Vol 1 Chapter 5 (1/2)
Chapter 5: Nick, and Jenny
After lunch
“Bye, you two The orchestra club’s probably gonna finish up and leave early, so I’ll see you to away her and Meg’s trays as well Then she turned to Meg “Wanna walk hoht start giving you the evil eye, but it’s not like she likes et envious anyway”
“I will” Meg smiled and stood She looked at Seron and Larry, ere carrying four trays between them “It was a very fun lunchtime Thank you very much It is the first time I ate here, but the dormitory cafeteria is delicious as well And I am sorry that you have to clean up our trays”
“Don’t worry about it”
“Don’t let it bother you, Megmica Feel free to order us around”
Replied Seron and Larry respectively
“The chorus club will go home before dinnertime also I will see you two tomorrow”
“Yeah”
“All right See you Call us if you need anything That’s e’re here for”
Replied Seron and Larry respectively
Then Larry spoke up without waiting for Seron
“If it’s all right with you, Megmica, you should co cafeteria food the whole week long You too, right Lia?”
“Sure a on the menu here”
“Oh! Then I will eatsaid with a bow
Natalia said goodbye to the boys and left with Meg
Seron and Larry watched until they were both gone, and placed their trays on the return counter Then they headed to the gymnasium
“…”
Seron was silent the whole time on the way out of the cafeteria There was a serious look on his face
“What’s up, Seron? You got a stomachache?” Larry asked
Seron’s head swiveled around His handsome face looked directly at Larry
“Larry… I…”
“Yeah?”
“I…”
“Wh-what’s up?” Larry stammered, concerned
Seron’s handsoe
“I… I’ht now”
“…I see Good to hear, buddy Good for you” Larry nodded, then added to hiht be able to beat you at chess if we played now”
The afternoon session began
The actors e with scripts in their hands, and the set cre designs on a sketchbook
Seron and Larry were asked to help build the set pieces So they had their hands quite full as they helped the set crew and ran to send es to the orchestra club
Time seemed to fly by after lunch Dinnertime came in the blink of an eye
“Ms Krantz, our villain’s here” A ly
“Try ither ar him in!” She said
The drama club members froze and all looked at the entrance
Seron and Larry were just opening up the s to let the heat out of the gy near the doors
A male student walked past
He looked like a girl
His unifor that identified him as a boy In looks alone he was very feminine
His brown, back-length hair shi+ait He had a slender build and fair skin, and narrow green eyes
“Hm?”
Larry frowned at the student’s unmanly appearance
“…”
Seron showed no reaction
The moment the student entered, screaymnasium
The boy put on a s Ms Krantz and the drama club
“Apologies, Ms Krantz Everyone”
He had a clear, androgynous voice befitting his appearance Larry’s frown deepened at the boy’s un
“Welcome back Did you enjoy your trip?”
“I did, Ms Krantz I’d wanted to join you in the , but I was delayed”
“Don’t worry about it! We’re the ones who dragged you into this” Ms Krantz said She spoke with the boy briefly and clapped her hands twice
“Attention, everyone! Put dohatever you’re working on and gather round!”
As if proving bodily that they had no reason not to gather around such a pretty boy, the girls crowded around Ms Krantz Seron and Larry opened the last of the s and followed
Ms Krantz stood by the boy and raised her voice
“Let me introduce you This is the last of our helpers, and a doozy of an assistant!”
Just how , Larry wondered under his breath
“His name’s— …would you like to take over?”
“Thank you, Ms Krantz —Everyone, it’s a pleasure to , third-year Please call me Nick It’s an honor to ith you I will do my very best to help Thank you”
“As we all know, Nick’s filling in for the severe shortage of boys in our club by taking the role of the Black Knight He has acting experience from primary school, so don’t worry about his skills I’d love to have his happened… the fact that he’s here even as a helper is worth being grateful for” Said Ms Krantz
Then she began to introduce Nick to Arthur and the other drama club members
His eyes still on the introductions, Seron whispered to Larry
“I took equestrian class with Nick in first term last year”
“Huh So as more popular? You or him?” Larry asked
“I’m not really sure But—”
“But?”
