Chapter 9 – Clubtastrophe (Part 2)

Yoshikawa-san and I went all around the school looking for the room to which this key unlocks. Cautiously looking out for any teachers that were patrolling the area.

So far, though…we haven't had much luck. We checked all of the rooms on the third floor and the second floor. But none of them worked. So now, we're on the first floor continuing our search.

But we're actually running out of time. Because the required hour for clubs was almost up and we would be discovered easily.

"Geez. What's with this key?" Yoshikawa-san said. "We've checked almost every room in this hellhole of a place and we still haven't found this abandoned room. This blows."

"M-Maybe there's a room we missed."

"Nah. I ran this school from top to bottom and we passed by every classroom and such. Not a single one missed."

"Y-You don't go to class much, do you?" I gained a sweatdrop.

*INSERT CLASSIC JAPANESE SCHOOL BELL CHIME HERE*

"Aw, damn. The hour's over."

"S-So, we didn't find it after all." I sounded sad. "M-Maybe this key doesn't even work here."

"Work here…Wait a minute. I just thought of something. There's this room in the practice building that no one's ever gotten into. Something about the key being stolen by a tanuki or something."

Stolen by a…tanuki?

"Y-You think the room is in there?" I asked.

"Well, it's our only led left. If this doesn't work then we definitely wasted our time. Come on. I know where it is."

"Ah. C-Coming." I said as I followed Yoshikawa-san to the practice building.

It was rather easy for us to get on by without being questioned. Since we just blended in with the people that were entering and leaving the building. To a lot of people, we were just normal students going to a sports club of some kind.

Which reminds me…I need to find out why the Volleyball Club wasn't mentioned during class today.

"S-So how long has this room been locked, Yoshikawa-san?" I asked.

"I'm not really sure. From what I know, it's been locked for the past three years or something like that."

"A-And no one's been able to open it?"

"Seems to be that way. That rumored tanuki must've hidden it good for these imbeciles to never find it before."

"Wh-Why would a tanuki hide a key to the school?"

"Who knows. Probably some kind of "tanuki screw you" or something."

"I-I see…" I gained a sweatdrop.

Yoshikawa-san took me far into the back of the building. As in, we were in the back hallway in the far back where the emergency exit was. A few feet from that was an old dusty door. It really looked like it hasn't been opened in years.

"Welp. Here it is." Yoshikawa-san said as she banged on the door a few times. Causing the dust to fly off into the air and into my face.

"*cough* *cough* I-Is this seriously it? I-It looks…a-abandoned."

"Well, it's the only thing left that I can think of. This key has to work here. You ready?"

"Uh…Y-Yoshikawa-san…I-Is this really a good idea? Wh-What if we get in trouble?"

"We won't. Nobody's going to care what we do."

"Y-You say that, but…wh-what if they do care? S-So much so that they punish us beyond anything humane and morally legal? B-B-Beat us and torture us…l-l-leave us in a bloody pool for dead as they to cover it up for years on end? I-I-I don't wanna experience that again! I-I-I don't wanna hate myself more! I-I-I DON'T WANNA DIE! NOOOOOOO!"

*SLAP*

"Wh-Wha…?" I stood there in shock after realizing that Yoshikawa-san had slapped me in the face. And now she was looking away from me. Most likely in shame.

"S-Sorry. I-It's just…y-you were…sc-scaring me." She said softly.

"Sc-Scaring…you?"

"Toshinio-san…I-I gotta be honest with you. I, uh…I know about your past."

"Y-You…You know?"

"Truth is…I stole your file from the student council's office when I was being scolded for something unrelated. Thanks to your annoying cousin bragging about you coming here, I thought you were another one of those prissy ass bitches that always look down on people like me. Who don't give a flying fuck how other people feel. I truly despise those people with all my heart."

Look down on people? People like…her?

"My plan with the file was to find a way to treat you like shit. Just to piss off Rukia and feel a little better about myself. Then…Then I actually read the stuff inside. And immediately gained second thoughts."

"S-Second…thoughts?"

I'm not gonna go into detail what happened. But…what you went through…it truly pissed me off. Knowing right then and there that there were other people who went through the same shit I did…who are constantly suffering the same endless torment of self-hatred and regret…who are forced to live in fear and anger for the rest of their goddamn lives…"

Yoshikawa-san then suddenly slammed her fist against the dusty door in anger. The door being so old that I think it almost broke off its hinges.

"…Why the hell are there people like this? Who take joy and fucking pleasure in making others suffer?! JUST WHO THE FUCK DO THEY THINK THEY ARE, DAMNIT?!" Yoshikawa-san shouted in pure anger as she continuously punched the door with her bare hands. The dust flying in the air like it was being picked up by a tornado.

