Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 1 - Chapter 9

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Chapter 9 – April 11th

Right after the end of the day’s classes, in the 1-A classroom.

“Have you decided on a club?”

Alisa was asked by her next-seat neighbor, Joui.

She took her eyes off the terminal display where she was checking an informative message from the school, and shook her head while replying “No, not yet”.

“What about you?”

A voice came down on them from above.

They looked up and Mei was standing there, having moved from her seat before they realized.

“I’m in the Mountaineering Club.”

“The Mountaineering Club, uh. Are you going to be okay with such a slim body?”

By Mei’s tone, she didn’t seem concerned. But it didn’t seem there was any mocking nuance there either. She was just saying things as she sees them.

“Because I just want to climb. The lighter I am, the better.”

“Climbing, you mean like bouldering?”

“I do bouldering too, but if I were to choose, I like free climbing best.”

“I see...”

At Joui’s answer, Mei didn’t comment on if it suited him or not. Rather than not having an interest, she just isn’t narrow-minded about other people’s hobbies.

“What about you, Isori. Have you decided?”

Joui returned the question to Mei. This wasn’t just out of courtesy, he looked to really be interested by the way he spoke.

“I joined the Track and Field Club.”

Mei immediately answered, not trying to hide anything. During the few days they’ve been together, Alisa noticed Mei doesn’t like to talk in indirect ways. She’s probably a very honest person. Perhaps stereotypical, but she might have a boyish personality.

“I see, you do give off that vibe. Short distance over long distance running... No, you specialize in long jump or high jump?”

“I surprised you could tell. Running high jump is my specialty.”

Alisa was slightly surprised by the club activities these two chose.

Mei and Joui were the top and runner-up students in the admission exams. Despite that, they joined clubs for non-magical sports.

Listening to them talk, Alisa felt jealous that they have something they can devote themselves to regardless of whether they win or lose, something they love. This is a feeling she also holds towards Marika.

◇ ◇ ◇

Continuing from yesterday, Alisa looked around each club’s demonstrations. Demonstrations were also held in the auditorium, but there was a limit to what could be shown on the small stage. Besides, a hands-on experience like this has to be done in a location intended for this activity.

Marika was next to Alisa. This was the same as the day before, but today these two changed to gym clothes from the start. They were wearing a school jersey with long sleeves and long pants.

They had borrowed riding uniforms for the Hunting Club’s practical events yesterday. The seniors in the club laughed and said they prepared for this every year, but because of that these two felt even more uneasy when they refused joining the club. Reflecting upon that, they decided to change their uniforms.

Their outfits didn’t feel out of place. On the third day of newcomer week, many newcomers on club observation were seriously lost on which club to join. Many newcomers were thinking of trying out athletic events. Many of them were wearing clothes for moving around just like Alisa and Marika.

Their first destination were the sports grounds. The conversation between Mei and Joui in the classroom was still on her mind. Until yesterday, she targeted clubs for magic competitions, but today she intends to look around for the non-magic competition clubs.

She also stopped completely avoiding ball games and team competitions with winners and losers, despite not being in her nature. She thought it could be the opposite case of yesterday’s SS Board Club — the competition itself being about winning or losing against the opponents, but the club atmosphere being friendly.

The Lacrosse Club demonstration had just began on the sports grounds. That said, they were only using half of it. On the other side it was the Legball Club’s turn.

The Lacrosse Club is a women-only club. To start with there was a fashion show. It was here that Marika thought ‘Huh?’.

Afterwards was a demonstration match. Impressed by the rather intense match, some students raised their voices in admiration, but Alisa just murmured ‘I thought women’s lacrosse didn’t allow contact between players...’.

In the end, they both stopped watching.

The next stop for Alisa and Marika was the tennis court.

“Alisa, what do you think?”

Marika asked Alisa while they watched an exhibition match after an acrobatic rally.

“Hmm... I think I’ll put it on hold.”

The third year who held the microphone said that the atmosphere of the Tennis Club is lax. Apparently it was the club’s tradition. For Alisa their lack of obsession with winning and losing was nice but their apathy for practice was unsatisfactory.

Alisa wants to take training relatively seriously. So, no matter how much they tried to beat around the bush, she was reluctant to join the club after the declaration that ‘it’s okay to be a ghost member’.

The exhibition match ended and the call for newcomers to try out began.

Alisa didn’t raise her hand and left the tennis court.

On their way back from the tennis court — they thought it was about time for other clubs to start their invitations — Alisa and Marika were called by a second-year student. They knew she was a second-year student simply because she introduced herself.

This senior was the president of the Crowd Ball Club. Her name is Hattori Hatsune.

“Our club only has second-years right now.”

A second-year student as the Club President? That question must have been on their face. Before they could ask, Hatsune explained the club’s current situation.

“If you haven’t decided what to join, would you give me just a little of your time?”

Hatsune made the offer with a pleasant smile. She wasn’t pushy nor unkind. Her attitude, tone, expression, all looked perfectly balanced.

Drawn by her smile, Alisa agreed to follow her.

Hatsune didn’t take Alisa and Marika to the Crowd Ball Club tent, she brought them to the café terrace attached to the cafeteria.

“At this time of the year, the sports grounds are always crowded, so we use the empty café instead.”

Hatsune read Alisa’s curious expression and explained as such. Just like before, she anticipated the question. But Alisa, despite thinking ‘So perceptive, this senpai...’, for some reason did not feel cautious of her.

Hatsune had a sort of aura that softened others’ wariness. Rather than harmless, she is in a way someone who doesn’t stand out. There were no hints that she was going to do anything with aggressive intentions.

“You can order anything you want, it’s on me.”

“Eh, but...”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. You don’t owe me anything, okay? This is just your senpai making herself look good. Okay?”

