Akira tapped Wakana's desk lightly. When Wakana looked up, Akira said, "Wakana, the club application has been approved."
"Oh." Wakana nodded in response, then suddenly realized what Akira had said.
"Ah? Akira-kun, you were that proactive?"
"Wakana, you didn't think I was joking, did you?" Akira asked.
Wakana rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn't thought Akira was joking, but in his understanding, applying for a club was clearly not an easy task.
A first-year university student independently founding a club.
Just imagining it was enough to be surprising.
"So, Wakana, there's no point in regretting it now," Akira said with a smile, patting Wakana's shoulder.
"I've already submitted your name to Teacher Nakamura."
Wakana had no regrets and nodded, agreeing to Akira's decision.
"I wasn't thinking of leaving Akira-kun's club," Wakana said, then seemed to remember something. "What's the club's name? And is it just the two of us?"
"The club's name is the DWF Club." Akira explained the meaning of the name to Wakana and, as expected, received a look that clearly said, What kind of name is that?
But Akira didn't mind. After all, the name was already decided. Who could come up with something better than what he had chosen?
"As for the club members, I've brought in Kashiwagi and Murakami."
"Oh, you mean Kashiwagi Shiki and Murakami Kouki from our class?" Wakana asked.
Akira nodded. "From now on, we're all club members."
"Wakana, don't always be alone. You should make more male friends."
Wakana nodded. He realized that Akira-kun already had other friends.
Akira-kun's changes had come so quickly.
At the beginning of the semester, Akira-kun had been even more introverted than himself.
Yet now, not only had he made many friends, he even had a beautiful girlfriend.
Thinking about it carefully, Wakana felt that Akira-kun was even more successful than those popular, high-achieving students at school.
It was truly admirable.
Wakana clenched his palms unconsciously.
He, too, had to work harder.
"Yes!" Wakana responded firmly to Akira's suggestion, his face filled with determination.
"That's the spirit," Akira said, looking at Wakana with approval.
At least his encouragement seemed to be working.
After all, constantly saying kind words without seeing any response was quite dull.
And constantly discouraging people would only drain their motivation.
After afternoon classes ended, Akira did not receive any notification from Nakamura Yu.
It seemed the club matter still hadn't been fully settled. Akira thought to himself that it made sense, since it involved not only filing documents but also arranging a classroom for club activities.
However, there were plenty of empty classrooms in the school, so allocating one should not be difficult.
Apparently, the previous owner of this kind of club had simply sat in the classroom reading all day.
Akira complained inwardly, then went to the teacher in charge of club affairs and obtained several general club application forms. He handed them to Kashiwagi Shiki and Murakami Kouki as they were leaving after school.
Morita, who was nearby, also leaned over curiously and took one of the application forms.
"Let me see what your club's requirements are," Morita said as he examined the form. Normally, club application forms listed specific requirements.
However, to Morita's disappointment, this was just a template form. Akira had only changed the club name at the top, leaving everything else untouched.
"Akira, you really are lazy," Morita complained. "I'm starting to doubt whether this club is reliable."
"Don't underestimate my club, Morita." Akira pretended to be angry and lightly kicked him, emphasizing that his intention to establish the club was very serious.
Don't say hurtful things so casually, Morita.
Akira remembered that in the original story, when Wakana attended Marin's classmate gathering, Morita had also reacted casually when he learned Wakana was doing Marin's makeup.
It was precisely these kinds of remarks, which the speaker didn't take seriously, that were most likely to hurt others.
Akira felt it was necessary to give this new friend some advice.
"I say, Morita."
"Huh?" Morita was startled by Akira's suddenly serious tone.
Akira-kun couldn't really be angry, could he?
"We're friends, right?"
"Of course," Morita replied with a cheerful laugh.
"Then I have a principle when dealing with friends: get straight to the point," Akira said directly. "Morita, your straightforward personality is very likable, but you still need to be more careful with your words."
Morita was clearly good-natured, but people like him often failed to notice awkwardness because they were usually the ones creating the atmosphere.
Awkwardness was never something they thought about, because they were immersed in the atmosphere they themselves made.
Marin was often slow to notice such things, while Morita, to a large extent, didn't think about them at all.
Kashiwagi Shiki and Murakami Kouki, who were nearby, looked like they wanted to speak but held back.
"Morita, you're so kind-hearted that you think many things don't matter."
"But for our classmates, some things might become psychological scars."
"You can't just say they're overly sensitive. Sometimes people really are that fragile," Akira said, watching as Morita's expression gradually grew serious.
"So, Morita, think a bit more before saying something that feels inappropriate."
Akira recalled a quiet girl in class who came from the countryside. She always felt old-fashioned and rarely spoke to others.
"I think Haruno-san's Kansai dialect sounds nice!"
When Haruno-san had bravely greeted Morita in what she believed was standard speech, she had received his response.
"Morita, find some time to apologize to Haruno-san."
Morita stared blankly at Akira, feeling as if he had just been scolded.
Yet when he looked at the two friends beside him, they also seemed oddly relieved, as if something they had long wanted to say had finally been said.
Was his personality really that bad?
"Kashiwagi? Murakami?" Morita instinctively sought confirmation from them.
"Being called a sis-con really isn't a good experience," Murakami Kouki nodded.
"I don't actually like maids either," Kashiwagi Shiki sighed.
Morita finally realized his mistake.
"Ah… I'm really sorry," Morita said, rubbing the back of his head.
Akira had been looking out for him, even if his words were a bit blunt.
And in doing so, he had also helped Morita resolve the lingering guilt he felt about Haruno-san.
"Thank you… for putting up with me all this time."