sparse flash 4

Makoto: Umm...? You’re Akehoshi-kun and Sakasaki-kun from Class A, right? Did you need something from the game research club?

Subaru: Huh? You know our names? Huh...?

Makoto: Oh, I’m Yuuki Makoto, from Class B. You two are pretty much famous, though. Class A has all sorts of amazing people in it... Fufufu ♪

Subaru: (F–for some reason, he seems like a really gloomy and closed-off kinda guy... I guess he likes games, at least.)

So, Yuuki-kun? Yuuki-kun, You’re in the game research club?

Makoto: Oh, y–yeah. I really like games, so...

I was pretty much a shut-in for a long time, so I played them all the time. It made my eyesight go bad, though.

Wait, you probably don’t care about that... But, um, what to do... I only just joined the club, so I don’t know anyone else in it.

I don’t know who it’d be, but you’re here to see someone, right?

But I’ve got no idea how to get in touch with them... What to do... Maybe you can wait here until they get back?

But no one really comes for the club meetings; it’s pretty much just me... so you might be out of luck even if you do wait.

Oh, can I get you some tea?

You’re a guest, after all. Uh, I think there should be a kettle around here somewhere...

Whoa—?!

Subaru: You okay?! You totally just tripped over nothing, like one of those clumsy girls in anime...!

Makoto: Ahaha, sorry. I think my prescription’s off.

When it came time for the eye exam, I lost all confidence in myself and got nervous answering their questions... so they thought my sight was worse than it actually is.

H–hang on? I can’t see anything! My glasses, where are my glasses...?!

Subaru: You dropped ‘em~ They’re over here; I’ll get them for you.

Here you go~ ♪

Makoto: Thanks... ♪

Subaru: ......

Makoto: Hm? Wh–what is it? You keep staring at me... is there something on my face?

Subaru: No... it’s just that when you don’t have glasses on, you like, have a whole different vibe, yanno?

Makoto: Y–you think so? Well, please don’t stare too much; I have a hard time keeping eye contact with people... which is probably not the best trait for an idol to have, huh.

Natsume: (...Ah, he is that Yuuki Makoto. I didn’t even notice that he enrolled at Yumenosaki Academy.)

(I still haven’t yet established a proper intelligence network within the school.)

(Yuuki-kun here was well known as a children’s model, considered a prodigy within the industry.)

(But idols and models are different beasts altogether; by the looks of things, he’s finding it difficult to blossom here and floundering as a result.)

(It would be beneficial for me to... offer him some help, perhaps, or ingratiate myself and win him over. With this unexpected discovery, I’ll need to revise my plans a bit.)

Makoto: Yeah, so... so could you stop staring at me?

Subaru: Hey, Yuuki-kun, what game are you playing? It looks sort of like sugoroku, is it?^[1]

But that doesn’t sound very fun to play alone.

Makoto: Ahh, could you not flail around so much? This console is vintage, so it was really expensive.

If you knock into it and it breaks, my senpais are going to be so mad.

Natsume: Then none of them are here? I had business with one of them.

Makoto: Wh–which one? Most of the guys in the game club are kind of reserved, so if I had to guess, you’re probably looking for the more famous one, right?

Natsume: I would assume so.

Makoto: Yeah, but he dropped out of school, I think. Pretty suddenly, too... I only found out yesterday after school, so it took me by surprise.

Subaru: Really? That happens a whole lot here, don’t you think?

Makoto: Yeah, but it’s not like his dreams got crushed and he ran away... I heard he left to pursue a career in game development, apparently.

He was interested in making games, so he wanted to focus on that.

What I heard... was that someone in the game industry noticed his programming skills, and he dropped out halfway through the term to get a job with them.

Subaru: Huh. Yeah I guess anyone would jump at the opportunity to live their dreams if the thing they wanted to do suddenly became a reality.

That’s not really my speed, but I do get it.

Natsume: Ahaha. You’d be a fool to seriously be pursuing an idol career at our school... I think he made a wise decision. Or rather, a mature one.

Not everyone wants to be an idol as earnestly as Akehoshi-kun does.

Many of the students see this as more of a temporary solution until they can obtain that which they actually want to do.

I am the same way. I am a fortune teller first and foremost; the skills I learn as an idol are just a perk.

Is it not the same for you, Yuuki-kun? Since you are a model by trade.

Makoto: Oh, uh, I’m not modeling anymore...

Anyway, you guys must be in a bind since the guy you were looking for isn’t at school anymore, right?

Pretty much everyone else who joined the club did so because they wanted to get closer to him...

Now I’m worried that everyone’s going to drop out.

We just don’t have enough members anymore. I hope they don’t shut down the club.