Now that she thought about it, this kind of persistence is a strong point. If there was one was to describe Hatsune, it would probably be that she’s good at controlling the pace.

In the end, they were treated to some drinks by Hatsune. They sat down at a table, Alisa with straight tea, Marika with regular coffee and Hatsune with a caffe latte.

“Umm, Juumonji-san and Tookami-san, if I’m not mistaken?”

“I’m Juumonji Alisa.”

“And I’m Tookami Marika.”

Neither Alisa nor Marika asked her why she knew them. They both understood the newcomers’ personal information was being leaked in all sorts of ways since their admission and have given up on it.

“Whether you join the club or not, it’s nice to meet you.”

Hatsune extended her right hand to Alisa.

“...Likewise.”

Alisa puzzled for about a second, hesitated, and finally took her hand.

“You too, Tookami-san.”

“Yeah, please treat us well.”

Marika immediately squeezed her hand.

Right after, Marika’s eyebrows faintly twitched in surprise. Hatsune’s hands were limp, and not firm like they should be when giving a handshake.

“Now then. How much do you two know about Crowd Ball? It isn’t a famous sport at all, is it?”

Hatsune came out with the masochistic question, to which Alisa exchanged a glance with Marika.

“...It’s a competitive sport that used to be in the Nine Schools Competition, right? I know it’s played in a transparent boxed court and uses at most nine balls, and it’s similar to tennis.

Alisa responded to Hatsune’s question.

“If you know that much, this will be quicker.”

Hatsune smiled cheerfully, on the surface.

“As you said, Juumonji-san, it was an event in the Nine Schools Competition until four years ago, so the club had a decent number of members. But three years ago it was removed from the Nine Schools Competition and didn’t get reinstated at last year’s revival of the tournament, so the number of new members is getting lower and lower. Currently, there are only four second-year students in the club, and no new members so far. As things are, the current situation of the Crowd Ball Club is that it’ll have to disband eventually.”

“...But there are other competitions outside the Nine Schools Competition. I think it’s weird that the number of members has been decreasing so much if there were no scandals.”

Marika offered her suspicions after hearing Hatsune’s story.

“We didn’t have any scandals or anything like that. The reason is simple. It’s inconvenient.”

“Inconvenient...? What exactly is inconvenient?”

Alia asked what she meant in curiosity.

“Crowd Ball courts are a little unique, so we rent facilities outside of school for our activities. Because we had the advantage of participating in the Nine Schools Competition and had a lot of members, the school used to give us a microbonus, but when that advantage disappeared and the members decreased, the school also stopped providing us that support. And because of that, we had to secure our own transportation. With cooperation from the Bike Club we use electric kickboards, but it is inconvenient, right?”

It was a question that made them hesitate to agree, but they didn’t lie and say it wasn’t the case. Marika first replied “It really is” and Alisa next to her then nodded without saying a thing.

“It’s inconvenient, so the members decrease. Because of that, the number of contracted courts decrease, making practice more inconvenient. And the result of this vicious cycle is our current number of members.”

“So that’s what happened.”

Marika, who had doubted the state of the club, expressed her understanding.

“Because of our situation, we aren’t even able to play external matches, but we still practice hard. Crowd Ball is a game where not letting the balls drop on your court is important, so the priority is to train your magic abilities rather than improving your tactics against opponents. It’s a game where the most important is self-improvement, not the outcome of the match.”

“I see. I didn’t know that.”

After hearing that, Alisa’s interest in Crowd Ball sprouted.

“Juumonji-san, the attitude of the Tennis Club looked pretty half-hearted, right?”

Hatsune spoke as if she could see through Alisa’s mind.

“Why do you know...”

Alisa didn’t hide her agitation and accidentally responded straightforwardly.

“I thought that was the case when I saw your expression.”

“Were you watching Asha before you called out to her?”

Right after Hatsune responded to Alisa, Marika asked in a slightly sharp tone.

“Asha, you mean Juumonji-san? Alisa... becomes Asha? I see.”

“Hattori-senpai.”

Feeling like Hatsune was trying to dodge the question, Marika further sharpened not just her voice but her look as well.

“Were you watching Juumonji-san before you called out to her, yes or no?”

In Hatsune’s response it felt there was a background voice saying ‘don’t be so flustered’.

“Yes. I was watching. I mean, you stand out, Juumonji-san.”

With than answer, Marika had no choice but to lay down. There is no room to doubt that it is an objective fact that Alisa stands out.

Her light blonde hair and blue eyes are rare in Japan. No, that’s not all. Even assuming her eyes and hair were black, there was no doubt that Alisa’s beauty would make her stand out more than most students.

“I remembered Juumonji-san’s data, and I just couldn’t take my eyes off her afterwards. It’s the duty of the Club President to collect data on the best newcomers.”

Hatsune didn’t look guilty at all, and Marika let out a sigh. When it comes to personal information, she was nearing the point of complete resignation.

“And with that out of the way... Juumonji-san. Would you come and see us practice just once? The place is right here.”

Hatsune put a card the size of a business card on the table. On it was printed the FQRC (Fine QR Code[20]) for the court facility.

“Tomorrow is Sunday, but it’s a practice day. I’m sure you’ll take a liking to it. Ah, if you come, it’s fine not to bring a uniform.”

After saying that, Hatsune stood from her seat.

Feeling that Hatsune understood her better than herself, Alisa couldn’t argue nor ask why.

◇ ◇ ◇

“There was no club that clicked with you today either, huh?”

Marika spoke to Alisa, sounding disappointed, on their way home inside a Cabinet.

“I think I’m going tomorrow.”

Alisa’s response was different than what Marika expected.

“...Are you talking about the Crowd Ball Club?”

“Yeah. I have a feeling what Hattori-senpai said was not entirely off-mark.”