Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

194. Heading Home

When Emilia and Mura stopped by the clubroom for a quick checkup of our situation and welcoming us back from winter break, Erith took the opportunity to formally make her request to join the club. For some reason, I had expected that it would pass without any hindrance or hesitation, and that was exactly what happened. Emilia appeared quite indifferent about the issue, and as for Mura, she seemed to be quite willing to allow Erith to join.

Therefore, it was formally decided that Erith will become a member of the club, meaning that our club room will now be populated by an extra member. Even though Erith wasn't a bad person judging off of the memories I have of her in the other timeline as well as this one, I cannot help myself but feel a slight unease or discomfort. Maybe it's just the way she looks over at me. It's just...always observant, always cautious, almost to an extent even greater than mine. It just appeared as if nothing can be concealed from her as those crystal clear blue eyes of hers will see through all attempts of obscurity.

Sitting in my chair, I released a sigh of fatigue. I was mentally exhausted by that small incident that had occurred earlier. I leaned back against my seat while retaining a proper sitting position, and brought a hand up to my shoulder, rubbing them. They were quite sore for some reason, and I suspect it has something to do with my breasts.

"Tired?" Noah smiled as he walked over and stood next to me.

"Yeah," I let out a sigh and whispered to him so that the others would not be able to hear our conversation. 

He's the only one that knows of my gender transformation, so I do not want to risk the chance that this could be revealed to the others through us being overheard. I glanced over at Erith, checking to make sure that she wasn't paying attention before continuing. 

"Do I really have to do this for a whole month?" I asked him, still rubbing my shoulders to ease the soreness. From the corner of my eye, I saw Loyd peeking over at us, but when I glanced over, he looked away. Maybe it was just my imagination.

"That's not up to me to decide," Noah chuckled and responded. "I'm just the messenger. If you have complaints, you'll have to bring it to Ralus and see if he can do something about it."

"So this is Ralus's doing?"

"Part of it, at least," Noah explained. "God got the other half."

"So no way out huh?" I sighed once again.

"I wouldn't be that depressed if I were you. It messes with your skin condition."

"Well," I then looked down at my chest. "If it weren't for these two things weighing down my shoulders."

"Want me to hold them up for you?" Noah joked.

"Hell no," I responded. "That's sexual harassment."

***

The day soon came to a close as the day entered into the twilight with the sun hanging in the western horizon, casting its last rays onto the city. Knowing this, Loyd announced the closure of the day's activities, and all of us started funneling out of the doors and stepped foot onto the cold hallways of the secondary building.

Since I was protected from the cold by the warmth of the heater in the clubroom, the sudden cold was quite shocking for me, causing me to shiver. I rubbed my hands together and breathed air into them. Meanwhile, my exposed legs were being berated by the cold air in the hallway. Like seriously, I cannot stand the cold...