AT FIRST, I ATTEMPTED TO JUST WRITE THIS WITHOUT ANY SERIOUS PLANS FOR THE PLOT. SINCE THAT FAILED HORRIBLY, I'LL MAKE A PLOT TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY. I HAVE A BASIC IDEA FOR THE STORY BUT NOT A VERY SOLID ONE. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
PLOT: HALFWAY THROUGH YAKUMO'S SECOND YEAR, THE TEA CLUB COMBINES FORCES WITH THE SCHOOL BEAUTY CLUB AND STARTS A RATHER LUCRATIVE HOSTESS CLUB. AT FIRST, YAKUMO IS UNSURE OF WHETHER OR NOT SHE WANTS TO PURSUE THIS SORT OF CLUB. BUT AFTER REALIZING THAT HARIMA, HER CRUSH SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, WILL BE A PATRON, SHE EVENTUALLY AGREES TO AKIRA'S DEMANDS. BUT IS HARIMA THE GUY SHE REALLY NEEDS TO BE WITH?
PAIRINGS:
FIRMLY YAKUMO/KARASUMA WITH SLIGHT YAKUMO/HARIMA. THERE IS ALSO MENTIONS OF:
ONE SIDED HANAI/YAKUMO, ONE SIDED IMADORI/EVERYONE, SLIGHT TENMA/KARASUMA AND OTHER VARIOUS PAIRINGS.
Chapter 1
On December 18th, 2006, Japan's Board of Education shut down all the Hostess Clubs across the country. When records were sorted through, it was found out that a hundred and twenty-five of them publicly existed. Over two thousand students and teachers were incarcerated for being involved in this massive chain of student sex trafficking.
Later that year, the protected accounts of almost every student involved in this scandal were frozen and finally surrendered to the government. The money collected was enough to set Japan financially for the next year. While most of the students involved felt trapped, there were a few who, to this day, claim that they owe everything they are to the Hostess Club they belonged to.
Among the students who were victimized, Yakumo Tsukamoto felt herself both changed and utterly transformed. Because of this stupid club, she had lost everything. What had she gained but a false life and a mask to hide behind? Had it really happened? Had she really surrendered herself, both mind and body, to corruption and let it take over her life?
With nothing more than a suitcase in her hand, Yakumo left Tokyo to go into hiding, along with many others that chose this over juvenile facilities, or even prison. As she sat on the train, drenched in the rain that she had walked a mile in to get here,she wondered where it had all began.
"Tenma?" She whispered and her face hardened, finally realizing the true villain. "No...Akira. Mother."
"May we share a cabin with you?" Someone whispered from the other side of the private boxcar's door. Whispering a yes, Yakumo kept her head down and her eyes up as the two girls entered. Both were in simple yukata kimonos. One look in their fear filled eyes and she knew that they had both been through something similar. She looked down at her ensemble of jeans and a t-shirt, grateful that she had kept something other than kimonos in her wardrobe after moving into the Hostess House.
"Yagami High." Yakumo whispered. "You?"
Both girls looked at each other uneasily before looking back to Yakumo. "Yūhi Academy."
"Same." The other girl said. "We figured everybody from the public schools were already caught."
Yakumo didn't respond, nor did she ask them their names. From the moment the hunt started for parties involved, people had stopped trusting everybody, even their friends. After all, when you are down to owning nothing but your name, you did not give that away, too. Not when someone could give your name away to someone in authority to save their own skin.
"Riceball?" She asked them, a cloth with three of the salty treats sitting in the palms of her hands. Both girls looked like they were starving. Nodding fervently, they each took one and ate quickly.
"How were you able to buy anything? Weren't you already tagged?" One asked, her eyes on the riceball that Yakumo was now eating.
Yakumo looked at the right hand arm of both girls. Each of them wore a metal bracelet with a number on it. As did Yakumo. The bracelets had been originally given to each girl by their respective Hostess Club. It was designed to never come off without the use of a key and was only given to those who they felt they could trust to pledge their loyalty and never turn in a fellow hostess. After the clubs were abolished and the meaning of these bracelets were discovered, anyone caught wearing one was to be instantly reported.
