Chapter V: A super serious club for a super serious purpose

The fact his parents rarely entered his room was a saving grace.

If only for the fact that at the time he had been down to have dinner and gone back up, Highwire was still playing the game.

Not only were they playing the game, but they were doing it as if they were some sort of hardline pro at it. It was actually something to marvel upon, Issei thought, that the alien robot would so quickly be taken with video games.

Further beyond this, they were running through every little quest that cropped up.

Side quests? Pursued zealously.

Dungeon farming? He could already see Highwire building up an actual team for each specific material, focused purely on taking out one type of enemy as fast as possible with the equipment he had been provided with.

Issei had to actually check the time to see how long it had been going on for.

"...You having fun?"

Asking the question felt redundant.

Highwire jolted and turned about rather suddenly, head spinning on their shoulders to face him with a real sense of surprise.

Had they really not even noticed him leave the room?

Excited beeps followed and then their attention fell back to the screen as they resumed playing.

Though one thing that Issei noted was that Highwire had laid their hands upon the mouse and keyboard, but was not actually pressing anything. Then again, without the ability to use any fingers, he imagined that pressing individual keys would present a small challenge to them.

Robot magic, he decided.

But it was nice to see them enjoying themselves.

"So, you got a favourite yet?"

Highwire chirped in some small confusion, not taking their eyes off the screen.

Issei rolled his own. "I mean do you have a type? What girl are you aiming for first?"

Highwire stopped playing for a moment, then turned and slowly looked up at him.

Then let out a rather hesitant whirring noise.

Issei blinked.

"Uhm…it is replayable, you know? You can just go for one girl per route."

Highwire nodded slowly, then turned back to the screen and started to speak some more.

The whirring that followed had Issei fold his arms over his chest and nod his head sagely, they were definitely putting forth a rather convincing argument on their front for the value of having a sort of combined route system. Unfortunately, that was just not how the game worked.

Individual scenes with the side-heroines were nice and all, but they didn't really overlap with the main heroines.

There was no Harem route.

Shame-

…Wait.

Issei felt his eyes slowly widen and he looked down at Highwire with some newfound comprehension.

It was absolutely amazing.

Utterly impossible.

But it was right here before his eyes.

Sniffling, Issei dropped a hand down upon his comrade in arms and held it there. Highwire turned towards him and looked up in sudden alarm, but Issei only smiled with pride at the way he had managed to recruit a fellow harem enjoyer. Rather, it seemed as though Highwire's personality was a natural fit for that type of thing.

"...I'm proud of you."

A rather confused and thankful series of chirps followed.

Issei glanced at the screen and exhaled. "Sorry. This one doesn't have that type of route…you have to choose one of the heroines and then replay it again if you want to follow down the path of another one. It sucks but that's just how it is."

With a rather disappointed sigh, Highwire turned back and resumed playing the game, slightly less vigorous than before but it was quickly followed by further beeps which gradually grew in confidence.

As he withdrew his hand, Issei felt like he was going to cry tears of joy.

It was beautiful.

"So, which girl?"

Highwire gave a brief pause before quickly replying.

Actually, it was a near instant reply.

Issei blinked and leaned back, hands placing themselves on his hips.

"The tsundere? Huh, fair, fair. I went for the elf the first time around. She had the bigger breasts."

Highwire tilted their head and chirped.

"Of course it's important! Those are some of the greatest parts ever! If she has them then it would be shameful for me not to actually give her the attention they deserve first and foremost! How could I ever say I loved them if I didn't pick the breast elf first!"

Further beeps and noises followed, a mixture of puzzlement and suggestion.

"Huh? Symbol of status? I mean…sure." Issei shrugged. "But I like little ones too, you know? I'm kind of an equal opportunity breast enjoyer but at the same time…well…big ones are definitely the best."

Highwire nodded their head, chirps filled with resolution.

"What? Oh, you don't have to copy me." Issei quickly pointed out. "The tsundere is a good choice as well."

Though, unfortunate as it was, Issei was soon to realise that watching Highwire play through the game was hypnotic in a manner.

It wasn't even any of the fanservice scenes yet, the minicon had just fallen into some sort of element with it.

A natural born gamer.

He'd recommend a harem game to them next, he figured.

Then he took one look at the clock and immediately cringed at the time, swiftly standing up and drawing the eyes of Highwire from the sudden movement. He gestured to the clock and shrugged his shoulders.

