A few days later, a meeting between Minase and her seniors from the drama club was arranged.
The place was “Miss Me Blind.”
There, we waited for the drama club members to arrive.
We had allowed plenty of time so they could make it even without rushing over right after class. Even so, they still hadn’t shown up.
When I looked around the café, I saw the usual regulars — an old man studying an advanced book with an electronic dictionary, and two elderly women chatting happily. And unusually, there were three girls sitting together at another table.
Other than them, there was only the manager behind the counter, and Misumi-senpai sitting in front of him.
“Hey, what are you and Sera plotting?”
Minase asked.
“Secret.”
“Sera said the same thing and wouldn’t tell me either.”
Minase pouted unhappily.
I had prepared a rather silly little plan. She’d understand soon enough. Still, if the meeting went smoothly, there’d be no need for it — I’d tell her after everything was done.
Just then, the bell over the café door rang.
Two girls wearing the Kazamigaoka school uniform walked in. They were probably the seniors from the drama club. Cutting it close, but still on time. I had no reason to complain.
When I looked closely, I recognized one of them — one of the three girls I’d seen earlier at the ramen shop.
“Over here.”
I stood up and waved slightly to catch their attention. The café wasn’t big, but this was faster.
Minase also stood up as they came toward us.
“Sorry to call you out here, Mikami-san. Thank you for coming.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m the club president, after all.”
The girl who replied was someone I was meeting for the first time. She was apparently the drama club president — a third-year named Mikami. First impression: she seemed more reasonable than I’d expected.
“And Kaburagi-san, too.”
“I’m rather curious about what you’re going to say today.”
The one called Kaburagi was indeed the same girl from the ramen shop.
She already knew why Minase had called them here — to talk about returning to the club. That’s why she was standing there, acting like she’d already won.
“By the way, who are you?”
Mikami-senpai turned her eyes to me. Next to her, Kaburagi-senpai looked displeased — probably because I’d bested her in that argument before.
“I’m Minase’s classmate. I just wanted to sit in since I have a few things to say. Oh, and this is my workplace, so I’ll cover the coffee.”
It wasn’t much of a justification, but I went ahead anyway. I gestured toward a window seat and had them sit there.
I gave Misumi-senpai a signal to bring over the coffee.
“Yakushiji told me you wanted to rejoin the club. Is that true?”
Once the coffee was served, Mikami got straight to the point. Yakushiji had helped arrange this meeting, and I’d also asked her to explain the situation to them.
“Yes.”
Minase nodded.
“I see. If that’s what you want, I’d be happy to have you back.”
“Though before that, don’t you have something to say?”
Just when it seemed things might go smoothly, Kaburagi suddenly cut in.
“That’s right. You did submit an official withdrawal form, after all.”
Mikami glanced at her and seemed to agree.
“Hold on a second.”
As expected, things weren’t going the way I wanted, so I stepped in before Minase could speak.
“Minase used to attend a professional acting school, you know. She’s serious about becoming an actress, and even after leaving the club, she never stopped practicing her lines every day. Shouldn’t you be the ones asking her to come back?”
What they said wasn’t wrong — Minase had indeed left the club. But the reason she left wasn’t being acknowledged. It wasn’t right to act like she was the one at fault.
“Oh please. That acting school? She quit halfway through, didn’t she? That’s nothing to brag about.”
Kaburagi shot back immediately. To her, Minase was nothing more than a dropout.
“President, this is exactly the kind of attitude that made Minase quit, isn’t it? You know that, don’t you?”
“Well… yes.”
Mikami gave an uncertain answer.
From what I’d seen, Kaburagi wasn’t the type to gossip behind people’s backs — she probably said this kind of thing to Minase’s face. Which meant the president had to know.
I turned toward Kaburagi again.
“You keep looking down on Minase, but do you actually have a better résumé than she does? Are you in a theater troupe or something?”
“I—I…”
Kaburagi faltered.
“Guess not. At best, you’ve only done school club activities, right? Then maybe don’t laugh at someone who had the guts to try and fail.”
“Wh—”
She was speechless. Probably not used to being called out directly.
“What’s your problem!?”
“Me? I just want Minase to be in an environment where she can act properly. Who cares who apologizes to whom? A club’s just a group of people with the same passion. Can’t you just get along?”
I didn’t say it aloud, but in short, *“Respect each other.”*
“President.”
I called out, pressing her for a decision.
Mikami looked deep in thought, but again, Kaburagi interrupted.
“There’s no way that’s possible! It’s your fault things got this messy! If you hadn’t butted in, she could’ve just apologized and that would’ve been the end of it!”
She shot Minase a glare, making her flinch slightly.
What a joke. She insults others, and when someone points it out, she blames them instead.
“You know what? Forget it. We don’t need her back. With such a loudmouthed friend, it would never work anyway.”