"Y-Yoshikawa-san! N-Now you're scaring me!" I yelled in a panic.

"Alright, alright. Calm down, Yoshikawa-san."

"H-Huh? A-Azuma-sensei?" I asked as the teacher was walking up to us.

"The meeting let out early. So, I thought I'd check up on you girls."

"O-Okay…"

"Hey. You knew, didn't you?" Yoshikawa-san asked.

"Knew what, Yoshikawa?"

"Quit screwing with me, Azuma. You knew that I took Toshinio-san's file, didn't you?"

"Oh, that. Yes, I did. I mean, who else would it be?"

"Heh. And so, this whole thing was just to make me confess, wasn't it?"

"On the nose."

"W-Wait, I don't…g-get it." I said.

"It was obvious to everyone that Yoshikawa had bad intentions with the information in your file. But I knew once she actually read it, she would change her tone a little. So, I decided to give you two a little push. If you can call it that."

"A-A…p-push?"

"Truth is…you two have a lot more in common than you currently think. Toshinio-san."

"W-We do?" I asked before turning to face Yoshikawa-san, who was still cooling off from her meltdown.

Is this what she meant by…people looking down on her?

"D-Damnit, Azuma. Wh-Why…Why do you keep helping me? Everyone else has already abandoned me. Why are you still around?"

"I don't give up on my students, Yoshikawa-san. Especially ones that I've taught since the very beginning."

"Th-The very beginning? Y-You two go that far?" I asked.

"Well, when I said "the very beginning", I meant her first year of middle school. I was an art teacher there."

"I-I see." I then looked at the key that was still in Yoshikawa-san's hand. "S-So…th-the key was part of this "push" of yours?"

"Oh, no. The key works."

"I-It does?" We both asked in shock.

"Yep. And you're standing in front of the door it belongs to right now."

"Really?" We both then looked at the dusty door (that was surprisingly still intact) with mindless blanks.

"Ha! I told ya, Toshinio! I knew it was this door! Hahahaha!"

"Y-You sure recovered quickly, Yoshikawa-san…" I said with a huge sweatdrop.

Yoshikawa-san placed the key inside the hole and twisted it until it made an unlocked sound (whatever that is). Then once we opened the door and turned on the lights…

"W-Woah! Th-This place is…"

"This place is freaking huge!"

The room really was huge. It was one ginormous rectangle-ish room that was fully carpeted and one giant light in the center of the ceiling. There was another door to the right of us which was probably the storage room. And there was a screen hanging up by a single strong string.

"A-Azuma-sensei, what is this place?" I asked.

"This used to be a lounge for all the sports teams to relax in. They were able to play games, watch movies, or just simply hang out with each other. It was the perfect hot spot if you were an athlete."

"Woah…"

"If this really was "the perfect hot spot", then why was it sealed off?" Yoshikawa-san asked.

"The school shut it down. Apparently, some of the athletes were using this room to have wild lesbian sex parties that oftentimes didn't stay in the room itself. I heard the girls in charge of it were really bold."

"I-I see…" Both of us gained a huge uncomfortable sweatdrop.

Is every girl in this school some sort of pervert?

"W-Well…i-it's still a nice room. I-I'm sure they had fun with it. Even if it was insanely gross sometimes." I said.

"Yeah…" Yoshikawa-san said before going silent for a bit. "…Hey. Toshinio-san. You're still…looking for a club to join, right?"

"Y-Yeah why?"

"Well…let's make this place a clubroom. You and me."

"S-Seriously?" I asked in shock.

"What made you changed your mind, Yoshikawa-san?" Azuma-sensei asked.

"Hmm…let's just say…that "push" of yours actually worked out in the end."

"I see."

"So. What do you say, Toshinio-san? Wanna start a club with me?" Yoshikawa-san asked me with a small smile on her face.

Earlier today…the thought of being in a club with Yoshikawa-san only just that. A thought. I knew she would be against it because of her reputation and her not liking a whole lot of people. So, I never asked her.

B-But now…not only does she want to be in a club with me, but she actually wants to start one with me. Fr-From scratch, too. I-I'm not sure if this is either a dream come true or just sheer luck.

But…

"S-Sure. L-Let's start a club together. Yoshikawa-san." I said with a smile.

…I'm fine with it either way.

Author's Note: A mental panic attack from Kyouko and an outburst of rage from Chinatsu both ended in the best possible way. They formed a new club! And now the duo will face a new obstacle as they try to put it on the map.

And, thanks to Azuma, slowly learn about each other's past.

Sorry for the long wait with this one. I usually give myself a two-week deadline with each chapter for all my stories. But maybe that's too long of a wait. I'm gonna try to post a new chapter every week from now on. But I'm not making any hard promises. Things can still happen, you know.

Thanks for reading. Later.