"I gotta go to sleep. I have school tomorrow."

Highwire similarly paused, then started the process of saving their game and shutting the computer down, standing away from the chair and beeping all the while.

They were going to head back to the shed to keep him from being disturbed during his hibernation period.

Which was really considerate.

Issei gave them a thankful nod of the head and gestured to the shelves. "Once you finish through that game, I'll find you a harem one. Then you'll start to understand the real beauty of it!"

Highwire chirped confusedly.

"...It'd take a while to explain." He replied to the question. "I'll do it tomorrow when I can…you know…"

He rubbed his eyes.

"Not have to worry about falling asleep midway through."

It sounded impossible, but it was almost midnight already.

"Oh, yeah."

He blinked and looked up.

"Tomorrow we can check out if we got any replies on that website."

Highwire let out a more excited whoop and eagerly nodded their head before turning and making for the door. Issei was pretty sure his parents had gone to sleep by now, or if they hadn't it was a good run between here and the shed.

"Give it a couple hours."

Issei stopped them.

"Then go out, just to avoid being seen."

Highwire turned and nodded at him, moving to the corner of the room and then standing there all quiet.

A bit unnerving, but whatever.

It was just like a sleepover, as far as he was concerned.

Issei awoke the next day to find Highwire still in his room.

As for why?

That was a bit weird.

"There was a bat?"

Highwire nodded their head up and down, making some more gestures and then stopping.

Issei rubbed his eyes and slowly nodded his head.

"I know I said to avoid being seen but a bat is a little…"

Well, that was his bad for not clarifying things.

Instead he rolled his arms and glanced at the computer for a moment, then back towards Highwire and that was enough for the two of them to put things into motion.

Booting it up and switching back through the websites he had first crawled through, the two of them looked through the few answers that they had actually gotten during the night and it didn't turn out to be all that useful for them, as it happened.

Frowning at the screen, he glanced to see the disappointed slump of Highwire.

"Hey, it's early days." Quick to point out, he offered a smile to the minicon. "Someone might offer up something-"

Highwire suddenly went stiff, then pointed at the screen rather suddenly.

Issei blinked and whipped his head around, scrolling down and then staring.

His eyes widened and he stood up rather swiftly.

"That's it…"

He breathed out, then raised his voice and pointed at the screen in much the same way.

"That's it! And it's…"

His excitement trailed off as he squinted at it.

Then slumped his shoulders.

Highwire looked at him rather strangely and tilted their head, a confused series of beeps followed suit.

Issei rubbed his chin.

"Well…that's…er…Atlantis."

Highwire continued with the puzzled beeps.

"It's…erm…made up."

He didn't want to see the disappointment flow over the minicon, but it was a pretty rapid and somewhat depressing thing that it did. He watched as they dropped their shoulders and then looked at the screen, brows dropping upon the circles and letting out the clear expression of dismay at the sudden information.

Slower beeps came next as Issei cringed and nodded his head.

"Hey…early days, remember?" He nudged their shoulder ever so slightly. "Someone might have something."

Highwire beeped a few times and looked at him for a moment, then let out another slower nod of the head as they lost some of the disappointment. Quickly shifting back into determination as they pointed and spoke with a faster pace of tones, sweeping their hand from the screen and then towards the symbol on the side of their body.

Issei went quiet for a moment, then looked at the screen.

"Hey…you're right!"

The realisation brought a new wave of relief and excitement through him.

Even if it was made up, then that didn't change the fact it was a clear indication that someone had found a minicon panel. Maybe they had just thought it was some ancient jewel from Atlantis or they had just told people it was from there to try and sell it on to someone else or whatever.

The point was that it was still something, even if only a little thing.

"...What now?"

Highwire was quick to reply.

"Research Atlantis?" Issei blinked. "But it's made up though."

Another swift response as Highwire folded their arms and nodded their head up and down, nodding to the screen and then back to him.

"Well, I think it's…uhm…I don't actually know where it's from to be honest, I'm not all that good at history. It appears a lot in comic books though."

Highwire asked if they would be of any use.

Issei shook his head from side to side. "Not that type of book."

And it was just Atlantis so far.

That could take ages to look at.

If more came in then…

He eyed the screen for a moment, then heard Highwire speak again.