"I pulled in a favor." Yakumo told them, which was a lie. The riceballs Yakumo had obtained had been given to her by a helpful neighbor. But, since Yakumo had almost everything ripped from her, she wanted to feel, if only for a moment, that she still had a say in something that happened to her. That she could still help herself survive in the world.
Yakumo looked down at her own bracelet, the numbers 0210 engraved there. Examining the lock on the under part of her arm, she could plainly see the marks on both the metal and her arm from when she tried to pick the lock with a knife. She had pulled at it so hard that it had made her whole arm red for a few hours and left deep red lines that probably wouldn't disappear for at least a day.
"Can you believe this rain?" The taller of the girls said with a nervous laugh. "I thought it was supposed to snow this late in the year. It's out of the ordinary."
Yakumo barely cracked a smile. "Nothing's been very ordinary for a while, now."
"Do you have someplace safe to go?" The younger one asked.
Once again, Yakumo lapsed into silence. She did have a place to go. Her 'big sister' had pulled some strings for her and found a place for her to stay, only under the condition that she work in the organic medicine shop below the apartment. Telling these girls that there was a hiding place available might jeopardize her own chances of finding safety. It was risky enough for the girls to be walking around in kimonos. She had to use the cards she had been given and try her best to stay out of the law's watchful eyes, even if it meant turning a blind eye.
Yakumo had heard horror stories from some acquaintances of hers. The juvenile facilities for people under the age of eighteen were located in the middle of the district. But, due to the overflow since mid December, a second facility had been opened near the outskirts of the district. There, only those involved in the hostess scandal were kept. The girls had to endure daily abuse in any way imaginable by the guards and even by the male delinquents kept there.
Shaking her head, she tried to hold back tears. What would happen to these girls if they couldn't find shelter? Should she risk her own safety for them? Mother would have told her to mind her own business and not concern herself in other people's affairs. Her big sister would have told her to do what little she could and not offer anyone something she couldn't necessarily give them.
Trying to ignore both the girls across from her and the pain in her head and stomach from lack of sleep or enough to eat for the past few days, Yakumo closed her eyes and remembered solemnly how it had really all began.
Late March, 2006.
"I'm glad you could make it, today." Akira Takano said as Yakumo and Sarah, the only members of her tiny Tea Club, entered the room. Akira had dressed to the nines in a lavish pale green kimono complete with white obi and had clipped some pale, dangling fake flowers into her short auburn hair.
She knew that the two club members were shocked with the new decorations in the room. The round table had been removed and a low to the ground traditional table had been placed there, instead. The walls had been lined with rice paper boarders as well as the door and window, and a small shrine had been set up in the corner of the room. It was bare but it strongly resembled a private tearoom found inside of a tea house.
"I wasn't aware that you wanted us to have a meeting today, Takano senpai, or I would have brought those teabags I promised to bring." Sarah said quickly, her expression apologetic.
As the two girls knelt at the table with their senpai, Akira opened the folder that was sitting before her and looked down at the top paper inside of it. "I have bad news. The school wants to cut funding for our Tea Club."
Both girls gasped, though only Sarah seemed genuinely disappointed. As Sarah began to tell Akira how sorry she was to hear the news, Yakumo began to think of what she could do in the afternoons to replace the Tea Club. She could finally get some cleaning done and even have a snack waiting for Tenma by the time she got home. Realizing she was being rude, Yakumo bowed her head. "I'm very sorry to hear this, Takano senpai."
Although this news would normally have devastated the chairwoman of any other club, Akira was calm and collected, as always. Picking up the top paper in her folder, she slid it across the table for the girls to see. It was an advertisement for the school Beauty Club. They were currently taking new recruits and were accepting interviews throughout the week.
"Takano senpai..." Yakumo began, trying to make sense of why they were being shown this flyer. "Are you saying that you want us to join the Beauty Club?"
