pants, tied his tie in front of the mirror, and put on the school uniform he wasn't used to yet, leaving the top button open to look cooler.

Actually, he was already tired of buttoning up every day, and it felt restrictive and not free.

Watanabe Tetsu began to miss his hometown, where the bus only came every two hours—school uniforms only required a shirt, and ties could be used as ropes when they were handed out.

He slung his backpack over his shoulder, picked up the trash, and left the house.

If he remembered correctly, his tie should be tied to the old well in the backyard. He suddenly thought of this as he threw the trash into the bin.

Just after waking up, Watanabe Tetsu's thoughts were always scattered, thinking about all sorts of things, sometimes even recalling experiences he thought he had long forgotten.

"Ah~~~"

Yawning, he swiped his card to enter the station and boarded the 7:30 train.

He got off at Yotsuya Station and walked up a long slope to reach Kamikawa High School.

Although Tokyo is located at the southern end of the Kanto Plain, near Tokyo Bay, it has no shortage of small and large slopes.

His thoughts, like vines and weeds, began to wander again, and he thought of the beautiful girl, Kiyono Rin, from the Human Observation Club. It was just like her chest—there when you said it was there, and not there when you said it wasn't...

Watanabe Tetsu shook his head, interrupting his aimless thoughts.

As he approached the school gate, a group of students in sports uniforms, with short haircuts, were running around the school grounds, shouting slogans.

The last person in the line gave Watanabe Tetsu a flirtatious look—it was Kuni Kousuke.

"Kamikawa—"

"Go!"

"Kamikawa—"

"Go!"

Watanabe Tetsu stood still, giving a solemn salute to the passionate and inspiring high school life.

"Good morning, Watanabe-kun!"

"Good morning."

On the way from the school gate to the classroom, he was greeted by several classmates wearing ribbons and pleated skirts.

After all, he was third in the grade and very handsome. If his family weren't poor, he would probably receive twice as many love letters every week.

Watanabe Tetsu threw his indoor shoes on the ground, slipped his feet into them, and put a mysterious pink note from the locker into his backpack.

He, who had long since become indifferent to love letters, suddenly had a new feeling: if he were a playboy, he could casually agree to a few girls, and there would always be someone who met the conditions, thus earning a lot of points.

When he reached the classroom, it was still early, before the 8:30 class. Watanabe Tetsu buried himself in writing the submission he hadn't finished the day before.

"Wow, you're here so early today!" Saito Keisuke greeted him as he walked in late.

Seeing him writing, he asked, "Did you not finish your homework? Do you want to copy mine?"

"No, it's a submission for the literary club."

"You're interested in something like that? Let me guess." Saito Keisuke put his backpack on his desk and sat on the chair of a classmate who hadn't arrived yet, in front of Watanabe Tetsu. "Is there a cash reward for accepted submissions?"

"There's no such thing, and besides, it's faster to earn money through part-time jobs than by writing articles."

"Then... did you join the literary club? Is this the entry test for the literary club?"

"It's not some writer's organization."

"Why, then?"

Saito Keisuke patted his head, suddenly looking enlightened, and said confidently, "You were asked by Ms. Kozue!"

"Is that her business?"

Saito Keisuke gave up: "Then why? Is your brain broken?"

"It's like this." Watanabe Tetsu directly crossed out the wrong word with his pen. "But there's someone else."

"Kousuke, has he finally come to this point?"

Saito Keisuke picked up Watanabe Tetsu's eraser, removed the wrapper, and placed the white rubber vertically on Kuni Kousuke's desk to the right of Watanabe Tetsu.

Watanabe Tetsu looked at the eraser, which resembled a white bouquet: "Saito, you're not far off either."

"Are you kidding?"

"I, Watanabe, never lie."

After the joke, Watanabe Tetsu explained that he had joined the Human Observation Club and was asked to submit an article to the literary club.

"Kiyono Rin?!"

Saito Keisuke's voice was loud, and Watanabe Tetsu subconsciously asked, "Do you know her?"

"Unilaterally. By the way, is there anyone at Kamikawa High who doesn't know her?"

"I'm one of them."

"Watanabe, you..." Saito Keisuke hesitated to speak.

Watanabe Tetsu didn't understand what he meant—was he hinting that he wasn't human?

Whatever, compared to that, he was more concerned about what to use as the ending for his submission.

Saito Keisuke took back the eraser, tossed it in his hand, and said,

"A flower on a high cliff, that's Kiyono Rin. Although we don't have a 'school beauty' at Kamikawa, if you ask who is the most beautiful, it's this young lady."

