The timeline is, as usual, somewhere.
The point of view is that of Suzumoto.
Please be cautious, as some disgraceful information about the characters may appear.
“By the way, for the people here, we were in the same class, weren’t we?”
One day. I, Hagasaki-kun, Toriumi, and Kariya were playing a card game when, as Maito was preparing the meal, she suddenly mentioned this.
“Look. In our first year, the five of us were in the same class, right?”
“Yes… that’s right.”
The five of us were, for some reason, in the same class. …Not that it was planned or anything. We didn’t influence each other either. It’s just that the five people who were likely to join the chemistry club miraculously ended up in the same class.
President, Hariu, and Kadomi-kun, and Katori were in different classes, so it really was miraculous. Or perhaps, it was fate, if you’d rather.
“Thinking back, everyone’s impression has really changed, hasn’t it?”
Maito said this with a strangely cheerful smile, making me recall things somewhat.
April of our first year. At that time, we…
“Well, we each thought of the others as decent people.”
“It was kind of like a game of werewolf, wasn’t it?”
“But in reality, everyone was a wolf.”
“No, I’m normal.”
“Then let’s place Hagasaki-kun not as a werewolf but in the madman slot. Or maybe a fox spirit.”
“What?”
…We didn’t understand anything about each other.
The first day of high school. While listening to the teacher’s leisurely self-introduction as our homeroom teacher, I thought, ‘So, today I start my life as a high school student,’ chewing on a vague yet clear sense of reality as I sat down.
I think I felt more anxiety than expectation. I have always been that kind of person.
…But, hearing Kariya’s self-introduction early on, my anticipation for a new life somewhat increased.
“I’m Kariya. I don’t have much personality, but I look forward to working with you.”
That was all.
Just this, for a first self-introduction. Quite a remarkable person, I thought, almost admiringly.
With someone’s chuckle leaking out, a favorable laughter spread across the class.
“Kariya, I think you’re plenty unique.”
With the teacher’s warm and relaxed evaluation, Kariya’s “lack of personality” was perceived as very unique.
I recognized Kariya as a sufficiently unique person.
…After some other students’ introductions, I did my superficial self-introduction, and then Toriumi made a quite unique and sociable introduction.
By this point, I had respect for Toriumi.
I believe that those who speak well can do anything well. In fact, Toriumi managed everything competently.
…However, he was less sociable than I thought. Because, due to some mistake, instead of becoming a center in the class, he ended up in the remote chemistry club.
After that, well… his hobbies were what they were. Basically, he was extremely indoor-oriented, to put it one way. These aspects were not in the first impression, so they were fresh afterwards.
And then, I remember thinking when I saw Hagasaki-kun.
Ah, he must have been the type to seriously dedicate himself to his studies.
He was slender, with an oddly sharp gaze, and seemed nervous. Clearly not from the arts but the sciences, his aura made that clear. Additionally, he seemed to have a fragile physique and didn’t look like he was capable of athletics. (Though, in reality, it wasn’t that he couldn’t do sports.)
…And so, I arbitrarily thought of Hagasaki-kun as serious, nervous, not particularly sociable, and the quiet type.
It wasn’t entirely wrong. He was indeed serious, in a good way, and somewhat nervous. But he was not quiet. Not at all. He wasn’t sociable, but he was aggressive.
And then, Maito, who would be the last among those joining the chemistry club to introduce herself, due to the order of attendance numbers… This is why, every new school year, I am thankful I have never been born with a surname like Akagi, Aoyama, or Ai.
…What did Maito say? I don’t remember well, but that in itself means she probably didn’t say anything particularly memorable.
However, I seem to recall she mentioned she liked reading. No, maybe that was something I heard later.
…Yes. She liked reading. And an unremarkable girl otherwise.
I mistakenly thought of Maito as a quiet, delicate literary girl. Oh, what a mistake that was for life.
Toriumi’s true nature was revealed quite early.
When I went to visit the chemistry club, Toriumi and Kariya were already there, and after talking a bit since we were in the same class, I learned that Toriumi’s hobbies were quite indoor-oriented, the so-called “deep but narrow interests.”
My hobbies weren’t particularly skewed in any direction, but since I had no prejudice against such interests like Toriumi’s, I might have been categorized as the same type by him.
…And then Kariya, who apparently went to the same middle school as Toriumi, began showing his “unique” side more and more as he observed me. Simply put, somewhat… perverted. No, it’s not clear what exactly makes one a pervert, and depending on where the line is drawn, even I might fall into the category of a pervert, but still, to say the least… Kariya was definitely an oddity. Yes, definitely.
As for Hagasaki-kun, his discovery was quite mild.
After all, he was just a genius in regular conversations.
…However, I realized fairly quickly that he occasionally spoke quite harshly.
It took a little longer to realize that despite his harsh words, he didn’t particularly dislike the people he talked about.
Then, at some card game or something hosted by seniors, I was shocked by his aggressively competitive playstyle. In blackjack, he would double down; in poker, he would discard a pair to chase a flush.
And once I learned he enjoyed trading card games and started to compete against him, I began to understand what kind of person Hagasaki-kun was. He was not easy to approach, but not a bad guy. He was not uninteresting, and more importantly, he was not just good at studying.
…Of course, over the next nearly a year, my perception of him changed mildly, but certainly for the better.
And then.
Maito’s disguise peeled off fairly quickly, at least the first layer.
When I decided to join the club, I observed Maito subtly. As members of the same club, it was good to know each other to some extent.
…But Maito was somewhat difficult to approach. After all, she was a girl. I am not a hero who talks to girls without purpose.
So instead, I observed… and quickly learned that Maito enjoyed reading quite a bit.