“You’re right. Maybe it’s better for both sides.”
Mikami agreed. Whether she realized it or not, she was clearly taking Kaburagi’s side.
“What a waste.”
“Totally.”
Then, two unfamiliar female voices chimed in — neither Minase nor her seniors.
When I turned around, I saw two girls standing there — one dressed with stunning fashion sense, the other in calm, stylish pants, but with an unmistakable aura of someone not ordinary.
“Sera! Shiera!”
Minase’s eyes widened.
“Why are you here!?”
“Sakra-chi invited us. Hey there, Sakra-chi~”
Sera waved at me. Seeing her in person, she really did shine — clearly not just an average girl.
“I came too~”
This one was Shiera, who placed a hand on Minase’s shoulder from behind.
“Wait—this is what you were talking to Sera about, Sakra!?”
Yeah. I thought it’d be fastest if people who truly knew Minase could vouch for her. I’d had them waiting in the back. If everything had gone smoothly, they wouldn’t have needed to appear — but, well, so much for that.
“Y-you actually know them…?”
Kaburagi’s eyes widened in disbelief. She clearly hadn’t believed Minase when she’d said she knew Shiera. And now Sera was here too — there was no denying it.
Even Mikami looked completely lost for words.
“Yup. Mishio and I were classmates at the acting school. Same for Sera. You can check my profile on the agency’s website if you want proof.”
Shiera said cheerfully.
“Anyway, about our class — there were two courses. The regular one, and the *Star Class* for those with exceptional talent aiming for debut. And guess what? Mishio was in the Star Class. She had the best acting skills among us.”
Shiera said proudly. Sera added, “Me and Shiera were just in the regular class.”
That was news to me too — and pretty shocking.
“So? Quite the rare gem, right?”
Shiera smiled with a hand still on Minase’s shoulder.
Kaburagi and Mikami exchanged looks, clearly overwhelmed — not even processing what had just happened.
Then Minase suddenly brushed off Shiera’s hand.
“What’s that supposed to mean…?”
Her voice turned cold. It was the first time I’d heard her speak like that — sharp, distant, intimidating. She glared at Shiera.
“Talking down to me, huh? You came here to mock me for failing despite being in the Star Class? Must be nice, Kyoka — you’re so popular now, even though you were just in the regular class.”
“W-wait, Mishio. I only came because I heard you were in trouble—”
“I never asked you for help!”
Minase cut her off sharply.
“Mishio, that’s going too far, isn’t it?”
This time, it was Sera who spoke up.
“Sure, we came on our own, but—”
“You too, Taeko.”
Minase interrupted again, voice trembling with anger.
“Don’t call me by that lame name. And don’t go blabbing to Kyoka about what Sakra told you!”
Ignoring Sera’s reddening face, Minase went on.
Judging by the flow, “Taeko” must’ve been Sera’s real name.
“Oh, I get it. You brought Kyoka so you could both laugh at me together, didn’t you?”
“Of course not!”
“Really, Taeko? You think you can laugh at me? You only succeeded because you gave up on singing and dancing!”
Minase sneered coldly.
What the hell…? What was happening here? Watching the three glare daggers at each other, I could only feel completely lost.
Had I misread everything? Had I underestimated Minase’s insecurities? My plan — to have Sera and Shiera vouch for her — might’ve just reopened old wounds instead.
This was my fault. I had to fix it. Just as I thought that—
“So this is it?”
Minase suddenly spoke with a bright, cheerful face.
“Not quite.”
“Yeah, not quite.”
The other two echoed, and they all nodded with smiles.
“Well, something like that.”
Then Minase turned toward me and the stunned seniors, smiling as she said,
“So, how was that?”
It hit me at once.
“Wait… that was all an act?”
“Yup.”
Minase grinned.
“Sorry, Sakra-chi. When you told me your plan, I thought it sounded fun. But since I’m Mishio’s friend, I figured we could make it even *more* fun — so I told her about it.”
So in the end, I’d been used as part of their setup.
“But thanks for thinking of her. If anything happens again, let us know, okay?”
Well, fine. They’d known each other for years — their bond was clearly stronger than anything I could match.
Anyway, time to get back on track. Things had gone a bit sideways, but the main point remained.
I turned to the two drama club seniors.
“Even though I got caught up in it too — you saw her acting just now. Don’t you think Minase’s talent is something your club needs?”
The two upperclassmen, who had been frozen in shock, finally seemed to come to their senses and exchanged glances — still speechless, just communicating silently.
Mikami looked straight at Minase, while Kaburagi turned away in frustration.
“Minase-san—”
“I’m sorry, Mikami-san.”
But Minase cut her off.
“Please forget today ever happened.”
“Huh?”
“I really thought I wanted to go back to the club. But now I know that’s not what I want. I’m sorry — truly.”
With that, Minase bowed deeply.
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