“He turned down every girl who asked hi around with the girls”
“Like what?” Larry wondered, tilting his head
Seron’s response was mechanical and unemotional
“That I was actually dating him”
“Pfft! HAHAHAHA!”
Larry’s snickers turned into howls of laughter His voice resounded through the gymnasium Naturally, everyone looked at him
“Hey! What’s so funny over there?”
“Ahahaha! Oh! Er… excuseupright
Nick noticed Seron and Larry behind the female students
“Hm? I see a familiar face Is he part of the drama club too, Ms Krantz?”
“The blond one, you mean?”
“No, the one next to him”
“Ah No, they’re both helpers I guess you could say they’re like mercenaries”
“I see I should go greet them as well”
“Yeah?” Said Ms Krantz Nick passed her by and went up to Seron and Larry
“It’s been a while, Seron Do you reether last year” He said, sounding a little excited Seron replied as flatly as ever
“Yes, I remember Let me introduce you—this here’s Larry,about how you and I knew each other”
“Oh? And what about it did Larry find so funny?” Nick chuckled
Seron said nothing
“Hah hah hah hah!” Larry burst into laughter again “Ahahaha! I see what they were talking about! Oh ether! Hahahaha!”
In the h, Larry noticed a sharp look cast his way and stopped himself
“Well, well It looks like we have a potential new cast ly “Hoould you like to audition for the role of a h forever?”
“No thank you, ain
Nickthem seemed to swoon
“I wish they were the lead actors in the play…” One girl whispered
Soh a lens
“Those two aren’t bad Maybe I’ll stick ‘eether”
She was a petite girl in uniforave her the look of a small animal
She was standing outside the gymnasium
She was at one of the s Seron had opened earlier Through it the girl had a clear view of the doors, where Seron and Larry stood
The girl poked her head into the building through theHer eye was pressed against the viewfinder of the camera in her hands
The ca, thin telephoto lens was fixed to it Equipped on the top of the camera was a detachable turret finder, which reseazine
It was not a very big caantic in her tiny hands
There was a click She quickly turned the dial on the right side of the cayles
“Ah!”
At that irls noticed her
“M-Ms Krantz! So on us!”
“Tch!”
The redheaded ca away She placed her ca across her shoulder and shut the lid as she ran
The girl did not even bother to look back She reached the end of the gymnasium
“Hold it!”
Larry e volunteered for the job to regain his honor
“I’irl cried, running for her life
“Not gonna happen!”
She was captured in a matter of seconds
Larry grabbed her securely by the sleeves
“Eek! Pervert! So to do to me, punk?! Police! Over here! A blond delinquent! He’s so obviously a bad guy! He’s trying to force himself on me!”
The girl was yelling so loudly that Larry cringed, but there was no one behind the gy the summer
“Aren’t you even ehed Two boys from the drama club soon came over
“Hmph”
The tiny girl stopped screaht
“Whaddaya want?”
“Ms Krantz wants to talk to you” Said one of the drama club members “Come with us for now”
“Hmph”
The arresting officers took the girl to the gymnasium
“How long are you going to hold on to me like this? Pervert”
“Speak for yourself You’re the one taking pictures of people in secret” Larry said, letting go of her sleeves
“I’ a story here! I’ll clear this up with the teacher!” The girl replied without a hint of guilt Larry furrowed his brow
“Covering a story?”
Soon, they arrived at the doors The moment they stepped inside—
“Ah! The newspaper club!” The girls cried simultaneously
“We had a newspaper club? You know about ‘eirl
“No” Seron shook his head
Nick, standing next to him, provided the answer
“I know quite a bit about the newspaper club This here is the pre-”
“Hey! Forget it I’ll introduce irl cried
“Oh? Let’s hear it” Said Ms Krantz
“I’m Jenny Jones I’m a third-year and the president of the newspaper club!”