Akira did nothing to confirm or deny Yakumo's question. Instead, she picked up another paper and slid it across the table. After skimming the paper, Yakumo realized that it was a merger agreement. The Tea Club was requesting that the Beauty Club combine forces with them and the Beauty Club, along with the head principal, had already signed the agreement. According to the paper, the Tea Club and Beauty Club would be abolished if the form was signed and a new club would be created.
"A Hostess Club?" Sarah asked curiously. "What is that, exactly? Is it anything like what class 2-C did for the last culture festival?"
Akira nodded. "Something like that. Only ours would be tasteful. It wouldn't be anything like what your class did for our last culture festival project. Instead of selling fantasies, we'll sell arts. Though, in a sense, we're selling fantasies, also. Spring has arrived and now is the perfect time to start a club like this."
"Arts?" Yakumo asked, her mind still on the pile of dishes she knew she needed to take care of as soon as she was allowed to leave.
"Singing, dancing, tea ceremony. We will all learn the skills that the Beauty Club teaches its members and they will learn from us the art of the tea ceremony. When we deem that the members are ready, we'll open for business. Because the principal has only agreed to a very small budget, the money we earn will help fund future meetings."
"What are we charging them for, exactly?" Sarah asked, already on board.
"Admission, snacks and drinks. We'll also charge them to have a specific hostess entertain them at their table. I can imagine that we might be able to receive at least twenty thousand yen a day once we advertise the club properly and the profits will only go up from there. But you both need to sign this confidentiality agreement if you want in."
Sarah accepted hers right away and signed on the dotted line whereas Yakumo stared at the paper sadly. She really never wanted to join the Tea Club in the first place and now she was being forced to join another. "Takano senpai? I don't think I want to join this club." She said softly, feeling guilty for bailing on her senpai and on her best friend.
"But Yakumo... if you don't join, we won't have a club together." Sarah whispered, her eyes sad.
As much as Yakumo loved spending time with Sarah, she knew that her time was much better spent caring for her sister. "I'm very sorry but what you're telling me about this club...it sounds time consuming. Time I don't have."
Akira gave a humorless smile. "You would be right. The Hostess Club would take up as little as an hour an evening and as much as five on special nights. We would work you to the bone. But in the end, I can assure you that you would feel a sense of accomplishment."
"I'm sorry but I just can't..." Yakumo whispered, bowing her head in respect.
"Very well. You may go. Sarah, you and I need to visit our other perspective club members. After that, we have some recruiting to do."
Picking up her school bag, Yakumo gave Sarah a hug before exiting the room. Looking around, she noticed Tenma and a couple of her friends sitting on the floor, playing a game of old maid. Walking up to her sister, she smiled. "Hey sis. I'm going to head home, now. Would you like to stay longer or would you like to go with me?"
Tenma was absolutely focused on the game. Waving her hand in Yakumo's direction, she started reaching for someone else's cards. Taking the hint, Yakumo turned on her heel and started heading for the locker room to retrieve her shoes. Unfortunately, Hanai happened to be waiting there, too. "Yakumo my darling! I didn't expect you to leave your club for another thirty minutes! I waited for you so I can walk you home!"
Wincing at Hanai's loud voice, Yakumo bowed her head and scurried past him. The words that surrounded him were the same as the words that left his mouth. It was almost as if two voices were screaming at her, instead of one. She hated how Hanai used pet names like that. Darling, sweetheart, goddess of my heart. He had a new one everyday. It's as if he had deluded himself into thinking they were a couple. Opening her locker, she collected her shoes and placed her school shoes in the locker.
"I must be going." She said quickly before walking in the direction of the front door. "Please don't trouble yourself. I can walk myself home."
"Hanai, give it a rest. You're freaking her out." Yakumo heard someone say. Looking back, she saw Mikoto, one of Tenma's best friends. She had previously been playing old maid but had bowed out of the game, apparently. "Now, come on, we gotta get to the dojo."