"If she's so amazing, why haven't you and Kuni mentioned her before?"

"Who dares to talk about her at school? And even if they did, it wouldn't matter. She's too far from us." Saito Keisuke showed a regretful and melancholic smile.

Once you leave kindergarten, humans start to subconsciously divide themselves into classes: the poor feel inferior to the rich, the ugly don't dare to pursue the beautiful, and so on.

Saito Keisuke's melancholy only lasted a moment, and he quickly recovered: "But Watanabe, you actually dared to approach her?!"

"Only to leave early."

"Don't pretend. Tell me secretly, have you already fallen in love with her at first sight? Although I think it's impossible, I'll still secretly cheer for you!"

"Whatever."

"Let me tell you some information about her!" Saito Keisuke lowered his voice, "Her family..."

Watanabe Tetsu looked out the window at the blue sky, his pen tip touching the paper.

"Ah."

Saito Keisuke stopped talking: "What's wrong?"

"I got it."

"What?"

Watanabe Tetsu added a spirited haiku to the end of the text he provisionally called an article:

"The grass in my courtyard sprouts again, the vast world will soon turn green."

After the morning classes ended, Watanabe Tetsu went to the literary club after lunch to submit his draft directly.

The literary club didn't have much space for activities, but the bookshelves and display cases occupied other areas, neatly arranged with various books and certificates.

Unlike the Human Observation Club, which was filled with irrelevant items, even trash.

Watanabe Tetsu looked at his reflection in the display case, thinking that the literary club must pay attention to cleanliness—the glass was very clean.

"Please state your name, class, and the type of work."

"I'm submitting on behalf of the club. My name is Watanabe Tetsu, and the type of work is..." Watanabe Tetsu recalled where the article he saw in the library was published: "An essay, I guess."

"Okay, please give me the manuscript, and what's the name of the club?"

"Human Observation Club." Watanabe Tetsu handed over the manuscript.

"Human Observation Club?" The literary club member responsible for registration repeated the name, looking at Watanabe Tetsu with an unfriendly gaze.

"Sure enough, just like that person!"

"That person is one thing, but this guy actually dares to submit directly!"

"How can the school allow such a club to exist? Is it fair?!"

The not-so-quiet "whispering" behind him made Watanabe Tetsu a bit concerned.

What's wrong with the Human Observation Club? Didn't the literary club post a call for submissions? Or is it because Kiyono Rin created the club using her privileges, which these "readers" in the literary club can't stand?

If it's the latter, he is, at least, on the side of the "people."

"Name?" The registrar glared at him fiercely.

"Didn't I say, Watanabe Tetsu."

"The title of the article!"

Watanabe Tetsu then remembered that he hadn't given the manuscript a title.

Think... what was the title of the one in the library... "Our Past"...

"‘Our Future’"

The registrar quickly wrote the title on Watanabe Tetsu's manuscript and filled in the relevant information on the registration form.

"Done!"

Watanabe Tetsu nodded: "Thanks."

"Out, out, the literary club doesn't welcome you!"

What's wrong with Kiyono Rin and the literary club?

With this doubt, Watanabe Tetsu returned to the classroom.

As soon as he entered, Kuni Kousuke shouted loudly, "Watanabe! I heard from Saito that you joined Kiyono Rin's club!"

Watanabe Tetsu noticed that the other students in the class were looking at him.

"That's right." He nodded.

"What does this Human Observation Club do?"

"I'm also curious. I can't figure out what writing for the literary club has to do with human observation." Saito Keisuke asked.

Watanabe Tetsu shrugged: "Maybe it's about writing reports on human observations and publishing them through the literary club. It doesn't matter to me, as long as I can leave early."

"Can you skip the club activities?" Saito Keisuke asked.

"Only on Fridays after school. According to the club president, Kiyono Rin, it doesn't take long, and I can leave quickly."

Saito Keisuke's face showed a look of realization: "It suits you, no wonder you joined. I thought you were really captivated by Kiyono-san."

If Watanabe Tetsu remembered correctly, he had clearly said in the morning that he joined to leave early, but Saito still seemed skeptical. How did he change his mind by lunchtime...

At that moment, he noticed the gazes around him.

So that's why, they were afraid of the rumor that "Watanabe Tetsu joined the Human Observation Club to pursue Kiyono Rin?"

Kiyono Rin, a high-class beauty, would probably invite ridicule from those around him if he, a poor boy, dared to pursue her, thinking he didn't know his place in society.

People in Tokyo are really good at reading the atmosphere.

While Watanabe Tetsu was thinking, Kuni Kousuke suddenly lowered his voice: "Hey, Watanabe, my good friend, what are the conditions for joining?"

