くるみ屋さん（N's）(Pixiv)

~

As I make my way up to the Music Room, I overhear a conversation between two freshmen that ran past me. "I can't believe we spoke to Mio!" One says.
"I know! She's even prettier up close!" The other agrees.

"Seems Mio has some fans." I watch as they descend the stairs, giggling at what they said. "I should probably ask about that when I reach the club."

I open the door and announce greet everyone. "Hey, Nodoka. Sawako. It's rare to see you both here." I stand next to the table where everyone sat, as there were no seats left. "Oh, by the way, I overheard some girls talking about you, Mio," I explain. "What's that about?"
"You most likely saw two of Mio's Fan Club members," Nodoka explains.
"Don't tell him about that!" Mio hushes Nodoka.
"Mio has a fan club? Since when?"
"Since first year's culture festival," Ritsu tells me.
"I've heard you mention the culture festival before. And if I remember correctly, Mio freaked out when it was mentioned. What exactly happened during the festival?"
"After our performance, Mio-" Ritsu is cut off by a screaming Mio.
"NO! Ritsu! Please!"
"Nevermind, then." I refrain from asking again after seeing Mio break down. "Sorry, Mio."

"I feel like I should say sorry." Nodoka changes the subject. "It's my fault that the fan club members are misbehaving."
"Why are you apologizing?" Ritsu asks.
"So the fan club is still around?" Yui says leaning on Ritsu.
"I know," Mugi said. "I thought it dissolved after Sokabe graduated."
"Who's Sokabe?" Azusa asks.
"I would also like to know who Sokabe is." I agree.
"I knew Y/N wouldn't, but I'm surprised Azusa doesn't know who she is."
"She's the former president of the Mio Fan Club," Yui said.
"So it's already been that long." Ritsu reminisced.
"'Already'?" Azusa and I say in unison.

"Yes, it was the March before her graduation." Ritsu started to tell her story. "Mio, believing that someone was watching her, was scared. So I advised her to talk to the student council."

"Stop making stuff up." Mio interrupts. "Nobody took me seriously, so I went to the student council room on my own. As soon as I reported it to Nodoka, she believed me immediately and begin to think of a few suspects. That was when Sokabe entered the student council room. At the time she was the student council president."

"That's how they met," Ritsu said. "But there was no way for Mio to know what destiny lay ahead at that point."
"Stop narrating my story." Mio orders.
"So, what destiny was it?" Azusa inquired.

"Well, Sokabe offered me tea and both her and Nodoka suggested taking it to the Disciplinary Committee. As they were discussing possible theories of who the stalker could be, I began to notice that Sokabe knew a lot about the Light Music Club. Getting flustered, she left but dropped a card on the floor which Nodoka picked up. It was a Fan Club card with Sokabe's name on it. Trying to defuse the situation, I joked about her being the stalker. That was when she broke down and started to explain she did it because she was graduating. Turns out she was also the president of that club along with being the president of the student council."

"So the student council president was the culprit?" Azusa said.
"The whole backstory was brought up because she was mentioned, so it wasn't that hard to guess," I say while drinking my tea.
"It would be hard to admit that in her position," Sawako explained.

"So we started thinking about what we could do for Sokabe." Yui continued the story. "We finally decided that we should perform for her. We invited Sokabe and Nodoka to the auditorium as a congratulation for graduating. She seemed extremely pleased when we finished, even asking for an autograph from Mio. She begged her to write 'From Mio-tan' ('Tan' is just a cuter version of 'chan' for those who don't know).

"So, did you write 'Mio-tan'?" Azusa questioned.
"I did," Mio said, embarrassed.
"She was really happy about that," Nodoka said. She proceeded to take out a red card with an image of Mio on it.
"The membership card of member number one!" Azusa shouts.
"And it has Nodoka's name!" Mio called out.

"After that performance, Sokabe asked me to take over as the president of the Mio Fan Club. I refused strongly at first but eventually gave in and took the card from her. Although I never had the chance to do anything as the president. So I came here to ask a favor. Can you hold a tea party for the fan club members?"
"A tea party?" Mugi repeated.
"Yes. I'll feel bad for Sokabe if I don't do anything."

"Okay! We'll help you!" Yui agreed.
"Since you help us out a lot!" Ritsu carried on.
"What kind of tea party do you want?" Mugi requested.
"You too?!" I look to Mio and find her despising the subject. I feel bad that she has to deal with the others' fast pace.
"We'll start with Mio's entrance," Yui said.
"Calm down, guys." Mio implored, but her voice was drowned out by the others.
"I don't want to skip a cake cutting."
"A dedication of a flower bouquet, and photo slides!" Ritsu suggested.
"How about a Q&A session?" Even Azusa pitched in.
"Good idea!"

