Under Hina Ebina's encouragement, Yumiko Miura finally went and got a club application form, filling it out for the Paranormal Research Club.
It was no secret that Shin had founded the Paranormal Research Club. After all, Shin had been gaining quite a bit of attention lately, and many people were keeping an eye on his activities.
Although many girls were interested in Shin, very few had actually tried to apply to join the Paranormal Research Club.
Most girls were already part of other clubs, and asking them to leave their current clubs just to get closer to a boy who seemed hard to pursue felt too drastic and not worth the effort.
However, Yumiko Miura didn't have such concerns.
For one, she wasn't part of any other club. After school, she usually hung out with her friends. Now, it would just mean that she might have club activities after school, which she was perfectly fine with.
Of course, she didn't know that the Paranormal Research Club didn't actually have any after-school activities.
On the other hand, she was quite confident in her looks—while other girls felt that pursuing Shin was a long shot, Yumiko Miura believed she had a good chance.
However, after getting the application form, Yumiko Miura suddenly felt nervous again. After some hesitation, she decided to get two more forms for Hina Ebina and Yui Yuigahama.
"...Why do I have one too?"
When Hina Ebina saw the club application form Yumiko Miura handed her, she was completely baffled.
She had suggested that Yumiko Miura join the Paranormal Research Club because Yumiko Miura often watched Shin from afar but couldn't find a way to get closer, which made Hina Ebina feel bad for her.
But Hina Ebina herself had no such interest in Shin. Why had Yumiko Miura given her an application form too, expecting her to join the Paranormal Research Club as well?
However, when she saw the embarrassed look on Yumiko Miura's face, Hina Ebina understood—Yumiko Miura was feeling hesitant again and wanted to bring her friends along to boost her courage.
Hina Ebina sighed and scratched her head, then turned to Yui Yuigahama beside her:
"Yuigahama, you should talk some sense into Miura. Why would she drag her friends into this... Wait, why have you already filled out the form!?"
Hina Ebina had intended to ask Yui Yuigahama to help convince Yumiko Miura to join the club on her own.
But when she turned around, she saw that Yui Yuigahama had already filled out the form, writing "Paranormal Research Club" and her name on it. She had even written a lengthy explanation for why she wanted to join.
"...Huh?"
Hearing Hina Ebina's exasperated tone, Yui Yuigahama looked up, seemingly confused about why Hina Ebina was reacting so strongly.
She hadn't thought much of it. When Yumiko Miura suggested they join the Paranormal Research Club together, she simply filled out the form.
Yui Yuigahama had always been a go-with-the-flow kind of person, and she tended to comply with Yumiko Miura's requests without much thought.
Fortunately, Yumiko Miura wasn't the type to take advantage of others and genuinely cared about her friends. Otherwise, with Yui Yuigahama's personality, she might have been bullied.
Besides, Yui Yuigahama also had a bit of a crush on Shin, so joining his club didn't seem like a bad idea to her. In fact, she was quite happy about it.
"Fine... Both of you are such a handful."
Seeing Yui Yuigahama's clueless expression and Yumiko Miura's nervous demeanor, Hina Ebina could only sigh and fill out her own application form.
After all, she wasn't part of any club either. Given how unreliable her two friends were, she decided to go along with it.
...
"You want to join the Paranormal Research Club too?"
Just before school ended, Yui Yuigahama came to Shin's desk and handed him the three application forms.
Shin picked up the forms and looked at them, his expression turning a bit odd—Yumiko Miura, Yui Yuigahama, and Hina Ebina. These were all girls from the popular crowd.
Shin couldn't quite understand why these three had suddenly decided to apply to join the Paranormal Research Club.
"Surely they're not all here because of me, right?"
As he looked at the forms, this thought crossed Shin's mind—but then he remembered that he hadn't had much interaction with these three.
After all, he had never joined their popular group. Although he had been invited a few times, he had always politely declined.
But if they weren't here because of him... these three didn't seem like the type to be interested in paranormal activities, did they?
Or had the interests of modern girls shifted from pursuing fashion to seeking thrills?
Not entirely sure, Shin didn't immediately reject Yui Yuigahama. Instead, he said to her:
"Although you've written a detailed explanation on the application, I should let you know... the Paranormal Research Club doesn't actually have any club activities. It's more of a nominal club."
Of course, its main function was to provide a legitimate clubroom where Shin and the others could have lunch.
"Huh? No club activities?"
Yui Yuigahama was stunned—Yumiko Miura had joined the club specifically to spend more time with Shin.
Although Shin had mentioned this to Kasumigaoka Utaha the day before, the classroom had been noisy at the time, and Yui Yuigahama and the others, who were sitting farther away, hadn't heard it.
But even though it wasn't what they had expected, Yui Yuigahama still nodded:
"Yes, we still want to join."
"...Alright then, I'll approve it. Starting today, you're all members of the Paranormal Research Club."
Shin smiled wryly. Although he didn't understand why these three had suddenly decided to join the Paranormal Research Club, he had no intention of rejecting them.
It was just a nominal membership, after all.
"Then, Shin, can we exchange contact information?"
Seeing that Shin had accepted the application forms, Yui Yuigahama quickly pulled out her phone.
Even though there were no club activities, getting Shin's contact information would still be a great opportunity.
This wasn't just for Yumiko Miura's sake—Yui Yuigahama herself also wanted to have Shin's contact information.
Shin didn't mind and took out his phone to exchange contact details with Yui Yuigahama.
With Shin's number now saved, Yui Yuigahama smiled and returned to Yumiko Miura and Hina Ebina.
However, seeing Shin exchange contact information with yet another cute girl, Megumi Kato turned around and gave him a somewhat complex look.
The resentment in her eyes was unmistakable.
To be continued…
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus