Chapter Text
Monday, April 19th, 2010
Kotone struggles to keep her eyes open, tap-tap-tapping her pen against her notebook rhythmically in a desperate struggle to keep herself awake. Monday’s are bad for her in all the wrong ways, but she needs to finish this club write-up. Not only Mr. Edogawa, but Aigis, Chidori, and even (arguably) Junpei are counting on her to do her part to make Dead Girl Club a reality.
Creating the objective of the club was pretty simple, at least. ‘ Increase students’ understanding of esoteric subjects and develop skills required in diverse fields. ’ Easy peasy. The Student Council probably want more concrete examples of what exactly they’d be doing as club activities, but Mr. Edogawa will be able to help with that. Tarot reading, meditation, spell casting… Really, the options are limitless… if difficult to narrow down.
Setting up the proposal should be a lot harder. Kotone is the first to admit that the club isn’t exactly Gekkoukan material… But, hey, Mitsuru passed on strict instructions to give her leeway when it came to school related stuff, and she should milk that for all it’s worth, right? Maybe it’ll actually be simpler than she’s making it out to be.
The real problem for her, and it's the one she can only really rely on others to solve… is recruiting a fifth member.
“Why did Yukari have to make captain… That’d make this so much easier…” Kotone’s eyes glaze over, and she finally allows herself to close them. Aigis had left over an hour ago to try and find a new member from the loitering students. Mr. Edogawa had originally requested news before they left for the day, and it’s quickly becoming apparent that she’ll have to ask him to wait till Tuesday or Wednesday… Or even the end of the week…
The door of the classroom they’re using for the club slides open, and Kotone shoots out of her chair, catching herself on the table to keep from falling. “Did you actually find someone, Ai-”
Junpei’s grinning face dispels the notion quickly, and Kotone plops down into her seat again with a scowl. Junpei laughs self-consciously. “Woah, Ko. You’re gonna’ make me think you’re not happy to see me!” He leads Chidori into the room by the hand, who smiles softly at Kotone.
Kotone manages a smile of her own and a wave at Chidori before glancing back at Junpei. “Dude, I’m always happy to see you. Just… waiting for Aigis.” She sighs, crossing her arms atop her desk and laying her head down. At the very least, she’s awake again.
“Sorry I can’t compare to your girlfriend, Ko. Just wanted to let you know me and Chidori are headin’ out.” Junpei has the dignity to look apologetic, of course, but he never really seems thrilled about being asked to join the club in the first place. Though… that they had both waited so long for news is something, at least.
“I’m sorry, Kotone. You have my contact information; please let me know what our club days are when you find the new member.” Chidori indicates the phone in her hand that Mitsuru had gifted her just the week prior.
“Ooh, at least you have confidence in me, Chidori!” Kotone leans forward, making grabbing motions at Chidori’s hands, who promptly cuts across the room to hold them. Chidori is so warm~
Junpei lets out a disbelieving snort at their display. “When did you two become such good friends?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know~?” Kotone squeezes Chidori’s hands, warming her own, before releasing them. She rests back again in her chair as Chidori returns to Junpei’s side. “Go ahead and go, guys. Aigis shouldn’t be too much long-”
The door slides open again, and this time, the telltale blonde hair shimmering in the waning sunlight alerts Kotone to the presence of her girlfriend. “I am sorry for my tardiness, but I have found someone who expressed interest in the club.”
Aigis enters before stepping aside, allowing another girl to pass her. The first thing that strikes Kotone is how much makeup the girl is wearing, and how much of it is… well, black. Black eyeliner, black lipstick, black eyeshadow. How did she even wear all this to school today? Wouldn’t a teacher have told her to wash it off? Did they, and she just put it back on after school?
The second thing that strikes her… is how familiar the girl looks.
The new girl sweeps her eyes across the room. “Is this Dead Girl Club? It doesn’t really look like much. I thought you’d said… eh?” She speaks in a harsh tone, but her pitch changes shockingly quickly as the girl's eyes suddenly settle on Kotone, still sitting at the desk.
That voice...
Kotone shoots out of her chair, grappling with the table again to keep her footing. Aigis, alarmed, rushes to her side, but not before both girls point at each other and yell-
“The Mitsuru Superfan!”
“Mitsuru’s bodyguard!”
The silence that follows is deafening, only interrupted by Aigis’ near-silent footsteps as she takes to Kotone’s side and wraps an arm around her for support. Chidori and Junpei stare, flummoxed, at the head of the room, glancing back and forth between the two of them. Neither Kotone nor the new girl seem willing to lower their own accusatory finger first.
“What
happened,
why are you-”
“Wait, didn’t you
die
? What are-”
They clamp their mouths shut again, and Aigis begins to insistently tug on Kotone to sit back down in her seat. The Mitsuru Superfan takes her chance to speak during Aigis’ ministrations. “I guess that’s why you’re calling it Dead Girl Club, huh?”
“Pretty much.” Kotone’s arms slacken, and she rests back in her chair. Aigis pulls over her own chair to sit directly beside her, and Kotone leans against her for support. And a smidge of comfort. “S-so you’re interested in our club?”
“I was…” The girl seemed hesitant, casting awkward glances at Junpei and Chidori waiting at the front. Though it takes a moment for her to drop back into character, her darker sounding voice returns. “I-I mean… I dunno. What are the club activities? Uh, blondie didn’t really share much beyond the name.”
Kotone can hear Aigis softly vocalize ‘Blondie…’ beside her. Kotone’s face scrunches up reflexively, but she quickly twists it around into a smile, gesturing to the chair in front of her. “Take a seat! Let’s have an interview and find out together!”
The superfan seems hesitant, making swift glances between the door and the chair, before ultimately settling on the chair. She takes a seat, leaning back into it, arms crossed.
Kotone attempts to sit up properly for this, even if she’d much prefer leaning against her girlfriend’s shoulder. She flips through her notebook, opening it up to the interview questions she wrote earlier in the day and clears her throat. “Okay, question number one… What’s your name?”
“Suzume Kawase…” The girl's initial harsh tone has returned in full, a clear ‘I don’t care’ attitude emanating from her. Kotone doesn’t think she’s very good at it; it’s kind of cute, actually.
“Got it! Can I call you Suzu?” Kotone swiftly writes down ‘Suzume ‘Suzu’ Kawase,’ ignoring the indignant gasp from Suzu herself. “Suzu, are you, or have you ever been, dead and/or a girl?”
“Wh-what?” Suzu’s high pitch creeps back in, and Kotone adds another mental tally to her score for ‘getting this girl to lose her cool.’ So far, 2 to 0 in Kotone’s favor, even if Suzu tries to claw back the advantage. “I mean, I’m… a girl. And dead like, physically? Or emotionally?”
“Or spiritually. Any and all!” Kotone circles the girl part of Dead Girl Club on Suzu’s application, as the girl tries to collect herself.
“E-emotionally, then. For sure.” The girl's cheeks are blooming red, and Kotone thinks it’s a lovely color to go with the black. “Maybe even spiritually.”
“Noice. I’ll mark both.” And so she does, putting little checkmarks above ‘emotional death’ and ‘spiritual death,’ as well as a question mark beside ‘physical death.’ You can never be too sure, after all! “Alright, last question, for now… What kind of activities would you like to see, and what days will you be able to come?”
“Er… do you not already have activities in mind?” Suzu’s tone warbles, before returning to the darker tone she insists on keeping. Kotone decides to mark herself down for at least half a point for that one. “Days… I mean, I’m free most days… I have poetry nights on Wednesdays, though.”
“Oooh, what kind of poetry? Can I see?” Kotone gasps. “Are they about Mitsuru ?”
“N-no! Not… all of them.” Suzu’s voice gives up the ghost, and Kotone mentally declares herself the winner by mercy rule. “W-what even is this club?”
“An occult club!” Kotone loudly declares. Aigis nods in agreement beside her, while Junpei makes an annoyed ‘tch’ noise from where he’s waiting, which Kotone pointedly ignores. “We study the arcane… the mystical… the unknown!” She wiggles her fingers for the effect. “The secrets behind the world, the writing on the wall… All of it!”
“Oh.” Suzu seems… unenthused. “That’s not really what I expected.”
“Uh, what did you expect?” Kotone has to salvage this. She needs a fifth member. “If you want to do a poetry activity, we could! Totally could! Attendance won’t be strict, you can wear what you want, uh.” She runs a blank, and Suzu seizes the chance to speak up.
“I think I’ll… I’ll have to think about it.” Suzu stands up, sliding from her chair and slipping away towards the door. “Sorry.”
Kotone’s heart drops like a stone, slumping onto her desk in utter disappointment as Suzu quickly mumbles a goodbye while passing Chidori and Junpei. Aigis leans over, wrapping her arms around Kotone and pulling her into a tight hug. “I am sorry, Kotone. Tomorrow, I will search during lunch time as well.”
Aigis presses her lips to the top of Kotone’s head as Kotone sighs. “I love you, Aigis…”
The exit to the classroom begins to slide open… But suddenly stops halfway with Kotone’s words. Suzu suddenly slams the door closed, whipping around to face Kotone and Aigis. Her face, which had previously been only a light prickling of red, is now the hearty color of beet. “Wait. Wait. ” Suzu rapidly approaches the pair, slapping her hands on the table in a matter that makes Aigis stiffen. “Are… Are you two together? ”
“Huh?” Kotone is left gobsmacked by the emotional whiplash, sitting back up in her seat. Aigis defensively shields her front with one of her arms, glaring at Suzu. “Uh… Yeah? Is that a problem?”
Suzu seems to realize how she’s coming off, backing away from the two with her hands up placatingly. “No! I just…” She hesitates, her goth exterior melting by the moment. “C-can you teach me?”
Her words shrivel and die in the silent vacuum left in the room, each of the gathered members staring open-mouthed at their prospective recruit. Kotone can vaguely hear the sound of birds tweeting outside, the only accompaniment to this particular song and dance.
It is only after Suzu intakes a sharp breath that Kotone suddenly explodes into laughter, barely able to speak through it. “Ehehe, o-of course! Eehee, welcome to the Dead Girl Club!” She shoots her hand forward to Suzu, who readily takes it into both of hers. Both of them do their best impression of shaking the other's arm out of socket.
“Dude, Ko, you need to start spending less time with Mr. Edogawa. You’re even starting to laugh like him.” Junpei sighs before pushing himself up from his leaning position. “Nice to meet you, Suzume. I’m Junpei Iori. And this is-”
“Chidori Yoshino. You can call me Chidori. It’s good to meet you.” Chidori smiles softly, and, while Kotone could swear it’s impossible, Suzu manages to turn an extra shade redder.
“Eh? You both… Right, you both saw that…” Suzume Kawase bows apologetically, her previous standoffishness utterly banished. “Suzume is fine, too… Thank you for having me.”
“Awesome! Suzu, our first club meeting will be tomorrow, right after class!” Kotone stands, circling around the table with Aigis close behind. “I still have to turn in the paperwork to Mr. Edogawa, but even if it’s not official yet, I want to see everyone here!”
“Wait, wha- tomorrow!? ” Junpei groans, eyeing Kotone warily. “Ko, what the hell? At least give me a single week of freedom…”
Suzu seems equally surprised, though not for the same reasons. “W-wait, this guy is in Dead Girl Club? It’s co-ed?” Suzume glances between Junpei and Kotone, who nods readily. “Isn’t that… false advertising?”
“Yeah, thank you! Finally someone gets it.” Junpei huffs again, having taken large issue with the girls manipulating him into joining their ‘Dead Girl Club’, despite only meeting half of the criteria.
Kotone shuffles over and wraps an arm around his back, putting on a big grin for Suzu. “Don’t worry about Junpei. He’s like… He’s like an overprotective big sister!”
Junpei seems upset at this descriptor, wrapping his arm around Kotone and intentionally mussing up her hair. “Yeah, like you’re my little brother or something, dude. Do not call me that in front of people.” Kotone giggles, slapping at his hand, while Aigis looms beside them, ready to intervene.
Suzu stares at Junpei during this display, rubbing her chin as if she’s inspecting him. When he turns her head to look at her, he’s a bit taken aback, letting go of Kotone and self consciously rubbing the back of his head. “Big sister…” She claps her hands suddenly, and Kotone can almost see sparkles in her eyes. “I get it! I support you, Jun!”
Junpei is stunned by her words as Suzu suddenly jogs to the door. “It was fun meeting you all! Goodbye, Shiomi-sensei! I’ll be here as soon as the bell rings tomorrow!” She slides open the door, giggling as she leaves.
“N-no, wait, what do you mean by that!?” Junpei flails his arms ineffectually, Kotone still wrapping her arm around his waist. He turns his attention to her, glaring. “What did you do!?”
“Nothing, big sis!” Kotone dances away, energy levels running very high. She gestures to the notebook she’s carrying. “I’ve got to run this to Edogawa! See you both tomorrow!”
She can only barely make out the protest of Junpei from behind her as she skips her way out of the room, followed swiftly behind by Aigis. She feels a weight fall away from her shoulders as she inches ever closer to making her wishes a reality.