"Are you okay?" I ask Mio. She doesn't respond. "Mio?" I set down my cup and wave my hand in front of her face.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you were okay?"
"Not at all..." Mio looks down in dread. "Nobody asked me if this was okay!" She buries her face in her hands.
"Considering we're outnumbered, there's not much I can do to help," I say. "Except offer condolences."
"It's... It's fine." Mio takes a deep breath. "It's a fan club based around me. I have to do something for them. I have to..." She says that more to herself than to me. "Thanks." She said to me. "For checking up on me."
"Huh? I didn't do anything, though."
"Sometimes all someone needs is someone else to listen."
"Oh, uh... no problem."

"So, can I ask you to decide what to do for the tea party?" Nodoka asks. "I'll find a place and make announcements."
"I'll make a poster," Azusa said.
"I'll bring an extra-large cake!" Mugi raised her hand.
"Don't get carried away Mugi!" Mio ordered.
"Come on, it's your celebration!" Ritsu argued.
"Do you need me for anything?" I ask.
"Oh!"
"What is it Yui?" I ask.
"I've just had a great idea! This will take a while, though. Y/N, you can help. Do you have a laptop?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"That settles it! We're going to your house."
"What?! Hold on a sec-"
"Besides, I want to see Bud." So that's her ulterior motive. I sigh.
"Fine."
"Great! Let's go!"

I see Ritsu smirk at me. I bend over and whisper to her, "That guitar thing was a coincidence. She told me herself."
"Maybe," She admits. "But I've known Yui for over two years now. She likes you."
"That's just 'cause I have a dog. She even said it herself! I have multiple friends who come over to my house to see Bud, not me."
"Ouch." Ritsu was caught off-guard.
"Besides, I don't even like Yui in that way."
"You say that now but-"
"What are you guys talking about?" Yui asks.
"N-Nothing!" I say far too quickly.
"Hurry up! I can hear Bud's call from here!"
"Coming," I grab my stuff and go to leave the room before Ritsu grabs my wrist.
"If you change your mind, come talk to me." She lets go of my shirt and waves with a smile as I leave the Music Room. 

~

"So, what is this 'great idea' of yours anyway?" I ask as we approach my house.
"Heh heh heh!" She laughs deviously. "I'm glad you asked." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small object.
"A guitar pick? I don't get it."
"Not the pick itself, but what's on it!" I take a closer look and find what looks to be the symbol of a teacup.
"Still don't get it."
"Mio Merch!" She shouts.
"'Mio Merch'? What does that have to do with the pick?"
"I came up with the logo for our band when we performed at a live house not too long ago."
"You performed at a live house?"
"Not important. I was thinking that we sell items with Mio's face on it!"
"What sort of items?"
"Like pencils and such."
"And you're looking to use my laptop to print out the images of Mio." I piece it together.
"Exactly!"

As our conversation concludes, we approach my front door. Before I even open it, I can hear Bud's call from the other side of the door.
"Bud! It's me!" Yui calls. "I'm here!" I chuckle as I open the door. Bud and Yui run towards each other, kind of like the cliché in old romance movies.

"Where were you?" I hear someone calling from upstairs. I look up to see Futaba descending them. "I'm going to meet with some friends but I couldn't leave until you got home. Where do you go every- Oh, we have a visitor."
"Futaba, this is Yui. Yui, this is my sister, Futaba." I greeted them.
"Nice to meet you!" Yui says before she goes back to playing with Bud.

Futaba pulls me aside. "Is this the 'Dog Whisperer' girl you mentioned?" She asked.
"Yeah,"
"And she also the reason you've been coming home late these past few months?"
"It's an oversimplification, but yeah."
"Is this also the girl that lost her phone on the first day of school?"
"Yeah,"
"Is this also the girl who you saw running in the rain?"
"Yeah,"
"And do you love this girl?"
"Yea- Wait a minute." Futaba laughs.
"I'm messing with you." She pats my shoulder before walking towards the other two.