"None, I guess?"

Watanabe Tetsu wasn't sure, as he hadn't experienced any initiation tests himself.

"Do you want to join? You're a member of the baseball club. Even if the Human Observation Club only takes up a little time on Fridays, it's still a lot." He asked curiously.

Students at Kamikawa High can join up to three clubs, but the baseball club already uses the morning time, let alone the official club activity time after school.

Kuni Kousuke didn't care, showing a lecherous expression: "Time can always be squeezed out."

"Hey!" Saito Keisuke was exasperated, "Don't you already have Nakagawa Naomi? And can you even pursue Kiyono Rin?"

"What's wrong with me? I'm still a member of the baseball club!" Kuni Kousuke avoided answering about Nakagawa Naomi.

Men, when they don't have a bowl, already think about the pot.

Saito Keisuke laughed disdainfully.

The baseball club is a popular club at Kamikawa High, and the boys who join are quite impressive and popular—Japanese women rank professional baseball players high on their list of ideal husbands.

But compared to the daughter of a major capitalist, even a professional baseball player is not a sure thing.

Kuni Kousuke clearly knew this, touching his buzz cut: "I'm just accompanying Watanabe, nothing else."

Watanabe Tetsu glanced at him: "You want to get close to Kiyono Rin every week, don't you?"

"You understand me! There's still twenty minutes before class, let's go!" Kuni Kousuke slapped the table and walked out of the classroom.

"Where to?" Saito Keisuke shouted.

"To the club building!"

"Now? Are you crazy?"

"Are we friends or not?"

"Not really. But if you treat me to dinner, I might go with you."

"Fine, fine, hurry up!"

Saito Keisuke laughed, patted Watanabe Tetsu's shoulder: "Let's go, Watanabe."

The three walked through the elevated corridor between the buildings and arrived at the Human Observation Club's activity room.

Kuni Kousuke stood at the door but didn't have the courage to knock.

He pushed Watanabe Tetsu forward, urging him in a low voice: "Watanabe, you knock!"

Watanabe Tetsu, who had no feelings for Kiyono Rin, naturally didn't feel inferior or shy, knocked on the door, and entered first when permitted.

The girl sat by the window, her delicate hands, like freshly peeled bamboo shoots, held a hardcover book; the sea breeze from Tokyo Bay caressed her long hair.

Her beautiful and cute face showed no expression, only her captivating eyes occasionally sparkled as she read.

Kuni Kousuke and Saito Keisuke were mesmerized.

"Kiyono-san, the literary club submission is ready." Watanabe Tetsu said.

"Thank you." Kiyono Rin nodded, flipping a page in her book,

"Also," Watanabe Tetsu moved aside, revealing the two behind him, "I have two classmates who want to join the Human Observation Club."

Saito Keisuke, who came with him, didn't object.

Kiyono Rin placed a bookmark in the book and put it aside, examining the two.

The activity room was quiet, and Watanabe Tetsu heard Kuni Kousuke nervously swallow, making a loud sound.

He glanced back at Kuni Kousuke, who was already blushing.

Kiyono Rin crossed her arms, sitting in a way that made her seem to be looking down at the two: "Answer one question, and you can join."

"No problem!" Kuni Kousuke answered loudly, as he would to the baseball club president.

"You, eliminated."

Kuni Kousuke was stunned, stammering "Eh?" after a while.

Kiyono Rin's originally neutral tone became slightly colder: "You came to the interview without even reading the club requirements?"

"That, I..." Kuni Kousuke couldn't speak, looking quite flustered and anxious.

Kiyono Rin ignored him and looked at Saito Keisuke.

Saito Keisuke quickly said, "I read them."

When Watanabe Tetsu mentioned the strange club requirements in the morning, Saito Keisuke remembered some of them, while Kuni Kousuke, who only heard the summary, didn't have that luck.

Just as Saito Keisuke was about to repeat the club requirements he didn't fully remember, Kiyono Rin glanced at Watanabe Tetsu and picked up the hardcover book again.

She was telling them to leave, Watanabe Tetsu read from her eyes.

"Kiyono-san, Saito really read them, and he came with sincerity. If you don't believe me, you can ask him."

"I hate liars." If Kiyono Rin's voice had any warmth before, it was now completely neutral.

A "don't disturb me, you're wasting my time" aura spread from the girl.

Watanabe Tetsu looked back at the two, Kuni Kousuke giving him a pitiful look that said "Let's leave, I can't take it," and Saito Keisuke shaking his head, indicating it was not worth