Anda Kokoro Connect Volume 8: Step Time

1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7183-2614-9
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 350 Seiten

Reihe: Kokoro Connect

Dating is hard, especially when it's your first time. The solution? A TRIPLE DATE with four of your friends! Meanwhile, Fujishima and the first-years investigate the true meaning of 'cool'... Plus, discover how the five original members of the Cultural Research Club first met-and the thrilling ordeal that brought Iori and Inaba closer together! You won't want to miss this 'Kokoro Collection' of side stories, including TWO prequel stories for the next volume!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Anda, Sadanatsu

Weitere Mitwirkende

Shiromizakana

Lee, Molly

Leseproben

First Encounter

At Yamaboshi High School, all students were obligated to take part in club activities.

At the start of their first year, they were required to choose a club from a ridiculously long list of potential options and submit a formal application before the deadline. It didn’t matter whether the student in question was actually interested in clubs, or hoping to work part-time, or planning to go straight home and play video games each night.

This application was then submitted to their class advisor by the end of April. Most were approved immediately. Then, starting in May, students were permitted to start participating in their chosen activity.

For the most part, that was the usual process at Yamaboshi. But this process was far from perfect. In every category exist outliers. And each year, a small handful of students would inevitably hit a snag. For example, perhaps the club they wanted to join didn’t meet the minimum requirement of at least five members.

But outliers couldn’t escape the system, and these students would inevitably be reallocated to an active club as necessary. When it came to they were reallocated, well...

This year, the teachers didn’t really feel like dealing with it—so they opted for something a little different.

—Day 1 According To Yaegashi Taichi—

Yaegashi Taichi and four other students accompanied Gotou Ryuuzen, advisor of Class 1-C, to the Rec Hall building.

“So this is where we’ll be assigning you your clubroom for the Cultural Research Club. Just so you know, the room next door is empty, but... Look, kids, just don’t get up to any funny business, you get what I mean?” Gotou grinned like a boy half his age as he opened the door to Room 401. “And—yep! Looks like the previous club left it nice and clean for you, so that’ll save you some time! Come on in, everybody.”

At his prompting, the five students filed into the room. On the left wall, in the corner, was a metal locker, followed by some storage cabinets, with a weathered black sofa on the opposite side of the room. There were also a few cardboard boxes lying around, filled with random junk. On the right wall was a blackboard, and in the center of the room were two long tables with six folding chairs situated around them.

“Now then! As I explained, all you need to do now is decide on a club activity. I don’t care how much effort you put into it, but whatever it is, make sure it sounds good on paper, alright?”

Indeed, it was clear from his lighthearted tone that he sincerely didn’t care one way or the other.

“Once you’ve decided, come let me know. Apparently I’m gonna be your club supervisor. Seriously, you kids lucked out. I’m already supervising something else, y’know, technically. Anyway, have fun!”

And so, without waiting for any kind of response, Gotou saw himself out.

“Wh... Hey, wait! Gotou-sensei!” shouted Inaba Himeko, one of Taichi’s classmates in 1-C.

Inaba was a pretty girl, but in his limited experience with her, she was touchy and irritable. They’d been classmates for a full month, but Taichi had barely ever spoken to her; she tended to radiate hostile vibes that kept most people at bay.

“Are you listening?! I said—ugh, he’s gone.”

Sadly, her cries fell on deaf ears, as Gotou had already beaten a hasty retreat back to the staff room.

“That asshole’s way too lazy to be a teacher. People like that are a burden on society.”

“Now, now, Inaba-san. Remember what he told us? He’s trying to be friendly and approachable. And don’t forget, he wants us to call him by his nickname, Gossan,” explained Nagase Iori, another of Taichi’s classmates.

Nagase had exceptional good looks, to the point that Taichi had heard other guys in class raving countless times about how “hot” or “cute” she was. Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, almost like an afterthought, but she wore the look well.

“? That’s the most idiotic nickname I’ve ever heard. I’m calling him Gotou, and that’s that.”

“B-But that’s so disrespectful...” whispered Kiriyama Yui, from Class 1-A.

