Leo wasn't sure what kind of school forced its students to attend a "Club Parade" right after classes on Day Two.
But here he was—standing in the central courtyard, surrounded by colorful booths, excited voices, and music blaring from every direction.
"Welcome to Qingchen's Club Parade!" a cheerful voice rang out over the speakers.
"All first-years, come explore our clubs! Join something before something joins you!"
Leo raised an eyebrow.
> "Before something joins you?" What kind of horror movie tagline is that?
Around him, students were handing out flyers, waving flags, juggling, sword-dancing (wait, was that real?), and desperately trying to out-shout each other.
It was chaos.
Organized, shiny, school-approved chaos.
He scanned the booths: Literature Club, Go Club, Kendo Club, Mecha Modeling Society, Drama Club, something called "Toast Appreciation Society" (which suspiciously looked like a breakfast club in disguise)...
And then he heard it.
A voice.
Loud, bright, and oddly familiar—coming from a small broadcasting booth in the center of the square.
> "Alright, my beautiful first-years! Time to play our favorite game—Transfer Student Treasure Hunt! Who's gonna find our mysterious new boy first and win a free drink coupon?!"
Leo froze.
Wait. No. No way.
Did she mean—
"Hey, that's him!" someone shouted nearby. "That's the new guy!"
Leo turned in slow motion.
And saw her.
Standing on a raised platform with a mic in hand, wearing a school uniform jacket with radio pins all over it, was a girl with short auburn hair and the brightest smile he'd ever seen.
She waved enthusiastically at him.
"Bingo!" she laughed. "Ladies and gentlemen, our missing treasure has appeared!"
The crowd applauded.
Leo wanted to die.
---
He was pulled—literally pulled—into the broadcasting booth by two energetic students before he could protest.
"Relax, transfer guy," said the auburn-haired girl, grinning. "We don't bite."
"I—I didn't sign up for this—"
"Exactly! That's what makes it fun." She leaned toward him with a glint in her eye. "You're Leo Shen, right?"
"…Yeah."
"I'm Yuki."
She offered a handshake.
He shook it.
Her grip was firm, confident. Nothing like Rin's quiet, calculated energy.
Yuki was a firework. Loud, colorful, impossible to ignore.
"I run the Broadcasting Club. You're on our live campus stream right now. Say hi!"
Leo blinked. "…Hi?"
"Perfect." She turned to the mic. "And he speaks, folks! He speaks! Our transfer student is alive!"
Laughter from nearby students.
Leo chuckled, despite himself.
> This girl was… intense.
---
She turned the mic off for a moment and gave him a more relaxed look.
"Hey, sorry if that was too much. You looked lost, and I thought, why not help you meet people?"
Leo scratched his head. "By announcing a manhunt on me?"
She grinned. "It worked, didn't it?"
He couldn't argue with that.
Yuki picked up a flyer and handed it to him.
"Join us. Broadcasting Club. It's fun. We cover school events, run the music channel, even interview teachers."
Leo took it but hesitated.
"I'm not really… loud," he admitted.
Yuki shrugged. "That's fine. We need people who can edit, write scripts, organize stuff. You don't have to talk if you don't want to."
He blinked. "…Really?"
"Of course! Not everyone wants to shout into a mic every day. That's my job." She winked.
---
As he stepped out of the booth, flyer in hand, he heard her voice call after him:
"Hey, Leo?"
He turned.
Yuki smiled—not the megawatt stage grin, but a softer one.
"You've got a good vibe. Don't disappear, okay?"
"…I'll try not to."
---
That evening, Leo sat on his dorm bed, staring at the club flyer.
Two days.
Two very different girls.
One barely spoke, yet somehow said more than most people ever did.
The other never stopped talking, yet made him feel oddly at ease.
He didn't know what he expected from his new school.
But it definitely wasn't this.
He thought of Rin's cold eyes in the library.
And Yuki's warm grin in the sunlight.
> "Don't disappear."
Leo smiled to himself.
> Maybe… I won't.