Chapter 3: Rebirth of the traditional Classics Club (part 2)
From the opened windows, the shouts of the Athletics Team could be heard.
"... Fight! Fight! Fight!..."
I wouldn't want to get myself involved in such wasteful energy consumption. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that saving
energy is the superior option, so I'm not dismissing those active people as fools at all.
I headed towards the Classics Club room
while hearing them continue with their chants, walking along the tiled corridor and up towards the third floor.
Upon meeting the janitor, who was carrying a large ladder, I asked him where the Classics Club room was, and was directed to the Geology Lecture Room on the fourth floor of the Special Purposes
Block.
This school, Kamiyama High School, was neither copious in its number of students nor large in its campus area.
The total number of students was somewhere around a thousand. While the school provides curricula for university
entrance exams like most high schools, it wasn't particularly noted for its academics.
In other words, it's a normal high school. On the other hand, the school had an extraordinarily large number of clubs (such as the Water Paint Club or the Acapella Club, as well as the Classics Club), hence it was quite well known for having a lively annual Cultural Festival.
Within the campus grounds there are three large buildings. The General Block which houses the regular classrooms, the Special
Purposes Block with its special purposes classrooms, and the
Gymnasium.
That's quite normal really. There's also the Martial Arts Dojo and the Sports Equipment Storage Room.
The fourth floor of the Special Purposes Block, where the Classics Club room
is located, is relatively remote.
While cursing at such a waste of energy, I walked across the connecting corridor and up the stairs towards the fourth floor,
where I quickly found the Geology Room.
Without hesitation I proceeded to slide the door open, but found that it was locked.
This was to be expected, as most special purposes rooms are normally locked. I took out the key which I borrowed beforehand
in order to save energy and unlocked the door.
After turning the lock open, I slid the door open. Inside the empty Geology Room, the sunset could be seen from its westward
facing window.
Did I say empty? Nope, turns out it was not what I expected.
Within the sunset-drenched Geology Room, which is the Classics Club room, there was already someone inside. A student was standing beside the window looking towards me.
It was a girl.
While "graceful" and "neat" weren't exactly the first words that came to my mind upon seeing her, there were no other words that
I could think of to describe her properly.
Her long black hair flowed past her shoulders, and her sailor uniform suited her very well. She was tall for a girl, probably taller than Satoshi.
While it was clear she was a high school girl, her thin lips and forlorn figure reinforced this old-fashioned image of what a school girl
would look like within my mind.
In contrast, her pupils were big,
and rather than graceful, they looked energetic.
It was a girl I didn't recognize.
Yet upon seeing me, she smiled and said, "Hello. You must be Oreki-san of the Classics Club, right?"
"... Who're you?" I asked candidly.
Though I was never good at interacting with
people, I didn't intend to treat someone I just met for the first time coldly. While I didn't know who she was, for some reason, she
seemed to know who I am.
"Don't you remember me? My name is Chitanda... Chitanda Eru."
Chitanda Eru. Even though she's given her name, I still haven't got a clue. By the way, Chitanda is quite a rare surname, and so is
her first name, Eru. It was not possible for me to forget such a name.
I looked once again at the girl called Chitanda. After making
sure that I don't know her, I replied, "I'm sorry, I don't think I remember who you are."
While maintaining her smile, she tilted her head, apparently confused. "You're Oreki-san, right? Oreki Houtarou of Class 1-B?"
I nodded.
"I'm from Class 1-A."
'So do you remember now'? Was what she seemed to be hinting at...
Was my memory really that bad?
Hang on. I'm from Class B and she's from Class A, was there any chance of us having met before?
Even within the same grade, it was not possible for students from different classes to interact with each other at all. The only chance they get to do so was via club activities or friends. I had no such links with both.
Then it must have involved the entire student body, but the only event I could think of was the school's opening ceremony at the start of the semester. Besides, I don't think I was ever introduced to anyone from outside my class then.
No, wait. I remember. That's it, there were chances for us to interact with other classes during lessons. If it involves the use of
special equipment, then it's more feasible to teach more than one class at the same time.
That must mean during PE or arts-related
subjects.
During middle school, there would also be vocational classes, but as this high school is a mainly academic school, that's
out of the equation. And PE is gender separated, so that leaves...
"Could it be that we had music lessons together?"
"Yes, that's it!" Chitanda nodded her head greatly.
Despite figuring that out myself, I was still surprised. For the sake of my remaining pride, I must confess that I have only attended any of those optional arts lessons once ever since enrolling here. So it was of course impossible for me to remember any faces or names!
But on the other hand, this girl called Chitanda managed to remember me after seeing me just once, so here was living proof that it was not exactly impossible... Let me tell you this, she must possess a frightening level of observation and memory!
Still, it could also be that it's all coincidental. Different people could interpret different meanings from reading the same
newspaper article, after all.
I regained my senses and asked, "So,
Chitanda-san. What brings you here to the Geology Room?"
She quickly replied, "I've joined the Classics Club, so I thought I should come to greet you."
Joined the Classics Club, in other words, a member!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone