As usual, the music room is getting rowdy again.
I would open the door to ask them to tone it down, but I know better than to take part in one of the Light Music Club's infamous "Afterschool Buffets". God knows how much cake they eat in there.
No, I'd much rather sit out here by the stairs with my back about to crack under the weight of my overstuffed bag.
There are dozens of posters and pictures in the bag, waiting to be signed by the local school idol; some of which I'd rather not be seen with in broad daylight. It will only be a matter of time before the fan club will ask for autographs on their striped knickers, and I don't want to be around when that happens. Not to mention how poor Akiyama will react when I present her with near perfect replicas of her underwear. Poor girl.
I should be going home then. I'll tell them for the umpteenth time that Akiyama-sama - who is, in their words, the goddess of happy accidents and high priestess of moe- was too busy to sign the posters. Yes, I can even say that she's working on a new song, just for them. Cue squeals of "Mio-samaaa!" or "Moe-moe kyuuun!". I should leave now.
Except I can't. Before I know it, my feet start striding towards the music room, and my hands pull the door open. Unsurprisingly, they were all gathered around the their makeshift snack table, unaware of my intrusion. Ritsu and Yui were fighting over a strawberry while Azusa scowled at their juvenile squabble. The cat ears on her head lent a subtle irony to the scene. Mio stood behind Ritsu, fist cocked and ready for action. At the other end of the table, Mugi sat with a serenely contented look on her face. I couldn't help but laugh.
My mistake. I should have dropped the merchandise and left, quietly. Their heads all snapped to my direction and before I could take a subtle step back, Yui lunged and dragged me to the table.
"Nodoka! Here, have some of Mugi's famous shortcakes!" chirped Yui, short of shovelling said cake into my mouth. Ritsu, on the other hand, paled and started mumbling something about a missing application form. I assured her that I wasn't here for that. The scowl on Mio face seemed to fade as she sat down beside me. Was she relieved? I guess visitors aside from Sawako-sensei are pretty rare around here.
"You just decided to spend time with us? That's nice." The unnatural shine in her eyes seemed to say, "Finally, somebody normal!" At least I thought it did.
"Oh, actually, I'm here on behalf of the fan club." I reached for my bag and dumped all the fan items on the table. "They want you to sign this. I'm really sorry to bother you, but I heard that you needed funds for some club activities. The profit from these should be more than enough to cover it."
Seeing the look on Mio's face almost made me feel bad for her. I was about to put them away when Yui reached over to grab one poster.
"Wow! Mio's really popular. How much is one picture?" Yui waved the poster around, like some fancy flag. Right now, Mio's face positively resembled a ripe and strangely luminous tomato.
"Y-you're buying one?"
"Let's all buy one!" Of course, the president of the Light Music Club starts sifting through the products. Ritsu persevered despite the repeated hits to her head. I'm quite surprised that she has never suffered a concussion in her entire life, although the head trauma could explain a few of her quiz scores.
"No! You can't have those! Put them back!" Mio screeched.
At that, Mugi cleared her throat and put her wallet on the table.
"I'll buy them all." I have to put a stop to this insanity.
"Ah, well... I'm afraid that's impossible. They're all reserved." Anyway, I should start packing up. It was stupid of me to even try.
"I-I'll sign them." The shy girl stammered and grabbed a nearby marker, signing a couple of nearby posters reluctantly. I guess she wants to get this over with as quickly as possible.
"Great! Thanks, Mio." Is what I should have said. Instead, my mouth said something else entirely, a victim of some strange alien limb syndrome; except it wasn't a limb and I never believed in aliens.
"Great! Thanks, Mio. The club left me some money to treat you to dinner. Here, you can have it." I knew I should have pocketed those club funds.
"Oh, okay. Wouldn't it be better if you came along? You a-are the f-fa... er...club... president after all. Besides, I should hang out with normal people once in a while."
Ritsu made a face. Maybe they had plans. Perhaps the rumors surrounding their relationship had some truth to it. Funny. Never in a million years would I have thought of the brash Ritsu having a jealous streak. Yet somehow, the sour look on Tainaka's face amused me.
"Let's go." With bass in hand, Mio gestured to the door.
I guess I have a twisted sense of humor, because I agreed.