The most noticeable thing about Kiriyama was her long, chestnut-colored hair. Taichi had never spoken to her prior to today, but he remembered seeing some other girls coo over her (or at least, that’s what it looked like) during their shared gym class. As he recalled, she seemed to have surprisingly good athletic abilities.

Not that any of that protected her from the sharp glare Inaba sent her way for her dissent. As if struck, she flinched and shrank away.

“Inaba-saaan! No need to start mean-muggin’ everybody! We’re all stuck here, so we might as well be friends, amirite?” said Aoki Yoshifumi, Class 1-A, as he stepped in between the two.

Taichi recognized him from gym class, too. Tall and gangly, Aoki was always making jokes with a goofy grin on his face. It was hard not to notice a guy like that.

“Fuck off,” Inaba spat.

“Wow, really?! We just met and already you’re telling me to eff off?! That’s a little aggro, don’t you think?!” Aoki wailed melodramatically. In response, Inaba fixed him with a scornful scowl.

It was pretty clear the two of them weren’t going to see eye to eye anytime soon, so Nagase stepped in once again to mediate.

“Now, now, everybody. Let’s all just have a seat, shall we? Wait... Okay, I know I’m saying ‘now, now’ a lot today, but it’s not my catchphrase or anything, got it?!”

“Literally was going to accuse you of that,” Taichi retorted under his breath.

At this, Nagase turned and stared directly into his eyes. Then she donned a smile sweeter than sugar itself.

Full disclosure, it made his pulse quicken.

Technically Gotou had introduced them all to each other earlier that morning, but for propriety’s sake, they all went around the room introducing themselves once again. After that, their next topic was the task Gotou had saddled them with.

“Long story short... I guess we’re the misfits who failed to get into an actual club,” Inaba mused. Taking charge seemed to come as second nature to her, because she was already leading the discussion. She scoffed. “You’d think he’d reassign us individually, but instead we get this. The man’s got balls, dumping us all into the same club.”

“So now we’re all registered as members of this brand new ‘Cultural Research Club,’ right? What’s our, like, objective or whatever?” Kiriyama asked.

“I think it was ‘a broader scope of research unfettered by existing frameworks,’ ” Nagase piped up.

Taichi nodded. “Which is pretty vague. I mean, that’s basically like saying ‘anything goes,’ don’t you think?”

“Anything goes?! So basically we can just screw around?! This club rocks!” Aoki shouted. He seemed to be the only one who didn’t feel any awkward tension in this room full of people he had only just met.

“Are you people actually serious about staying in this club?” Inaba asked, her level of enthusiasm the polar opposite of Aoki’s.

“Huh? Aren’t we already stuck here?” Aoki asked.

“Why the hell should we be stuck in some pointless—oh, I get it. All we have to do is make it so I still get to do the things I want to... Alright, well, I’m gonna need to use the data processing room, so we’d better apply for that.”

“What for?” Taichi asked.

“The great thing about this school is, it lets you access a ton of sites where you’d otherwise need a paid membership. And like I said, my hobbies are information gathering and analysis.”

“Okay, well, maybe wanna do that, but—” Kiriyama began.

“Yeah, I do. What of it?” Inaba asked in a challenging tone.

“Um...” Intimidated, Kiriyama shrank down in her seat like an anxious bunny.

“Not like actually want to do anything important,” Inaba sneered, adding further fuel to the fire as she glanced around the room.

Taichi, for one, didn’t appreciate being condescended to—

“Th-... !” Kiriyama shouted, her chair clattering behind her as she leapt to her feet.

Inaba blinked in surprise.

“You know what they say. Corner a cat and it’ll bite,” Taichi commented quietly.

“Nice one,” Nagase snickered.

With the spotlight now on Kiriyama, her cheeks flushed red. She was clearly nervous... but nevertheless, she pushed bravely forward.

“I, um... I really like cute stuff! Like, sincerely! Cute stuff is great because it makes people happy! So... yeah, I think it’s... important or whatever.” Having said her piece, she returned to her seat.

Meanwhile, Aoki let out a whistle and started clapping. “You rock, Yui!”

“Wha...?! Will you ?! And another thing—I you not to call me by my given name! You’re just a stupid boy! A boy! !”

Taichi thought. Evidently she had some kind of grudge against the male gender.

Out of nowhere, Nagase started...