Though every eye in the gyhtest
“The president?”
“A third-year president?”
“Her?”
“Actually, did we even have a newspaper club?”
“I’ve never heard of them”
The drast themselves
Nick explained without even being prompted
“Our school has a so-called newspaper club And it is a newspaper club, really But because there is only one member, it’s not technically a club Jenny Jones is the sole member, which by necessity makes her the president, the vice-president, the treasurer—”
“Shut up, pretty boy!” Jenny yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Nick
“Ah, excusemy bounds You should be able to explain yourself”
“So he’s not denying the ‘pretty boy’ part…” Larry muttered
Jenny proudly held her head high in spite of her height
“That’s right! I’m the only member of the newspaper club So what?”
“Why did your newspaper ‘club’ take photos of the drama club practice in secret?” Asked Arthur
“I’m not particularly curious about the drama club It was summer, and no one was at school So I decided to snoop around and look for some fun stories I wanted snapshots of the deserted ca down
“You weren’t going to try and spoil our show before the performance, were you?” Asked Ms Krantz
“Nope I don’t know a thing about theater anyway” Jenny shook her head
“Don’t take her word for it, Ms Krantz!” Warned Sophia “Arthur Everyone Do you knohy the newspaper club only has one member?”
“No What’s the story, Sophia?” Arthur asked
Sophia cast an unco off as much of a reliable president, and answered
“It’s because she only ever publishes lies! She founded the newspaper club two years ago, and back then they had some members and had permission to post their publications around the school But then this girl went out of control”
“What do you mean?” Arthur tilted his head
“She started writing completely made-up articles! All her stories, real or fake—mostly fake—were sensationalistic lies”
“In ay?”
“In one article, she claimed that a male teacher was actually a wo up behind the buildings to attend class ‘Traces of Breast-Enlarging Chemicals in Cafeteria Food?’, ‘Ministry of Education Announces Shutdown of School?’, ‘Moving Anatoht on Cahs at Jokes?’, ‘Confession Success Rates 100 Under Big Tree Behind the School?’, ‘Televisions on Cae like that”
“…I see…”
“And she even went to the trouble of using carefully doctored photographs! Some of the first- and second-year students even believed that nonsense and went crying to their parents about it, which caused probles?”
Jenny was not apologetic in the least
“They’re not lies There were questionsuspicion and guessing, notstatements I can’t believe they took them completely seriously Guess that’s the power of the press” She said withouta beat Sophia frowned
“Y-you think you can just get aith that?”
“Everyone said they enjoyed it in the end, though”
“That’s not journalis novels instead”
“…Hmph”
Jenny looked aithout a reply Sophia continued
“That’s why all the other members quit within the year; they were sick of these antics And since you need at least five members for a school club, the newspaper club doesn’t have official recognition This girl is using their old clubroo the papers on the walls, guerrilla-style The teachers take them down as soon as they see them”
“If you wanted a copy, you could have just asked”
“Are you serious?”
“If the newspaper club isn’t officially recognized, how do you cover club expenses?” Asked Arthur “Photography and printing is bound to be expensive”
“She uses personal funds It’s not too hard for someone like her” Said Sophia
Arthur thought for a moment His eyes widened
“Wait, you mean the Jones family?”
“Yes The Jones family” Sophia nodded
Larry glanced at Seron But Nick explained before Larry could even ask
“‘Jones’, as in Jones Motors Roxche’s biggest automaker company”
“…I didn’t ask But thanks, I guess” Larry said, still with a look of disapproval He had made the same face many times today
“You’re welcome Very kind of you”
Arthur spoke again after Nick’s explanation
“I see There sure are a lot of rich—really rich—people at our school”
“This is no time to be impressed, Arthur We have no idea what this newspaper club will make up about us now!”