Mikoto grabbed a hold of Hanai's ear and drug him from the school. Sighing in relief, Yakumo was finally free to walk herself home. She enjoyed quiet time like this. No extra people, no conversation to keep up. Just herself and nature. When she had almost arrived home, Lori, her little black cat, appeared and walked alongside her.
"Hello there, Lori. I'm home early." Yakumo said with a faint smile on her face.
Lori meowed and began to trot a little faster alongside her. When they made it to Yakumo and Tenma's shared traditional home, Yakumo unlocked the door and they both went inside. She sighed. Time to clean. After the kitchen and living room were spotless, she finally began to prepare a snack for Tenma. She should be home any minute. Giving Lori some fresh food and water in the little plastic bowls on the floor, she sat a plate of rice balls and a pot of tea on the kitchen table.
"I'm home!" Tenma yelled before running into the kitchen and sitting at the table. Devouring two rice balls in record time, she was working on her third when she finally spoke again. "Guess what I saw when I was about to leave the school."
Yakumo took a seat and poured herself a cup of tea before placing one of the rice balls on a napkin in front of her. "What was it?"
"I was passing a classroom and a saw a few girls inside it trying on kimonos! Pink ones and purple ones and blue ones and..."
Yakumo tuned her out, her mind going to Takano senpai and Sarah. They must have already started working together with the Beauty Club. She wondered what the Hostess Club would be like once they properly prepared. Even though it sounded exotic, she was positive that she had no time for something like that.
"...and white ones and...Yakumo, are you listening?" Tenma asked, her mouth full of rice.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Yakumo bowed her head in apology. "Sorry sis. I was just distracted."
"Well, you need to stop getting so distracted. It will start affecting your school work. Be focused like me... Oh no! I totally forgot! Three For The Kill is on right now!"
"But Tenma, your snack." Yakumo watched her older sister run from the kitchen. When the television in the living room turned on, she knew her sister would be totally absorbed until the show ended. Cleaning up the dishes they used, Yakumo went upstairs to take a bath.
As she soaked in the hot water, Yakumo thought about the rut her life seemed to be in. Things rarely changed for this crimson eyed girl. Sometimes, she envied her sister and how she always seemed to have something to occupy her time with. Every now and then, Tenma would invite her to go with her and her friends but almost always, Yakumo was either at school or stuck at home to clean. This quite clearly explained why her grades were this good. She had no life.
"Yakumo! My show is over! I gotta take a bath, too!" Tenma yelled from the other side of the door.
Sighing, Yakumo quickly washed up and exited the bath. Once dressed in her simple cotton pajamas, she left the bathroom and headed downstairs to make dinner. She wanted to make stew tonight and that would take at least an hour if she wanted it to taste really good. When she was satisfied with the flavor, Yakumo put two bowls of it on the table and went to make another pot of tea.
"Mmmm. That smells great, Yakumo." Tenma said appreciatively. "I love stew."
Yakumo smiled and handed her sister a tea cup full of fresh lemon tea. "Here you go."
Tenma grinned. "You make the best tea. No wonder the Tea Club wanted you to join."
Yakumo's smile turned into a grimace. "Actually, the tea club was abolished. The school cut funding for it."
Tenma frowned. "That's terrible! I'm so sorry."
"I don't mind. Takano senpai and Sarah both joined a new club so I don't think they mind, either."
"Akira? Oh yeah! When I was leaving school, there was a girl handing out these flyers right outside of the room the girls were trying on kimonos in. I heard one of them mention her name. It's for a new club. Maybe Akira has something to do with it."
Tenma ran from the table and came back a few seconds later with a paper in hand. She handed it to Yakumo before looking at the paper over her shoulder. It was clear that Takano senpai had done a lot to bring the Hostess Club into view, even before telling Sarah and herself that the Tea Club was ending. The flyer was pale pink with lavender writing. At the bottom of the paper was a little drawing of a Geisha pouring tea at a table.
"What's a Hostess Club?" Tenma asked.
"It's a group of girls who display arts. Like singing and dancing. It's sort of a knock-off of how a Geisha makes a living." Yakumo told her. It was also a more traditional Hostess Club. Any club bearing a similar name would probably not be as formal.