"So, Yui was it? I've been told you can speak to dogs. Can you show me an example?"
"Sure thing! What would you like me to ask him?"
"How about... you ask him who he likes more between me and Y/N."
"Okay," Yui repeats the question and Bud responds with a bark. "Aw, you're so sweet! He says me, but if he had to choose between you two then he won't."
"You?" It's clear Futaba is skeptical. "Alright... another question: what does he think of the cat next door?" I see what Futaba's doing. People normally think that cats hate dogs, so she's trying to catch Yui out.
Yui repeats the question once more. Bud barks. "The black and white one?" Yui asked. Futaba looks shocked.
"Y-Yes," Yui informs Bud.
"He says he thinks that he's a great pal to laze around with."
"How-" Futaba is awestruck.
"Now do you believe me?" I said to Futaba.
"I mean, I kind of have to now."

"We're getting side-tracked." Futaba snaps out of it. "I'm going to hang out with some friends, so you'll only need to make dinner for yourself and Yui. If she stays that long, that is." She picks up her bag and opens the door. "Don't destroy the house." She leaves us on our own.

"Where are your parents?" Yui asks as she stands up.
"They normally don't come home until pretty late at night."
"Kind of like my parents," Yui said.
"Oh yeah. The last time I went to your house they weren't there, were they? But anyway, my room's up here. Time to make Mio Merch." I lead the way.
"Mio Merch!" Yui cheers as she follows. "Coming, Bud?" He barks and trots along behind us.

"This is my room," I say. "Very barren. I know. I've not been one to decorate. Just a desk."
"Really?" Yui takes a look around the room, examining everything or lack thereof. "You're right. We should change that."
"That's not what we're here to do."
"You're right. Maybe after, if we have time."
"Speaking of, is Ui looking you back by any specific time?"
"I don't know. I haven't told her I would be here yet."
"Well, you should. Ui might get worried." Yui obeys and takes out her phone to message Ui. While she does, I put my bag down next to my bed and Akio in the corner of my room.

"She said it's fine as long as I get back for dinner which is at seven," Yui informs me. She sees what I have done and places her bag down as well and sets Giita next to Akio.
"So, we have about two hours." I make a mental note. "How about we start now?" I turn on the laptop sitting at my desk and open the app we need.

"First order of business: we need an image," I say.
"Ricchan has a collection of images she uses to blackmail Mio," Poor girl. "I'll ask her to send one to us." Yui takes out her phone and messages Ritsu. Eventually, she speaks again. "She said she has a lot so she's going to email them all and we can see which ones we like." And while we wait for that, I'll ask Nodoka how many people are in the Mio Fan Club so we know how many to print."
"Wow." Is all I can say. "You're hard-working when you want to be."
"I know, right? Ah, Nodoka replied. That was fast... She says there are about 70 people. 'There are most likely more but they may be fans in secret.'"
"So how many stickers should we print?" I ask.
"I'd say... about a hundred?"

"Wait," Yui seemed to have realized something. "How do you print stickers anyway?"
"Good point," I begin to think. "They might sell some custom stickers at a store? We can also get some items to stick them onto."
"Let's do that now while we wait for Ricchan to reply. We can also take Bud with us!" Bud barks in approval
"Then let's do it!"

~

We arrived home about an hour later, both of us carrying a bag each.
"What did you get?" Yui asked me.
"Apart from the stickers, just the standard: pencils and erasers. I also found some chocolate and decided to grab a few of those. What about you?"
"Let's see..." She rummages through her bag. "I have pocket tissues, bottle openers, chopsticks, and backscratchers."
"What's with all of the weird items?" She ignored me.
"Let's get sticking!" Yui roared.
"Hold on, we need to take a look at the images Ritsu sent."
"Oh, yeah." Yui rubs the back of her neck in embarrassment.

I open the email Ritsu sent and scan the pictures with Mio. A lot of them involved the Light Music Club members, and some even had Mio and Ritsu as children.
"That one." Yui points. I follow her finger to find a Mio in summer uniform with half-opened eyes.
"That one? Are you sure? Why?"
"It shows that even the person you admire the most is still just human. Mio can't look good in every picture." Yui said with determination.
"I mean, it's a nice message but don't you think we should pick something else?"
"No."
"No..." I give in and edit the photo a bit before copying it a hundred times and printing it.

"Wait here and I'll go out and grab them," I say. I leave the room and go down the stairs quickly, jumping over the last three steps. I open the room with the printer in it and pick up the stickers. I climb back up the stairs and reach my room.

