Chapter Seven: Not Just Angels Falling from the Sky
Amegumi Chika is the head of the Supernatural Phenomena Research Club.
However, she isn’t particularly good at dealing with evil spirits or supernatural beings.
When Chika enrolled in Hoshikage High School, the school required students to participate in club activities.
Not having decided on a club to join, she was caught by “Kozuka Tokka,” a second-year senior who was then the head of the Supernatural Research Club.
Under the senior’s coercion and persuasion, Chika unwittingly joined the Supernatural Research Club.
Although her reason for joining was not glamorous, the time spent with her senior in the club became the happiest days of Chika’s life since she became aware.
Due to family reasons, Chika had been looked at with different eyes by those around her since childhood, gradually developing an introverted and sensitive personality.
Since elementary school, she faced bullying from the boys in her class because of her glasses and outdated appearance, which deepened her introversion and inferiority, leaving her isolated throughout her life, struggling to connect with others.
Even in middle school, this situation did not improve. In fact, as her secondary sexual characteristics began to develop, her more prominent chest attracted unwanted attention from boys.
It was her senior who rescued Chika from this quagmire.
“Chika, just like it’s wrong to view others through colored lenses, you shouldn’t view evil spirits that way either, okay?”
Under the serious nonsense of her senior, Chika gradually began to feel the joy of being in the Supernatural Research Club.
However, after a series of twists and turns, the former new member of the Supernatural Research Club, Chika, had now become its head.
And this Supernatural Research Club, which had been a harbor for Chika, now faced a crisis of disbandment due to a lack of members, with only Chika remaining.
Today is the last deadline for the club before it would be officially disbanded.
If enough new members are not recruited before the student council arrives today, the club will be declared disbanded, and the club room will be confiscated.
Yet, even if the introverted Chika planned to actively promote the Supernatural Research Club, it was unlikely any new students would be willing to join because…
Chika cautiously took out a jade-colored charm from her pocket, which featured a cute golden-yellow fox embroidered on it.
This was the final gift her senior gave her before graduating.
Since then, her senior had never met or contacted Chika again.
“I’m sorry, Tokka-senpai, I couldn’t protect the Supernatural Research Club…”
On the wall of the Supernatural Research Club room, the hands of the old wall clock gradually approached the agreed time with the student council.
The knock on the door, symbolizing the end of the Supernatural Research Club, was sounded early.
Chika held the charm with both hands in prayer, silently praying to an unknown existence for a miracle to come to her and the Supernatural Research Club.
“……Come in.” Chika trembled as she responded to the knock.
But the person who walked into the Supernatural Research Club made it difficult for Chika to distinguish between reality and illusion.
What caught her eye was a stunning black-haired beauty exuding incredible charm.
With flawless white skin, a slender and graceful figure, smooth and shiny long hair, and a gorgeous face.
And those beautiful eyes, seemingly sprinkled with countless starlight, made it impossible to look away.
It was as if a sacred and pure angel had walked out from a painting, descending into the human world.
Until the sound of the person introducing herself pulled Chika’s thoughts back to reality.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Hoshimiya Nagi, I am a first-year student. Please take care of me.”
The black-haired angel greeted her politely using honorifics.
Following her was an unassuming black-haired boy who also politely said, “……My name is Tsukimi Kanade, I’m a first-year student like Nagi. Pleased to meet you.”
At this moment, Chika realized that the people standing before her were not angels.
They wore the same uniform as hers, and the red ribbons at their collars indicated they were both first-year students.
Chika quickly deduced that the poised and polite girl before her was the “legendary beautiful new student” who had caused a stir throughout the school over the past few days.
It was said that not only did she achieve full marks in all entrance exams, but also excelled in sports, had an angelic and adorable appearance, and a sunny, gentle personality, winning the hearts of most boys in the school within just a few days of enrollment.
But why did this legendary beautiful new student suddenly come to the Supernatural Research Club?
“Nice to meet you, my name is Amegumi Chika, I’m a third-year student and also the head of the Supernatural Phenomena Research Club.”
Surprisingly, Chika, who usually stumbled over her words when talking to others, found herself speaking fluently in front of this super beautiful girl.
She even felt an impulse to further engage in conversation with her.
Normally, the more someone speaks with someone beautiful and noble, the more nervous and silent they become.
Chika quickly realized this was because the girl exuded a down-to-earth atmosphere.
Moreover, the listening attitude and gentle gaze she displayed while Chika spoke had a magical quality that encouraged Chika’s desire to express herself.
No wonder there was such a buzz about her.
Chika felt firsthand the charm radiating from this legendary beautiful girl.
Unlike her own introverted and insecure self.
This beautiful girl in front of her could make a stranger feel immense fondness for her in just a single interaction.
