Chapter 14: Club touring, day two.

Today I’m going to see two places.
Yesterday, the executive committee seemed to have participated in the showing by chance, but today they had it all planned.

First, the gardening club.
The image I have of that one is of a sinless, pure maiden picking flowers at a flower garden.
Oh wait, there are quite a bit of people here.

“Guys, welcome to the gardening club.
My name is Karen Tsuchimikado, a senior member.”

—It was more of a harmonious cohabitation of modern and nature.

“As many of you know, our club takes care not only of the flower beds provided by the school, but also the pots and planters set up throughout.

She continued, “We also plant seedlings and water them.
We add them to the flower beds, mix what is needed, and remove what isn’t.
In other words, we ‘build’ the soil.
In addition, we make bookmarks and teas from our yield.”

Wow-a, classy.

“Of course, getting rid of the unnecessary includes weeding.
During long vacations, we sometimes ask students to come to take care of the children, but since our club has a large number of members on duty, including normal times, I don’t think it is that much of a burden.

“If anyone has any questions, we’ll be happy to answer them individually, so feel free to come and talk to us! Let’s all love flowers together! We await you in the gardening club!”

That’s a bit of a religious closing, but the fact it isn’t too burdensome is wonderful news.

From there, I talked to a senior close by, and frankly, this is the easiest and most popular activity by far.
We have a finite number of flower beds, pots, and planters to tend to.
It’s also obvious the more people, the easier it gets.

No wonder this club has gotten this large as people came and went.
Oh, and at the cultural festival, they’re going to sell bookmarks and handicrafts of all sorts.

Also, it looks like if I don’t go out of my way, I can stay relatively lowkey.
I can say this really suits my nature since they don’t require strong human connections.

I wasn’t expecting much—I’ll be honest—but this is quite the strong contender.

“Hello there.”

“Excuse me.”

When I entered the classroom, I found a small girl sitting on a chair, waiting for me.
Emphasis on the small.

“Um, are there any others here?”

“Nope.”

“Erm, is that…?”

“This club’s fresh out of the oven.”

So is this club’s headcount is one, exactly?

“Well, I see you’re the only person here.
But how did you even get recognized as a formal club?”

“I applied and got approved, just that.”

This some kind of Kahoot quiz? I thought as silence fell between us… Huh, silence for silence.
Very passive.

“So, what does the excursion club do?”

“All things outdoors.”

Then why is it named “excursion club?” Why not something like “outdoor club”, or even “outdoor activities club”?!

“Pretty rare to see the word ‘excursion.’ I imagined something completely different.”

“It has a nice ring to it,” she answered.

“Have any other freshmen come in or anything?”

“They left.”

Did they give in to the awkwardness and run away?

“I’ve got only an abstract image when I hear the word ‘excursion,’ so what do you mean by it exactly? Camping, maybe?”

“Yeah, mainly camping right now, but I’m thinking of doing other things as well.
If you join, I’ll get you some BBQ.”

She’s trying to bribe me with barbecue.
Hmm, it doesn’t seem like they don’t want people joining.
Maybe, perhaps…

“Is it bad if people don’t join?” I asked.

“Very.
There shouldn’t be an upper limit on clubs, but at least some are supposed to join.
If it’s only me, sooner or later the clubroom will be taken away.”

“That’s not good, for sure.
Even if you’re talking ‘outdoors,’ you’re still in the cultural club category, right? It seems this school’s cult clubs do a lot in school festivals, so have you decided on what to do?”

“I intended on displaying photos of the activity and the equipment used with descriptions.
Don’t know if there will be demand, though.”

Basically, this is a small club—one member—and they do outdoor activities.
Not too shabby, I’d say.
Also, seems like the senior is talking a bit more.

Suddenly—Slam!

The door I thought was opened, closed, probably due to our constant one-on-one.
Guess it would be bad for me to keep imposing.

“I see.
Well, I’d better be off now.
Thank you very much,” I said.

“Is that all? I’ll answer any questions you have,” she prodded.

Is that okay? I guess I misread her curtness.
Oh, wait, almost forgot something important.

“I’ll give you one more, then,” I started.
“Um, does outdoor equipment cost a pretty penny?”

“Probably.
Of course, it isn’t possible to cover everything since the budget is so tight, and I hear not all campgrounds are free.”

Oh, I see.
Hmm, that might be a bit of a problem.
I guess I’ll ask her if she’s experienced or not.
She might not be.

“Do you have much outdoor experience?”

“Not at all, I’m taking this as an opportunity to start.”

We talked a bit from there.
She was originally a member of the gardening club but decided to switch because she got too bored.

She longed for nice memories, but she didn’t have to courage to join a club whose inner circles have already been formed.
Thus, she thought it would be a nice chance to start doing what she was most interested in, so she founded the excursion club.

“Thank you for your time,” I said after a while of talking.

“Are you in?”

“Still thinking about it.
I just can’t make a decision on my own regarding money and stuff.”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting patiently.”

To be honest, I’m interested in the outdoors myself.
I even watch camping videos on YouTube from time to time.
And although it started out awkward, soon enough I stopped feeling uncomfortable while we talked.