"Of course, I do." I hear Yui say from the other side of the door. "He's a good friend." I hear Bud bark. "What do you mean?" There's a long silence before Yui talks again. "Do I lo-" Yui cuts herself off. "Like what I think of Ui?" Bud speaks to her again. "More than that? I-I don't know. I've never thought of him like that before. I've never thought of anyone like that before." Bud barks again. "Y-You know what? I'm going to stop talking about this. I don't know enough about the topic." The room falls silent. I don't think I was supposed to hear that. Were they talking about... me? I wait for a few seconds before entering the room again.

"I got the stickers," I said.
"Good. Now I can officially say, 'let's get sticking!'" Yui pumps her fist in the air. Nothing happened.

It takes about twenty minutes for us to place all of the stickers on the objects we had on hand. "That took a lot less time than I thought it would," I place the last sticker on the last box of chocolate and set it next to the other items. "So, what do we do now?" 

I check the time. "Looks like we won't be doing anything. It's almost seven."
"Aw... I thought we'd have more time."
"Do you want me to walk you home?" I offer.
"No, it's fine. It's not too long of a walk." Yui lifts Giita and her bag and I walk her to the door. "Bye, Y/N. Thanks for the help!"
"No problem."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" She sets down her school bag and takes out an item. "You said it yourself. Your room is too empty. At the very least, you should have something to hang photos on." Yui hands me a corkboard and a few thumbtacks. "And, here:" She reaches into her pocket and gives me a photo. "Your first memory." I take a look at the picture. It was me and Yui sitting on the floor of my room. I was struggling to get a sticker off my finger and Yui is doing a peace sign while smiling at the camera. She must have taken this while I wasn't looking.

"Thanks so much," I say. "I guess I need to buy a camera."
"No worries!" Yui picks up her bag and waves. "Bye!" I watch as she walks down the street.

~

"Thank you all for coming to the first-ever Mio Akiyama Fan Club Tea Party!" Ritsu said to the fans. "Today's masters of ceremony are Ritsu Tainaka, yours truly, and..."
"Yui Hirasawa!" Yui takes over. "Thank you!" They say together. 

I'm currently situated backstage with the rest of the club.
"So many people came," Azusa said.
"I recognize some of the faces too," Nodoka added.

"Enough of our chit-chat." Ritsu gets back on topic. "Let's get started with the Mio Akiyama Fan Club Tea Party."
"Let's welcome today's guest of honor:" Yui draws everyone's attention to the door. "Mio Akiyama!" They both leave the stage as Mio enters the room. She looks down, clearly opposed to the party.
"Don't worry!" Ritsu shouts into the mic. "There'll be a change of wardrobe!"
"No, there won't!" Mio argues.

The event proceeded fine. Well, as fine as it can when the 'guest of honor' is easily embarrassed.

"Now, on to the special event," Ritsu stood next to Mio, with Yui on Mio's right side. "We call this 'One-hundred Questions for Mio Akiyama'!" Yui comedically honks a horn (for some reason). "Please blow out one candle for each question she answers."

"First question!" Ritsu moves the mic to Mio. "What's the scariest story you've ever heard?"
"Why are you asking that?!" Mio grows irritated.
"Next question!" Yui takes control. "The second scariest story?"
"Yui!" Mio starts to shiver.
"And next!" Ritsu once again throws the mic in front of Mio. "The third scariest story?"
"Stop it!" Mio has clearly had enough.
"Next, next question! The fourth scariest story?" They must be getting a kick out of this. The crowd, however, seemed to love it. Everyone cheered Mio on, telling her to keep it up.

"All right, guys!" Yui addresses the crowd.
"Who wants to ask a question?" Ritsu does the same. Within an instant, everyone in the room raises their hands.
"While washing the bath, where do you clean first?" Someone from the crowd asks. Huh?
"Th-The shower head."
"Do you eat taiyaki from the head first?" (Taiyaki is a fish-shaped cake for those who don't know)
"The middle tail." What are these questions?

"Who's the boy in the back?" Someone asks.
"Me?!"
"A-A friend," Mio said.
"Do you love him?" Another girl adds. The crowd howls in response to this question.
"Hold on a second!" I face Mio and wait for her response. It doesn't look like I'm the only one. Yui stares intensely at Mio, waiting for her to answer, just like me.
"No. He's just a friend." I sigh in relief.
"Next question!" Yui changes the topic quickly. I find Ritsu looking backstage and grinning at me. I signal her to continue with the event.

~

The event has wrapped up and we all head back to the clubroom. "That was an awesome event!" Yui said, taking a drink from a water bottle.
"You said it!" Ritsu did the same.
"Are you sure?" Azusa doubts them. "It seems like Mio didn't like it one bit." Our attention is