"Getting help?" Issei rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…that would be something else. It's the sort of thing that a school club would be good for but getting members would be…"

More than a little difficult.

Beyond that, there was the matter of keeping this a secret from them as well.

If they started asking why he was focused on this sort of symbol specifically and nothing else, then he would probably be left standing there without an actual answer. It was a bunch of stuff that might go wrong.

There was a sudden weight on his shoulder, he looked up to see Highwire with a hand placed upon him.

Softer beeps with notes of encouragement.

"I've never done something like that before and there's a lot that could go wrong…"

Highwire only continued to look at him and speak some more.

Issei cringed. "I'd need to go to the student council and they'd probably shoot me down…"

A singular beep.

"...I won't know until I try, huh?"

That much was true, he supposed.

But it was also about finding members and what sort of club it would be in the first place.

Old symbol examination?

Old stuff study club?

He looked at Highwire's face.

Then he sighed.

"...Damn, alright."

He'd already said he was going to help Highwire and to be honest, Issei figured this was probably going to happen anyway.

He sucked at studying and Highwire knew less about earth than he did.

Though not by much.

If they actually wanted to make progress, then they really would need some help.

…It meant he'd need to brave the student council to get it.

Those doors have never been more ominous than right this moment.

Issei gulped, feeling the weight of terror force itself down his throat and then settle in his gut.

Dealing with the student council was not something entirely new to him, but that was the matter of clares and lectures.

This was him actually going to them this time around.

If they said no because of his behaviour then he…he wouldn't actually be all that surprised.

His phone hummed in his pocket, the subtle nudge in the 'words' of Highwire acting as a hand on his back and urging him forwards. Issei took in a deep breath and raised his hand, forming it into a fist and then drumming his knuckles on the back of the door several times before lowering it again.

Was he sweating?

It felt like he was sweating but he was afraid to check.

…alright, maybe they weren't in?

Yeah.

Oh well, he could try next-

The latch of the door turning stopped that thought cold, his eyes swung down to the handle as it twisted and then pulled inwards. He kept his face stiff as a board as the long flowing hair of the vice-president appeared in the corner of his eye, her face rounded the door a half second later and from behind semi-rimmed square glasses, the mismatched eyes fell upon his face and then narrowed half a second later in a mixture of judgement and reservation.

"...Hyoudou-san."

She greeted coldly, but at least it was still bordering on politeness.

He offered a shaky smile. "Hey…vice-president."

"This is certainly a surprise." She continued onwards, still blocking the doorway with her body, her eyes looking him up and down before flickering somewhere behind him as though searching for something. He resisted the urge to look over his shoulder just in case there was something that drew her eye.

"There has been no word of an incident regarding yourself and your friends to my knowledge. Are you here to confess something before we hear of it?"

She raised a slow eyebrow at him.

Issei frowned. "Hey! I haven't even done anything today!"

"Yes." Tsubaki nodded her head. "Today…But if you are not here for that, then you have business with the student council?"

He nodded his head sharply. "I want to talk about making a club."

Silence greeted him.

A really uncomfortable one at that.

As if he had just told a joke and no one was laughing at the punchline.

Then just as swiftly as the oppressive silence had fallen upon them, it was broken when the vice-president took a rather large step backwards and opened up the door for him to enter. A silent invitation that noosed itself around his body and all but dragged his legs into the room.

Issei shuddered on instinct as he entered the room, immediately beset with eyes from everyone else who was already present.

Which was…

…the entire student council.

As if this wasn't making him nervous already, but the chief of his fear was still sitting on the far side of the room behind the desk, his eyes landed on her quickly to avoid making contact with anyone else, and she had yet to raise her head. Still scribbling away on whatever sheet of paper was in front of her.

"I understand you have a request, Hyoudou-san."

The president spoke slowly, her every word like ice down his back.

He nodded his head with a grunt.

"Please use your words."

"Yes!"

"Thank you."

Her writing came to a halt, the president put the pen to one side and then looked up, resting both hands on the table and looking right towards him. Her eyes were as sharp as ever but at least she didn't look upset this time. It was actually something of a surprise for him to see her without a deep frown on her lips and harsh words.

…That was probably a bad sign, he figured.

"I would like to request permission to form a school club, president!"

He stood to attention, arms snapped behind his back.

…Quite why he did that was lost on him, actually, and he didn't know he was doing it until the president raised a very narrow brow at him.

