I Can't Call Your Name

The next day, Kaito and Touma walked through the chaotic school corridors, glancing around as they went.

At Shibuya High School, joining a club was mandatory, and students had to do so during the first week of school.

Neither Kaito nor Touma were really club people. Both were introverts, but they had no choice in the matter.

Their only goal was to find a club with the least amount of activity and as few members as possible, where they could quietly relax.

Amid the noisy chaos, where everyone was eagerly recruiting new members, Kaito and Touma walked on, reluctantly turning down offers as they passed by.

"Tell me, Touma-kun, do you think we can find a Rest and Relaxation Club this year too?"

Touma smiled and replied, "Ah, that would be amazing. Last year, we almost spent the whole year just napping in the club!"

The two wandered between the club rooms for a while, looking around. Most of the clubs seemed crowded and lively, far from what they wanted.

Unfortunately, no club this year was quiet or unpopular enough to meet their standards.

Feeling disheartened, they ended their search empty-handed and decided to try again the next day.

As they were leaving, a voice called out to them from behind. It was Yui Tanaka—excited but slightly nervous. "Ko—Kobayashi-san!"

Kaito turned around, not recognizing her at first, but he quickly remembered she was one of the girls who had spoken to Misaki the other day.

He and Touma walked over to where Yui was standing, waiting by the half-open door of an empty clubroom.

"Um... if you'd like, you could join our club?" Yui said, nervously fidgeting with her fingers, avoiding eye contact.

Kaito glanced at the name of the club written on the door. It read: Amateur Astrology Club. It looked like a pretty niche and unpopular one, just what they had been searching for.

But he wanted to be sure. "Sorry, what was your name again?"

"Yui Tanaka," she replied.

"Tanaka-san, how many members does your club have right now?"

Yui looked down at the floor, embarrassed, and mumbled like a small child, "Umm, just me... and one other person."

Kaito suddenly turned to Touma, his eyes sparkling. Touma gave him the same excited look in return.

They both knew exactly what this meant. At last, they had found the peaceful, quiet club they had been dreaming of.

As the two stared at each other, silently celebrating, Yui, feeling uneasy about the awkward silence, added.

'Uh... don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to pressure you, but I just started this club, and if we don't reach four members, it'll get shut down. So, I was hoping..."

Before she could finish, Kaito grabbed Touma by the shoulder, grinning ear to ear as he stepped inside.

"Oh, no problem at all! Here you go—two new members. Your club won't be closing anytime soon!"

"Really?" Yui's eyes widened with excitement. She hurried to the desk to grab the registration forms, her energy bubbling over.

Yui eagerly grabbed the papers, unsure of what to do next. Kaito took the papers from her hand and quickly wrote his name.

"We sign here, right?" he asked, signing the form, then handed it to Touma, who filled out his information with similar excitement. They both wanted to officially join the club without any issues.

Once the paperwork was done, Kaito, showing little interest, gazed out the window. "So, Tanaka-san, who's the other member?"

"Not a stranger, actually, she—" Before she could finish, the door opened and a girl walked in holding two bottles of banana milk.

"Sorry, Yui-chan, there's no strawberry milk left, so I got banana. I hope you—" Misaki stopped mid-sentence as she saw Kaito.

Yui rushed over to Misaki, taking one of the banana milks from her hand with a big, friendly smile.

"No problem! I love banana milk too. Thank you so much!"

Misaki shot Kaito a tense, wary look, her eyes full of uncertainty, before sitting down.

Kaito, pretending to not care, felt an intense internal struggle. A storm was brewing inside, but he kept up a calm facade.

"So, Yui-chan, what's the class president and his friend doing here?" Misaki asked, trying to steer the conversation.

"They? Well... they're our new members!" Yui answered with a bright smile, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

The moment Misaki heard this, she shot Kaito a sharp, piercing glare.

Kaito felt a chill run down his spine, like he already knew the trouble that was about to follow. He swallowed hard, trying to keep his composure.

"Thanks to Kobayashi-san and his friend, we now have four members, so the club won't be closing!" Yui exclaimed, her voice full of enthusiasm.

At this, Kaito flinched. He had briefly considered making up an excuse and running away, but now it was too late for that.

Kaito quickly jumped into the conversation, his voice panicked and cold sweat dripping down his face.

"Ah, yes, exactly! Thanks to us, the club won't be closing now..." He nudged Touma, who was playing a game on his phone, with a look that screamed for help.

"Right, Touma-kun? That's why we joined, after all. We just couldn't resist Yui-chan's persistence."

"Hm, yeah, that's how it happened," Touma replied, sounding like he couldn't care less.

Kaito, still feeling the tension from Misaki's burning gaze, stammered, "O-okada-san, I didn't know you were part of this club. Really, this is a surprise to me."

When he finished speaking, he let out a deep breath, hoping that Misaki wouldn't end his life that night.

Misaki, seeing Yui's cheerful face, didn't want to ruin the mood.

With a deep sigh, she forced a smile and said, "Oh, I see. I'm so happy to hear that, Yui-chan! Now we're officially a club."

After another exhausting and unfortunate day that had once again gone against Kaito, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

As he prepared to hop on his bike and return to his courier job, he noticed Misaki staring at him from across the yard.

She was silently signaling with her hand, indicating that he should follow her somewhere.

Kaito nodded reluctantly in acknowledgment. He grabbed his bike and walked alongside it, rather than riding, as they made their way to a more secluded area away from the school.

Once they had walked far enough, Misaki led Kaito down an alley, glancing back to make sure he was still following.

Kaito followed her into the alley, but before he could react, Misaki grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall. Her anger was clear.

"Are you messing with me? Are you doing this on purpose?"

"No, no! I swear, I didn't—"

Misaki cut him off, her voice trembling with frustration.

"First, you're in my class, and now you're in this club... How did you even find mine among all those others?!"

Her expression turned more serious, and the intensity in her tone increased.

"Or... are you secretly following me? Are you some kind of stalker?"

The accusations stung Kaito deeply, and he couldn't take it anymore. His anger flared up.

With a sudden motion, he grabbed Misaki by the collar and pushed her back against the wall, holding her by both arms, his grip far firmer than he intended.

"That's enough! First, you call me a pervert, now a stalker! Do you really think that's what I am?"

Misaki's eyes widened in shock as Kaito burst out in anger. But just as quickly, his anger faded.

He stepped back, sat on the nearby stairs, and his face showed only exhaustion and despair.

"Aren't you already acting like that?" Misaki's voice was still sharp, but there was a hint of uncertainty in it now.

"No!" Kaito shouted, his voice strained.

After a moment of silence, he spoke again, this time more subdued.

"I... I'm just the unluckiest guy in the world, okay?" His voice wavered.

"Every time I try something, it always goes wrong. No matter what I do, I always end up in the worst situation, and somehow, it always comes back to you."

Misaki stood there quietly, listening, her anger starting to subside. She realized she might have gone too far.

"That day, when you called me a pervert, you had no idea why I came to you or what I was trying to do," Kaito said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"You thought I just jumped on you for no reason? You... just don't know anything."

He suddenly realized how emotional he had become. If he kept going, he might have ended up crying.

He wiped his tears with his sleeve and stood up, trying to regain his composure. Then, he grabbed his bike, looking at Misaki one last time.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done or haven't done. It wasn't intentional, just... know that."

With that, he jumped onto his bike, gave her a brief glance, and began pedaling away, not looking back.