Tenma blinked before smiling. "I want to join that! It would be so much fun to wear a kimono and dance around and it says here that the clientele are boys from school."
"They're having interviews all this week and then auditions on Sunday." Yakumo told her sister, her finger pointing to the part of the flyer that said so. "If you're interested in it, then I support you one hundred percent."
Tenma smiled with dreamy eyes. "Wouldn't it be cool if Karasuma came to watch me dance? Then he'd pull me off the stage and sweep me into his arms and say 'Tenma... I've loved you forever and now I finally have the courage to tell you.'..."
Yakumo couldn't help but smile at her sister's fantasy. She really did wish her the best of luck. It would be wonderful if Tenma were to end up with the boy of her dreams. Hearing her sister go on and on about Karasuma, it made Yakumo think of who she would want to watch her dance, were she to ever decide to join the club. She blushed and shook her head when Harima entered her mind.
"You should join too, Yakumo!" Tenma said excitedly. "We could audition together and if either one of us makes it, we'll support the other as a hostess."
Surprised, Yakumo shook her head. "Oh, I couldn't. I need to be home after school. There's cleaning and cooking to do. Plus, what if Lori starts acting out and breaks stuff when we don't arrive home on time to feed him."
Tenma sighed dramatically. "Lori can handle himself. Just put extra food in his bowl before leaving for school. So please please please audition with me! I'm too much of a chicken to do it by myself."
Yakumo looked at her sister's hopeful face. Feeling herself give in, she smiled slightly. "Well, even if I audition, there's no promise I'll get in. So if it will help you, I guess I'll try."
"I wonder if Akira made the Hostess Club or if she's just involved in it." Tenma wondered idly.
Yakumo knew but didn't say so, figuring that Takano senpai herself would tell her friend if she wanted to. After the two had eaten and done the dishes, they brushed their teeth and went to their separate bedrooms. Nervous about the idea of auditioning in front of an audience, Yakumo had restless dreams.
The following morning, Yakumo was at school earlier than usual. Tenma had woken up on time for once, excited about the Hostess Club, and had drug Yakumo with her to the club's interview process. They were currently holding interviews before and after school for the rest of the week. When the girls arrived outside of the old Beauty Club club room, they were shocked to find a very big group of girls inside the doors. There had to be at least fifty. Each were sitting in one of the many chairs that had been set up.
"Please take a seat! We'll begin explaining the syllabus in just a few minutes!" The two heard Eri, Tenma's friend, say. Eri was the president of the school's former Beauty Club. So obviously, she would also be running the Hostess Club with Akira. The two sisters took a seat in the middle of the rows of seats and waited for everything to begin.
When everyone refused to sit and listen, Akira gracefully walked up to the microphone at the front of the classroom, her dark green kimono very striking against her pale skin. "Sit and shut up." She said in such an ominous voice, it caused the entire room to grow silent. As the girls all finally sat in their seats, Akira stepped out of the way so that Eri could take the microphone.
Giving a smile that could only be found on the cover of a magazine, Eri cleared her throat discretely. "Welcome everyone to the first interview day of the Hostess Club. The Hostess Club is very new and is a combination of the Tea Club and the Beauty Club. In this club, you will learn to dance, sing, play traditional instruments, learn the traditional art of Japanese Tea Ceremony and learn to entertain clientele!"
The girls in the audience began to quietly chatter in excitement. One look from Akira made the room go silent as the grave once again. Taking the microphone, Akira began her own speech. "Don't think that this club is some sort of walk in the park, though. For those of you that make it into the club, you will be put under intensive training. You will bleed, you will lose your voice, you will want to run home to mommy every single day-"
Eri took the microphone. "I think that's enough, Akira. You're frightening them. Something you all need to know is this is a difficult club to get into and an even more difficult club to stay in. It will be hard work and you will feel discouraged. But at the end of the day, I can promise you all that you'll feel a sense of accomplishment you've never felt before. This is a club where skill is needed to survive."
