The entrance ceremony at Gakushuin University was much simpler than Satsuki had imagined.
The president and several faculty representatives gave speeches in turn, introducing the school's history and important matters for university life to the freshmen.
Each department then distributed materials related to courses, course selection, and student life.
By the time the last staff member announced that the day's schedule was over and the freshmen were free to leave, it was already past two in the afternoon.
The atmosphere in the venue suddenly relaxed.
The freshmen who had been sitting quietly in their seats stood up one after another; some were looking for classmates they had just met, while others were carrying thick stacks of materials to find the parents waiting outside.
The three of them, Satsuki, Reiko, and Ayako, left the venue with the crowd.
As soon as they stepped onto the campus road outside, the surrounding sounds quickly became lively.
Both sides of the road were already packed with various clubs.
Some people set up tables and posted photos of past activities on display boards; some held large stacks of flyers and enthusiastically greeted freshmen as they saw them; others, sports clubs, even moved their equipment directly to the roadside to prove how exciting their department's activities were through actual demonstrations.
Further away, some even stood on wooden crates holding up signs, trying hard to make their club's name rise above the crowd in front.
"It is already two o'clock."
Reiko raised her hand and glanced at her wristwatch.
They had only eaten a simple breakfast before leaving in the morning, and had been stuck in the venue all afternoon; only now did they finally have time to arrange for themselves.
"What shall we have for lunch?"
"Yeah, what shall we eat?"
Ayako replied subconsciously.
Reiko turned to look at her.
"Ayako, you cannot answer a question with a question, you know?"
She raised her hand, feigning a gesture to knock Ayako on the head again like she did in the morning.
However, Ayako was prepared this time.
As soon as Reiko's hand was raised, she dodged to the side and quickly hid behind Satsuki.
"Stop it, Subject Reiko!"
Ayako grabbed Satsuki's arm and poked half her head out from behind her.
"Are you planning to rebel on the very first day of school?"
Reiko's hand stopped in mid-air, and for a moment, she did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"When did I become your subject?"
"Of course not mine."
Ayako said righteously.
"We are all subjects of Her Majesty the Queen."
Satsuki did not participate in their argument.
Her attention had already fallen on the club booths on both sides of the road.
The number of students at Gakushuin far exceeded that of Seika Academy, and the variety of clubs was so great that one could not take them all in at a glance.
Some booths were very formally arranged, with activity descriptions and past publications neatly laid out on the tables; others seemed completely unprepared, relying only on a few energetic upperclassmen to hand out flyers and recruit people everywhere.
"Do you want to join any clubs?"
Satsuki raised her hand and pointed to a booth not far away.
"Clubs?"
Hearing Satsuki speak, Ayako let go of her arm for the moment and looked in the direction she was pointing.
On the display board closest to them, "E.S.S." was written in very neat English letters, with several photos of English speech contests and foreign student exchange activities posted below.
"English Research Society?"
Ayako looked at it carefully for a few moments, then quickly lost interest.
"Looks so serious."
Further ahead was the Debate Club.
The students in charge of recruitment were standing in front of the table introducing the previous semester's intercollegiate debate results to several freshmen, and several social issues were written on the display board behind them.
Ayako did not even go near it.
"Debate Club... just the name sounds exhausting."
"They wrote 'debate', not 'manual labor'."
Reiko said.
"That is even more tiring, having to constantly think about how to speak."
Ayako answered seriously.
"I do not even have to think when I talk usually."
"That much is certainly apparent."
Reiko nodded.
Just as Ayako was about to protest, Reiko pointed to the other side of the road.
"There seems to be a Skiing Club over there."
"Skiing?"
Ayako's attention was indeed immediately drawn to it.
"Where? Where?"
"The sign also says they go surfing in the summer."
Ayako looked in the direction Reiko was pointing.
That club's booth was almost the liveliest one nearby.
A dozen or so tanned upperclassmen were gathered around the table; most of the boys were wearing short sleeves, and the girls' hair had been bleached to a lighter color by the sun.
The sturdiest-looking boy among them was holding a huge wooden sign with both hands.
The sign was exaggeratedly large, with goggles and swim rings used during last year's ski training camp hanging from the edges, visible even from behind the crowd.
Ayako looked at that group of overly enthusiastic upperclassmen, and the anticipation on her face slowly faded.
She leaned closer to Reiko.
"It seems a bit too wild."
"Who was so excited just a moment ago when they heard about surfing?"
"I was just looking."
Ayako withdrew her gaze nonchalantly, then turned to look at Satsuki, who had first brought up the topic.
"What about you, Saionji-san?"
"Do you have any clubs you are interested in?"
"I would not call it 'interested', exactly."
Satsuki's gaze crossed the crowd in front and landed on the other side of the road.
"I just think what that club has been researching lately is quite interesting."
Reiko and Ayako both looked in the direction of her gaze.
It was a small-scale booth.
On the table were several past club journals and a stack of freshly printed thin booklets.
The display board behind it was plastered with newspaper clippings, photos, and hand-drawn charts, with much denser content than most of the surrounding clubs.
On the wooden sign placed at the very front, a striking headline was written in bold black font.
External Economies and Odaiba Development—Has Seibu Really Been Saved?
Below the headline was a subtitle in a slightly smaller font.
In the Saionji-Seibu Basic Cooperation, Who Gained More Benefits?
Ayako first looked at the sign, then at the "Economics Research Society" written below it, before slowly shifting her gaze to Satsuki's face.
She moved closer to Satsuki and deliberately lowered her voice.
"Saionji-san, was not this cooperation led by you?"
"How can you still be interested in something like this, which is like playing house?"
Ayako crossed her arms over her chest and glanced at the headline on the display board again.
"And 'who gained more benefits', I heard Chairman Tsutsumi is about to cry—"
Before she could finish, Reiko had already reached out and covered her mouth.
Ayako blinked.
Only then did she slowly turn her head to look at Satsuki, who was standing on the other side.
A very standard smile was already hanging on Satsuki's face.
The corners of her mouth were curved, and her eyes were slightly narrowed; it could be called gentle no matter how you looked at it, but there was not much human warmth to be found in the smile.
Ayako immediately realized the danger.
She hurriedly pulled Reiko's hand down.
"I was just saying, I heard that the relationship between Chairman Tsutsumi and the Seibu board of directors has improved a lot."
Ayako tried hard to organize her words.
"Before, those directors might not have dared to speak to him, but now that everyone is overcoming difficulties together, the group must be much more united internally, or something like that."
After listening to her attempt at damage control, Reiko raised her hand to her forehead.
"Saionji-san, I am very sorry."
"Ayako often speaks without thinking."
"Reiko!"
"Did I say something wrong?"
Being disturbed by the two of them like this, the inorganic smile on Satsuki's face could no longer be maintained.
She reached out and knocked Ayako on the head, annoyed.
"You, why do you make me sound like some villainous Eldest Miss?"
"That hurts."
Ayako covered her head and looked at her with a wronged expression.
"When Reiko knocked just now, you said it did not hurt."
"Saionji-san's knock hurts more."
"Then I will be lighter next time."
Satsuki said casually, and had already started walking forward again.
She did not go near the Economics Research Society's booth, just looked back at the sign one more time.
"I already told you, I am just a little curious."
"Besides, I cannot be everywhere at once."
Satsuki looked at the organized newspaper clippings on the display board, her tone very calm.
"Listening to more external analysis, regardless of whether it is right or wrong, is always beneficial."