“Um, may I call you ‘Chika-senpai’?” Nagi asked with a nervous expression, trying to close the distance between them.
Chika, who usually felt uneasy when someone suddenly tried to shorten the distance during their first meeting, felt the opposite this time, even having an impulse to actively draw closer to the other person.
“Sure, that’s fine. Also, um, you can skip the honorifics; I’m not used to communicating with people formally.”
“Alright! Then you can call me whatever you like!”
Upon hearing this, Nagi beamed at Chika with a radiant smile.
“Then… Nagi, uh, cough, Hoshimiya-chan.”
“The joy of making the other person happy” gave Chika an unprecedented sense of superiority and fulfillment.
She couldn’t help but want to call her by her name directly, but at the last moment, she realized, pulled back, and opted to use her surname.
“Yes, Chika-senpai!”
What was going on? What is this adorable creature in front of me?
Do I really have such a cute junior? Am I dreaming?
“Chika-senpai, may I join the Supernatural Phenomena Research Club?”
Nagi slowly glanced around the room, her face brimming with excitement as she locked eyes with Chika.
“Eh!?” “Oh~”
Chika and Kanade simultaneously reacted in completely different ways.
For a moment, Chika didn’t know how to respond and stood there in shock.
At the very last moment before the club’s disbandment, a beautiful girl as pure and lovely as an angel wanted to join? Could it really be that she’s dreaming?
“I suppose it’s… really that little Nagi, huh…”
Kanade let out a wry smile, shaking his head.
Then, Chika and Kanade exchanged glances.
Kanade immediately regained his composed demeanor and explained, “Amegumi-senpai, actually, Nagi has always been interested in supernatural things, so I thought that if it were her, she’d definitely want to join here…”
“……I see….”
Just from that brief exchange, Chika understood that she and the other person belonged to the same type of enthusiasts.
Little Nagi? Ah, that refers to Hoshimiya-chan, right?
Chika belatedly realized the depth of their relationship from that nickname.
Although the boy named Tsukimi Kanade wasn’t unattractive, standing next to the angelically cute Nagi made him seem somewhat mismatched.
This led Chika to become curious about their relationship.
At the same time, she thought that if Nagi joined the Supernatural Research Club, then Kanade, who was close to her, might also join. This way, the Supernatural Research Club would increase its membership by two.
Even though this still wouldn’t meet the minimum requirement of eight members, having new members could allow for negotiations with the student council to buy some more time…
But is this really a good idea…?
“Um, Hoshimiya-chan.”
“Currently, I am the only member left in the Supernatural Research Club, and we do not meet the minimum required number of members to establish a club. It’s about to be disbanded.”
After struggling for a bit, Chika decided to tell the truth.
“Then we can just recruit new members! You can leave that task to me without worry, Chika-senpai!”
“However, I think it will be difficult to find other students willing to join the Supernatural Research Club at school… Even if someone joins, they’ll likely quit after a short time.”
“Why?” Chika’s response made Kanade unable to hold back from asking.
“……Because there are some bad rumors about the Supernatural Research Club. Students who join the Supernatural Research Club mysteriously suffer curses or become haunted by evil spirits…”
As Chika spoke, she carefully observed Nagi’s reaction, hoping to scare this adorable junior into dropping the idea.
“Evil spirits!? Really? That’s amazing! I absolutely want to join!”
“Eh!!!?”
Nagi’s excitement completely exceeded Chika’s expectations.
“Wait, Nagi, why are you getting so excited instead?”
Kanade had a normal-person reaction, which eased Chika’s unease, realizing it wasn’t just her.
“Because they’re evil spirits, right?! Didn’t you want to become Sadako or Kayako when you were a kid, Kanade-kun?”
“I think most people don’t dream of becoming evil spirits when they’re kids…”
“If I were Sadako, I could just send a package to my distant friend, and I could crawl out of the TV to surprise them, right?”
“Isn’t that more of a scare than a surprise?!”
“If you have Kayako at home, you don’t have to worry about burglars coming, right?”
“Shouldn’t you first worry about the evil spirit in your house?!”
“Wah wah, ever since just now, Kanade-kun has had a big opinion on Sadako-san and Kayako-san? Is it a kind of racism?”
“Evil spirits and humans are definitely not the same race!?”
“Sadako-san and Kayako-san are just a little whiter-skinned Caucasians, right?”
“They’re way too white! You can’t find a drop of blood under their skin!?”
The scene of Nagi and Kanade goofing off and quarreling reminded Chika of the happy times she once had in the Supernatural Research Club, causing her to chuckle softly.
When Nagi and Kanade turned to look at her, Chika felt a bit shy and cleared her throat.
In a fluster, to change the subject, Chika accidentally blurted out a question she had long been curious about—
“Nagi and Kanade, you two look really close, are you… dating?”