With a reluctant look on her face, Eri gave the microphone back to Akira. "The interview process will be held all week long. You will each get to spend five minutes being questioned and then asked to do a few simple exercises to prove your abilities in dance and song. If you pass the interview process, you'll be permitted to audition. Even those who were already in the Tea and Beauty Clubs have to audition. Only ten of you will successfully make it into the Hostess Club. Any questions?"
A girl to Yakumo's left raised her hand. "Yes, I have one. If we were to make it into the club, how much time would this club take up?"
Eri took the microphone. "Most days, it would take up about an hour to an hour and a half. On occasion, we'll hold meetings at night that will last until possibly nine to ten at night but most days should only last till five to five-thirty at the latest. The Hostess Club will throw a lot of parties."
This sent the girls into another chatter fest. Feeling as if they had properly explained everything, Eri and Akira began to pass out a list of interview times for people to sign their names on. When the list was finally handed to Yakumo, she put her name on a slot and handed it to her sister. Her interview time would be tomorrow, right after school.
"This is so exciting!" Tenma squealed. "And since the two presidents are my best friends, they're sure to give me a spot in the club!"
"Well, that's not very fair, Tenma. What makes you think we'll do that?" Eri suddenly asked. She had walked over to where the girls were sitting as everyone began to file out of the room. "We don't pick favorites. Only those that are talented enough can make it into the club."
Tenma began to whine. "But I'm your friend Eriiiiiii! You're supposed to let me innnnnn!"
"Tenma." Akira suddenly appeared. "If you work hard, I'm sure you'll be fine. I can almost promise you a spot on the audition list but there is absolutely no way I can promise you a spot in the club without seeing your audition."
"How many people are going to be allowed to audition?" Tenma asked.
"As many as we see fit. We have a scoring system. If you score a six or higher, we allow you to audition." Eri told her. "Now, let's get going. Class starts soon."
Yakumo and Tenma stood up and exited the classroom with Tenma's friends. Parting ways with the third year girls, Yakumo went to her own class. Waiting for her at the door was Sarah. "Yakumo, I saw you at the meeting this morning. Are you considering joining?"
"I'm auditioning for my sister. Even if I make it, I'll decline. Plus, I have no experience in any of the categories they judge us in. I'll never make it in."
"And your sister thinks she will?" Sarah asked.
Yakumo nodded. "I know she will. She sings and dances all the time at home. This is something she's passionate about."
"But you love to dance, too." Sarah said as they took their seats.
Yakumo blushed, remembering the last sleepover she had at Sarah's house. The two had put on some upbeat music and started to dance. At first, Yakumo had been shy and tentative in her movements. By the end of the second song, she was swaying around like she was a backup dancer on stage. It wasn't natural for her. She's always preferred dancing slower and more traditionally. "Even so, I could never dance in front of an audience. Or sing for that matter."
Sarah shrugged. "I still think you'd be an amazing hostess. Promise me you'll consider staying if you pass the audition."
Yakumo looked down, embarrassed. "I don't know..."
"I'm not saying to give me a yes right away. All I want you to do is consider it." Sarah explained. When Yakumo finally nodded, the two faced the front and brought out their notebooks for the start of class.
At the end of the day, Yakumo had already heard several people mention the new Hostess Club. Kyosuke Imadori, another one of Tenma's classmates, was walking down the hall with a few of his friends, his smile bright. "I can't wait for the club to open. Imagine it. A room full of flirty girls that don't get mad when you hit on them. I bet I can even get one of them to go on a date with me."
"Don't be so sure." One of his friends said. "I hear that Hostess club girls are just a bunch of prudes. They'll flirt, yeah, but none of them will spend time with you out of the club. A friend of mine at Ichijiku High says they have one there, too."
"My dad was invited to a tea house for a bachelor party, once. He took me with him because the babysitter had to cancel." Another boy said who she thought was named Nara. "There was a Geisha entertaining and the entire time, all she did was talk and play drinking games with my dad and his friends. She didn't really flirt."