"...A school club."

She spoke it and now he wanted to say he was kidding.

"I shall point out that forming a school club is a very serious responsibility to undertake and comes with a great many expectations."

Leaning forwards, she pointed at him.

"It is not something to undertake without the necessary determination, nor is it a matter to be joked about as was done in the past."

Issei sputtered. "Hey! That time wasn't a joke."

"...Is this another attempt to form the breast appreciation club? Because if that is the case-"

Her countenance darkened considerably at that, Issei hurriedly shook his head.

"No, no! This is something different!"

The president only hummed, neither sounding incredulous nor convinced.

"Is that so? And what would this club be?"

He had half a second to respond.

Or he convinced himself as such.

And thus, the first words in his head blurted out.

"Alien Research Club."

…Was the ground allowed to open up and swallow him whole?

Was that someone laughing behind him? It sounded like it.

The laughter stopped at the swift stare of the president, then her eyes drifted back towards him and lingered.

"The alien research club." When she said it with such a straight face, it sounded so stupid.

Except it literally was what he was doing.

"Yes." Issei answered and nodded his head up and down, because he had a friend counting on him to help.

And he also needed help to help them.

So maybe it sounded stupid, but it was definitely for a good cause.

"So how do I set one up?"

The president stared at him for a couple seconds, then slowly leaned back in her chair.

"Setting one up would be a relatively simple matter, but whether I allow you to do so is another matter. I will not have school resources wasted on a club that shall be used for the unintended purpose of it's name…nor is it wholly fair to deprive clubs that would actually be better received among the students."

To him this sounded like a no.

All of a sudden, the president held up her hand.

"But I am not telling you that I am going to deny you."

Had it been that obvious on his face or something?

"What I would require is a simple list of what your club would actively seek to do. A basic description of your activities and whether or not anyone would be interested in actually joining the club in the first place."

The president locked her hands together.

"If you can demonstrate to me that you are serious about this club and that it would have an active membership who would contribute to the goals of said club and not utilise its resources for irrelevant topics…"

It was uncanny how much she could put into so few words.

To him that basically sounded like she wasn't going to let him form a club if she thought he was going to mess around and not do the work.

Which was probably a fair suspicion.

In any other instance, she would probably have been right as well.

"I can definitely do that, president!"

He smiled and bowed his head.

"Thank you very much!"

Raising his head back up, he turned and marched towards the door with a final word called out over his shoulder.

"I will definitely be back later!"

He missed the president's final words, on account of already being out of the room.

Quickly pulling out his phone, it hummed with Highwire's voice a second later.

[Why were you worried? She seemed very reasonable.]

"I don't think she likes me, so I was afraid she'd say no."

Highwire was quiet.

Then,

[Are you really that disliked?]

"Hopefully not enough that no one wants to join the club."

Because now that was sort of a real possibility.

Well.

He still had his friends to ask, and they would surely join him!

"I can't."

"Sorry, Issei. I can't either."

He looked between the two of them with a profound sense of disappointment.

"What?! How come?"

Matsuda pointed to himself. "Well, I'm already part of the photo-club and it's a pretty big time investment…I mean, I'm sure it would be great and all, but…well…the photo-club is where I'm already at."

Alright, that was…fine?

Yeah, sure.

Fine.

He turned towards Motohama and looked at them.

He slowly grimaced.

"...I am not entirely sure I would want to be associated with this manner of club."

Issei dropped his shoulders and stared in confusion. "What?"

"That is to say…alien research? It's not like we're very popular right now but there is only so much ridicule I can take."

Issei sputtered in shock. "We're literally the most unpopular guys in the whole school! What difference does it make?"

Motohama shrugged. "I would rather not be thought of as an alien conspiracist in addition to being a member of the 'perverted trio' as they so lovingly call us. There is a difference between being appreciative of the female form and being crazy."

These guys…

"Fine."

Issei took a deep breath and shook his head.

"I'll find some other members!"

"I apologise, Issei! But good luck!"

"Yeah, good luck!"

Issei shouted back over his shoulder.

"Thanks!"

Of course he wouldn't need luck if they said yes, but…well…

Whatever.

There had to be someone in the school who didn't hate him all that much to join his club and not think it was an excuse to do perverted stuff.

Right?

…Right?

…This was gonna suck.