Before the excitement on Senior Tsukinoki's face could fade, she naturally turned and walked to a low cabinet.
She skillfully pulled open the cabinet door and took out a wooden tray with a tea set and a tin of tea leaves.
"Wait a moment, I'll brew some tea for you. While the Literature Club doesn't have many impressive activities, we have plenty of tea."
Yanami Anna watched curiously as she used a small tea scoop to take leaves from the tin, placed them in the teapot, and poured in hot water.
A fresh aroma of tea soon filled the room.
Before long, three steaming cups of green tea were placed by Senior Tsukinoki on the table in front of Imaizumi Keita, Yanami Anna, and Koma Chihana.
"Here, please enjoy."
"Thank you, Senior."
Yanami Anna held the teacup with both hands and gave her a sweet smile.
Imaizumi Keita also nodded politely. He held the teacup in his hands, feeling the warmth against his palms without rushing to drink.
"Senior Tsukinoki,"
Imaizumi Keita looked up, his gaze questioning the Vice President. "Is there something urgent that you specifically called all the members here for?"
"Oh, don't be so serious."
Senior Tsukinoki was taken aback for a moment, then skillfully sidestepped his question. "Imaizumi-kun, do you usually read light novels?"
"...Occasionally."
"Then that makes things easy."
Senior Tsukinoki breathed a sigh of relief and pointed to the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. "You can read any of the books we have here, especially the light novels, whenever you like."
Just as she finished, she seemed to remember something important, and her expression became slightly more serious.
"To be honest, recently, our Literature Club seems to have been targeted by those people in the Student Council. So, to deal with inspections, it would be best if you, Imaizumi-kun, could spend more time in the clubroom... reading."
"Just reading?"
Imaizumi Keita raised an eyebrow and asked doubtfully, "Will that be enough to convince the Student Council?"
"Well... doing other things would be better, of course." Senior Tsukinoki's gaze shifted slightly as she scratched her cheek with her index finger.
"But reading at least proves we're carrying out normal club activities..."
"I see."
Imaizumi Keita nodded and didn't press further, instead switching to another question.
"So, how many people are participating in today's 'reading activity'? Will everyone in the club be here?"
"Um, everyone should be participating?"
Senior Tsukinoki thought for a moment and gave a somewhat uncertain answer.
"Everyone?" Now it was Imaizumi Keita's turn to be surprised. "Is the attendance rate that high? That's quite rare."
In his view, most high school clubs were considered well-managed if they could ensure more than half of their members showed up on time every time.
"So, how many people are in the Literature Club in total?"
This question seemed to finally hit the mark.
A look of pride, mixed with a subtle complexity, appeared on Senior Tsukinoki's face.
She cleared her throat and held up her fingers, then began counting them off with great ceremony.
"First of all, we have a President, third-year Tamaki Shintaro. Then there's me, acting as Vice President."
She paused and pointed toward the corner of the clubroom.
"And then there's our first-year member, Classmate Koma Chihana."
Next, her finger turned toward Imaizumi Keita.
"And also, our other first-year new member, Imaizumi Keita-kun."
She stopped right there.
The clubroom naturally fell into a blanket of silence.
Imaizumi Keita waited quietly for her to continue.
The hand Koma Chihana used to hold her book seemed to start trembling slightly again.
As Yanami Anna held her teacup, the expression on her face gradually shifted from curiosity to confusion.
Time slowly ticked away...
Under Imaizumi Keita's calm gaze, Tsukinoki Koto finally gave up her final struggle, awkwardly scratching her cheek as she finished her sentence.
"...That's it."
Helplessly, Imaizumi Keita raised his hand and covered his forehead with his palm.
He finally understood why the Vice President had been so enthusiastic when she heard that Yanami Anna might join the Literature Club.
It turned out that the entire Literature Club, including himself—a "ghost member" who almost never showed up—had only just managed to scrape together four people.
This wasn't just a matter of being short-staffed... the club was literally on the verge of being disbanded...
"Ahaha, well..."
Tsukinoki Koto also sensed the awkward atmosphere and gave a dry laugh to try and lighten the mood.
After laughing, she suddenly stood up and looked at everyone present with a serious, apologetic expression while clapping her hands.
"Ah, right! I just remembered—I really should be going now!"
As she spoke, she quickly packed her school bag with incredibly swift movements.
"It's Shintaro's turn for duty today, and it seems the teacher kept him behind to help. I need to go check on him, or he'll definitely be overwhelmed all by himself."
This reason made Imaizumi Keita suspect she had prepared it in advance to avoid her own awkwardness...
"So, um..."
Tsukinoki Koto's gaze swept back and forth between Imaizumi Keita and Yanami Anna before finally landing on Koma Chihana, who had resumed reading her book at some point.
"Koma, I'll leave it to you to introduce the club's details to the two of them."
"Wha!?"
A short, terrified cry rang out from behind the book.
But Tsukinoki Koto completely ignored her protest and simply waved at Imaizumi Keita and Yanami Anna.
"Well then, you two, please excuse me! You're welcome to come by and play anytime!"
With that, she turned and quickly left the activity room without looking back.
As the wooden door was gently closed, the room was once again left with only Imaizumi Keita, Yanami Anna, and a somewhat petrified Koma Chihana in the corner.
Yanami Anna glanced at Koma in the corner and then at Imaizumi Keita, a helpless expression on her face.
Imaizumi Keita sighed and had no choice but to turn a pleading gaze toward Koma.
"Komari-san..."
"E-E-E-E-Eh...?"
At Imaizumi Keita's call, Koma Chihana pulled the book down slightly, barely revealing her eyes, and then stared into Imaizumi Keita's eyes without saying a word.
The activity room became deathly silent...
Time passed second by second...
Under Imaizumi Keita's silent stare, Koma Chihana finally couldn't withstand the mental pressure of being watched.
She slowly lowered the bunko book that served as her final line of defense, revealing a face filled with gloomy, tearful frustration.
Then, she silently raised both hands in a standard gesture of surrender.