"Hostess Clubs are different." A large boy explained who strongly resembled Buddha. "Hostess girls attempt to mirror the personalities and mannerisms of Geisha but in the end, are much more lax and a lot more flirtatious. If we select the right hostess, there's a chance she'll agree to an out of club date if we pay enough."
"You mean I could get a date with Eri?" Imadori asked excitedly. "Nah...Princess would never go out with anyone. Not for all the money in the world. She's rich, anyway."
The boys sighed before walking to their lockers. When she was about to go into the locker area to grab her shoes, her sister stopped her. Tenma was bouncing up and down in excitement. "My interview is in a few minutes! Wish me luck!"
Yakumo smiled and hugged her sister. "Good luck, sis. I'll make some curry for supper tonight to celebrate your interview."
"Will you please stay outside the class while my interview goes on? I'm nervous." Tenma begged. Agreeing almost right away, Yakumo let her sister drag her back to the Hostess Club room. Sitting on one of the fold-out chairs outside the room, Yakumo watched her sister walk into the room with her head held high.
She could hear murmuring inside the room but couldn't make out anything they were saying. Finally, she heard her sister begin to sing. Tenma belted out the song 'Butterfly' like her life depended on it. Yakumo winced when Tenma hit an octave higher than her voice could handle. Not even ten seconds into her song, Yakumo heard Eri yell at her to stop.
A few seconds later, Yakumo heard tapping inside the room. Upon listening closer, she realized her sister was dancing. Clasping her hands together, she prayed her sister was allowed to continue on to the audition process.
"You call that dancing?! Wow, Tenma. I at least figured you could manage a simple side shuffle and full body turn. I didn't even tell you to tap dance!" Eri yelled again.
"Oh please, oh please, oh please...let me audition. I swear if you let me, I'll be ten times better that day!"
Yakumo heard Tenma's friends mumble. Finally, she heard a third voice. "This is pathetic. You're only considering passing her cause she's your friend. If I were president, I would've booted her out of the room, already."
Who was talking? The voice didn't sound familiar at all. Akira finally spoke up, her voice carrying, for once, all the way to the hall. "While I agree that Tenma's interview went poorly, I'll give her my vote to go on to the audition round as long as she promises to bring all she's got to the table that day. I want an amazing audition."
After a few more seconds, Tenma screamed. "THANK YOU SO MUCH! I WON'T LET YOU DOWN!"
Tenma darted from the room and started to dance around the hallway, a big grin on her face. Yakumo didn't miss the unfamiliar voice's next comment. "What have you gotten us into? If you end up letting her in cause she's your friend, she'll ruin the club. Remember, this club's true intention can only remain a secret if you only let in the trustworthy ones. Tenma Tsukamoto couldn't keep a secret if the world depended on it."
Eri sighed. "Relax. We won't let her in."
"Have you made up your mind on which guys can be allowed to be patrons for the club? For that matter, have you decided who can know about the true meaning of the club?" The unfamiliar voice asked.
"It's not an easy list to make." Akira said. "Many of the boys, and even some of the men in this school, would keep it a secret, just for the sake of keeping the club alive and at their disposal. We need to figure out who they are and inform them in a discrete manner. Maybe during candy gram week. I have a plan."
"What about Harima?" Eri asked. "Think he can be trusted? He's such a delinquent, he can definitely be added to the list. We might be able to use him as a bouncer at some point."
"I see no problem with that." Akira said. At that point, Tenma called Yakumo over, ending her eavesdropping.
On the way home, Yakumo was a nervous wreck. How could she tell her sister that, no matter how hard she worked, the club would refuse to let her in? Maybe the only thing she could do is let things go as planned. That way, Tenma would never have her feelings hurt by her friends. She'd just assume she didn't make it for the same reasons many of the other girls wouldn't.
"I can't wait for Sunday!" Tenma said once again. "Your interview is tomorrow, right? I hope you get to audition too!"
Yakumo sighed and tried to give her the most convincing smile she could. "Me too."
HOW WAS IT? I HOPE YOU LIKED IT. IT'S STILL A WORKING PROGRESS.