Chapter 6 of 10

Chapter 6

12 min read2,893 words

"Ah, you scared me." Kuni Masahiro, a burly guy from the baseball club, put on a scared face.

Watanabe Tetsu teased, "Was it that scary?"

"How could it not be scary?!" Kuni Masahiro loudly said to salvage his image, "That's Seino Rin, the nearly perfect beauty!"

"Is that so? I think Yamaguchi Naomi is not bad either." Watanabe Tetsu said seriously.

"Watanabe, don't go too far! Although Naomi is not bad, hahaha." Kuni Masahiro seemed to be flattered himself.

Saito Keisuke was a bit better, just a little nervous, and said,

"Seino's father is not only the president of a large company but also a member of the Diet. If she thinks we are harassing her and demands we transfer schools, or even be suspended, it's possible."

"Is it that exaggerated?" Watanabe Tetsu's expression was the same as when he heard about Tamamo Konomi being kept.

Kuni Masahiro patted his shoulder with a deep voice, "This is Tokyo, Watanabe."

"......"

Maybe it was true, maybe it was false, maybe half-true, but it didn't matter. Watanabe Tetsu thought it had nothing to do with him anyway.

In the afternoon, there were two consecutive art classes, once a week like home economics.

Watanabe Tetsu mixed the paint and pondered over the white statue.

Halfway through, Kuni Masahiro poked his head over, "Keisuke, come look at Watanabe's painting!"

Saito Keisuke came over and took a look, "Isn't this an ape?"

The two burst into laughter, and an active female student took the opportunity to look and laugh as well.

The young and artistic art teacher also laughed, "Impressive, Watanabe-kun, you've grasped the essence of Leonardo da Vinci at such a young age."

"Average, I guess."

After the class, Watanabe Tetsu's genderless ape got a B, breaking his personal record.

"It should have been a C, but it was too funny. Hahaha, I can't help it, I'll have to show it to the other classes." This was the teacher's comment.

Compared to the members of the art club in the class, he was indeed far behind, even if they had only joined a month ago.

High school clubs were not just for fun; they were like training classes in society, where real skills could be learned. Outstanding students in these clubs could be considered top-notch in the real world.

He picked up his bag in the classroom.

"I have to go to the field! I'll treat you tonight, the same family restaurant, at 6:30!" Kuni Masahiro said and ran off.

Saito Keisuke said to Watanabe Tetsu, "I have to go to the computer research club. Watanabe, are you going home or to the human observation club?"

"I don't have to work today, so I'll sit in the club for a while, waiting for you and Kuni."

"Let's go together then."

"Sure."

The school was noisy after classes, with boys and girls chasing each other in the corridors, and some chatting by the windows.

The elevated corridor to the club building was very crowded, with students preparing to join their clubs. The scenes of two or three people in anime schools did not exist here.

In reality, there was no such thing as saving money.

In the distance, the sound of the brass band practicing came like a clock.

"Isn't the test next week?"

"Monthly test."

"Do you have a chance to get first place this time?"

"First place... " Watanabe Tetsu thought of Seino Rin's 8 intelligence, "I'll do my best."

"What do you plan to do during the Golden Week after the test?"

"Study, work."

"How about going out? Like Akihabara? Try some gacha or VR games?"

"I want to save money lately."

"Then let's talk about it next month."

The two chatted as they reached the club building, parting ways at the third-floor staircase. Saito Keisuke went to the computer research club, and Watanabe Tetsu went to the fifth-floor human observation club.

Opening the club door, Seino Rin, who was reading a book, was like a painting, always there.

"Sorry," Watanabe Tetsu said, "I'm waiting for other club members, just passing time here, not trying to disturb you."

"It's fine," Seino Rin nodded indifferently.

Watanabe Tetsu found a relatively new steel chair from the pile of junk in the corner and sat down far from Seino Rin.

He looked around aimlessly for a while, then focused on the girl reading a book.

Looking at her, it was easy to understand Kuni Masahiro's awkwardness—pale skin, shiny black hair, slender figure, long legs in black stockings, and everything was perfect except for her chest.

Was the only flaw in her chest?

What if she grew up later? Would it be too hasty to judge? Or would the stats update in real-time?

"Whatever you do, you should think about the cost beforehand." The girl suddenly spoke.

"Huh?"

Seino Rin pressed down her skirt and continued, "Human *** is not within my observation range."

"......Can I ask a few questions?"

"Can you understand the specific meaning behind the chest measurement numbers? Impressive." Seino Rin propped her chin with her right hand and praised in a flat tone, "But unfortunately, I won't tell you."

Watanabe Tetsu directly asked his question, "What exactly is the club activity of the human observation club?"

"It's what I was doing, using... let's test you here. Too stupid people can't join this club."

Watanabe Tetsu didn't mind being called stupid, after all, such things weren't decided by words, but a club where you could leave at any time might be unique in the entire school.

It was all thanks to this club that he could work on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Watanabe Tetsu carefully recalled all the memories about this peculiar club and seriously thought about the question for the first time.

"Today I submitted a piece to the literary club, and they had a lot of opinions about it. At first, I thought you had offended them, but thinking about it, if you had offended them, they wouldn't all hate me, at least a few girls would come to persuade me to quit the club.

In other words, their opinions are not about you, but about the human observation club as a whole.

Why would they have opinions? The only thing I can think of is the submission... Could it be that you plan to write an article better than all the members of the literary club, intentionally embarrassing them, and then observe their reactions—i.e., humans—in such a situation?"

"Correction: not intentionally."

"Then did they offend you first?"

Seino Rin brushed her hair, which had been blown to her chest, behind her back: "I don't take those people seriously, but they were just unlucky to be my first target."

"Poor them." Watanabe Tetsu expressed sympathy for the literary club as if reading a script.

If he remembered correctly, the literary club's submission notice stated that the best article would be selected through a school-wide vote.

Representing the students who love reading the most at Kamikawa High School, but the best article wasn't written by them, he wondered if anyone would commit seppuku.

"You seem very confident in my article?" Seino Rin crossed her arms and looked at Watanabe Tetsu with a scrutinizing gaze.

"You are the top student in the grade, and you look very confident."

"Lie. Continue answering."

"......Mind reading?"

Seino Rin tapped her arm with her index finger and repeated, "Answer the question."

"Alright." The topic shift failed, so Watanabe Tetsu had to be serious: "You have high intelligence, so I think you wouldn't do something you're not sure about."

The girl nodded slightly, acknowledging Watanabe Tetsu's answer.

"Passed. Congratulations, from now on, you are a formal member of the human observation club."

"......Thank you."

"Then, it's my turn to ask questions."

If Watanabe Tetsu remembered correctly, although the conversation started with his questions, he had been answering most of the time.

"Although I've asked before, the result was unsatisfactory, so I'll ask again: Do you like men?"

"Ah? What kind of question is this? Or is it some rumor? Why should I satisfy you?"

It couldn't be that some girl sent him a love letter, asked him to meet at noon or after school, in the back of the gym or the school courtyard, and he stood her up, and then, because he was always with Kuni Masahiro and Saito Keisuke, rumors spread that his sexual orientation was abnormal?

No way, right?

"Answer the question." This seemed to be the girl's catchphrase.