She began using the library right after enrollment and was seen reading some book during every break.
The first time I saw her, she was reading what seemed to be a mystery novel. Fair enough, I thought.
The next time, she was reading The Little Prince. Not bad, I thought.
After that, I saw her reading a novel with beautiful sky photos on the cover. Sunsets to cloudy skies, however many volumes there were.
Next, she read Peanuts. Not entirely in English, but with Japanese translations. After that, a collection of low-fantasy short stories. Then, classical literature.
…And then next was.
“…Maito. What are you reading?”
“Battle Royale.”
It was Battle Royale. It really was Battle Royale. Oh. Even I couldn’t help but speak up.
Black cover with a red logo. Clearly a battle royale from any angle. Where did the girl who read The Little Prince go?
“Suzumoto-kun, have you read it?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“It’s quite interesting.”
And she added that it was interesting.
…Indeed, I revised my perception of her as just a literary girl who was neither quiet nor delicate.
That shock was quite unforgettable.
…Well, they say birds of a feather flock together, but in the end, this place, the chemistry club, is just a gathering of such individuals.
Those who I thought were sociable were actually quite strange beyond their sociability, and those who claimed to have no personality turned out to be very individualistic.
Those who were thought to be nerds were not just serious; the supposedly quiet literary girl was not quiet at all, certainly not delicate, and was hardly a girl at all. She was a literary creature. Not a man or woman but something… a creature. A mysterious creature.
…And in this club, where everyone had several layers of disguise, perhaps the only one who didn’t wear any from the start was President. He was a madman right from the beginning. Although, from our side, it started with wondering, “Is this guy mad?” and took some time to settle on, “He was mad indeed.” Well, his straightforwardness is admirable in that regard.
“I was kind of scared of Kadomi-kun at first. Now, it’s hard to even imagine that.”
“Ah… yeah, Maito-san started talking properly with Kadomi-kun towards the end of our first year.”
Meanwhile, my other classmates also had initial impressions that were far from reality.
“Yeah. You know, Kadomi-kun is quiet, and he looked like he must have joined this club by mistake, thinking it was a sports club or something. He’s quiet and has a sharp gaze that’s kinda scary, and he doesnโt talk much…”
Maito is like this once she gets used to people, but she’s surprisingly shy. With no interaction from either side, she and Kadomi-kun were probably the worst match. However, it seems she got used to him after being around when Kadomi-kun was talking with us.
“I was too impressed with President’s personality.”
“I think everyone felt that way. Even I was like ‘wow.'”
“Well, it gave us a chance to start talking, though.”
“Yeah, President was the first person I started talking to.”
There’s unanimous agreement that President is a “madman.”
…Later on, when I asked, President himself apparently tried to observe and interact in a somewhat restrained manner at first, considering his madness level.
Still, he was very rational and approached even the shy people, so… surprisingly, the shy ones ended up warming up to President first. He truly is an exceptional individual.
“Katori was… at first, I barely noticed him.”
“Ah, I felt the same.”
“He seemed absent-minded.”
And about Katori, it felt like one day he was just there.
But although I initially thought he was a shadowy presence, I eventually realized he was quite thick-skinned.
Indeed, thick-skinned enough to be unshakable, hence why he seemed to fade into the background. It took some time to understand this mechanism.
And on top of being thick-skinned, he was… well, various things. Primarily, Mobile Suits.
“Hariu was… well, pretty much what you see is what you get, I guess. I didnโt talk much at first, so I barely had any initial impression.”
“Well, he’s pretty normal, especially compared to President.”
“Normal by general standards, not our standards, right…?”
“But his hobbies were still odd, right?”
“That could be said about everyone. A granny-loving lolicon is still within the norm here. Just look at President.”
“Stop it. Donโt go any further.”
This is a pass. Pass, pass. It’s best not to stir things up here; it might backfire…
…Everyone is saying whatever they like, but, well, that’s probably just how it is.
After all, an impression made at first meeting is not reliable.
Thinking you know everything from a first impression is nothing but arrogance. That’s probably the case… but well, I didn’t expect such a gathering of eccentrics. Ah.
As I nostalgically thought about this and resumed our game of Daifugล, Maito, who seemed to have finished preparing the meal, came over.
“What I mean is, if by some chance I hadn’t been here, you guys, who are incredibly bizarre and eccentric, might have lived on without ever realizing just how bizarre and eccentric you are. Thinking about that, well, it’s kind of horrifying. So, I’ll join in Daifugล as well.”
“From the next game.”
“Starting as a commoner.”
When I checked the hand of cards I was dealt, it looked reasonably promising. Nice.
Starting with the three of diamonds, I began to throw my cards onto the table.
While thinking about which card to play next… I caught Maito looking at us with a peculiar enjoyment.
…She had just said, “it’s kind of horrifying.”
Well… that could be said for everyone, I suppose. If we hadn’t met each other here, we might have met someone else. And that “someone else” could have become an irreplaceable, unique presence in our lives.
In a way, by being in this chemistry club, this incredibly narrow place, we might be missing out on opportunities to know other people.
Of course, it’s pointless to think about that.
It’s nearly impossible to know what kind of person someone is right after meeting them. And by the time you do get to know what kind of person they are… it might be too late. In many ways.
…Whether it was meant to be that we met these people or not, whether it was better or not, only God might know. But still, if I had to choose again, I think I would choose this path again.
“Ah, by the way, I kind of like the furry stuff, you know?”
“Eh?”
“Wha?”
“Is this the time to say that?”
“I mean, cat ears and cat girls are cool, right?”
…We’ve known each other for over a year, just over a year.
It seems there is still much we don’t know about each other.