Chapter 21 - Random Event Bomb
Has it become like this after the seats change or after the school trip ended?
Well, it doesn"t matter since when, but my school life has started to slowly change the direction in which it is going. Maybe I"m already out of business as a loner, but it doesn"t change the fact that my original nature is that of a gloomy person… What the heck am I supposed to do?
Anyhow, some things were a riddle for me.
For example, my position in the cla.s.s.
Last desk two rows away from the corridor.
It turned out that this seat itself was a nasty random event bomb. Though, the main cause is still my flashy neighbor. Are you King Bomby?1
Now then, it"s not surprising or anything, but Tachibana has a disposition to gather people around her.
She can gather other people just by sitting in one place, so I have a strong feeling that she is a person from another world. I think that sociable guys should all gather at the window, but it seems that Tachibana has no interest in doing so, rather she is trying to indirectly drag me into conversation and I have a stomachache because of it.
Several days after seats change, on one of the lunch breaks…
– Hiya, Karen. Momoko.
Apathetic-looking Hyodou Yayoi tottered towards us was.
During the school trip we were in the same group, she holds the position of Tachibana"s close friend.
Finding an empty seat to the left of Tachibana, she sat there. Right behind is Tenjuin-san"s seat, so like this the merry trio made an L-shaped block and started to eat. Since the seats change, this has been the standard pattern.
– Tests are too haaard, I"m dying. Miss Momoko, help. Super help.
Exhausted and prattling, girl with stylish black hair lied on top of the cla.s.s head"s desk.
– Hey, like this, you"ll end up taking supplementary tests again, you know?
– Ugh… If it turns out so, I"ll weather it with my girl. Right, Karen?
After it was said, I heard Tachibana"s nihihi laughing voice coming from my front.
What I mean by "I heard" is that I was looking down with my eyes glued to the workbook, but I feel that if I raise my head our eyes will absolutely meet, so I won"t move even if I die. More precisely, I have raised my head a few times, and about 70 or 80 percent of them our eyes met perfectly. It is a fossilized matter.
– Eeh… But I appeared on the ranking table this time♪
– Haa? You"ve gotten into the top 50 even though you"re Karen? Now that is ridiculous, I"m gonna dye your hair back to black right now, oraaa!
– Kyaa, Momoko, save me. This supplementary exams loner!
– Ufufu… Maybe you will be infected by the supplementary exams if I touch you.
Like that, the energetic group of girls started their chit-chat.
What they are doing is ordinary, but… My seat is located at the hollow part of the L-shaped gyaru block, so I am half surrounded at the point-blank range. I have an unusual feeling of alienation. For a sociable guy this would be a paradise, but for someone like me who can"t say a single word, this is nothing but h.e.l.l.
Of course, there"s no way I can study like this.
I need a plan on how to concentrate with a bunch of three gyarus at my side, ASAP. While they continued with their "Kyakya, ufufu" on the side, I started utilizing my grey matter at full power.
Alright, let me show the real worth of the bookworm loner with great experience.
Well then, how about this…
Mister bookworm"s, Super Illusion Show Inside the Brain!!
Right now, I will drink this cola within my mind in one breath and will recite all the names of emperors of ancient Rome without burping! Ready, set, go! Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero-
– Karen, don"t you think that you rarely hang out with us lately?
…Buee!! I burped inside my brain.
But that right now, were a few words with that much destructive power.
– Ehehe… Is that, so…?
Tachibana spoke ambiguously.
I totally forgot…
It should have been obvious, but this blonde girl spent her after school hours with me for the last several weeks now, that is to say, she hasn"t spent much time with other people. Basically, I am totally a concerned person too. It"s Tachibana, so usually, she should have been going to karaoke or something with her friends. Now that it has noticeably stopped, it is only natural that she is asked about it.
Huh, it suddenly feels so difficult to stay here…
As expected, for me, who kept being fixated on the Big Loner Principle of "It is very important to not leave your seat" all the way until now, it feels difficult to stay here.
– Is it a guy? Someone new? Ow, ow, my dear Karen-chan.
– Come on, stop… Other people will end up hearing.
– Ho-ho. If you say it like that, then it means that there is someone in the cla.s.sroom who should not hear it…
– Now, now, Yayoi. Karen seems bothered, don"t you think?
Hyodou asked with an amused tone, but she didn"t plan on relaxing her search.
And with Tachibana not immediately answering… all around was a mood of not knowing what to say. Why did someone like me, who was not supposed to partic.i.p.ate in this conversation, got dragged into it.
Haa…
But this, no matter how you think about it, I should not be here. And she seems bitter too.
Aware of the circ.u.mstances around me, I wanted to leave that place as if nothing happened, but. Smiling at Hyodou, Tachibana firmly grabbed my wrist as I was trying to leave.
Eh, just what are you doing…?
– Eh, what…?
– Hey, hey, hear me out Ichijou-kun… Yayoi is bullying me!
"Oi, don"t you run away, virgin. We are friends, right?" is being transmitted from her delicate back. It scary how it resembles delinquent"s speech a bit.
– Ahaha…
Naturally, my face got stiff.
In a flash, the other two concentrated their attention on me. s.h.i.t, and I was so close to getting out of the cla.s.sroom. Still, what do you want me to do? And here I thought it would be better for you if I wasn"t here.
– Well… Oh yeah, balance, you need balance. Friends are important… too…I say
The reason why my words were interrupted midway, is because Tachibana gripped my wrist even harder. Just what are you displeased with?
But apparently, the other two agreed.
– See, bookworm of the wilds is saying something good as well.
– Really… Lately, we don"t see Karen after school.
Uh-huh, Hyodou and Tenjuin shared the sympathy mood.
Rather, she still remembers about the "bookworm of the wilds" joke.
Nevertheless, Tachibana said that "We"ll be getting along extremely well" in the beginning, but the results are fairly humble. She glanced at me and gave me a look as if wanting to say something, but she hasn"t directly said anything.
Aha, by some chance, is she paying attention to her surroundings… Or so I thought.
I was proved wrong that day after school.
– Bookworm, it"s difficult to get you involved. And you just study all the time… Isn"t it okay to look my way from time to time? And our eyes don"t meet at all…
In the usual library illuminated by the sun, Tachibana turned away.
She looks displeased. What"s up with that?
– Perhaps… Is it really unpleasant in the cla.s.sroom? You don"t want to speak there, or something? If that"s the case, I"ll stop doing it…
If she talks to me with such a concern, I"ll feel like running away.
… Yet, why?
Am I thinking that I do not want to hurt her?
It is unpleasant in the cla.s.sroom. I"m sorry, but it is true. It"s not that Tachibana makes me feel unpleasant, but studying is the most comfortable thing for me and I am used to it.
But… For some reason, I can"t say that.
Even though up till now, I have always ruthlessly said my true thoughts no matter who the other party was.
It was probably the first time I have ever cared about another person"s feelings.
Not knowing what to do, I simply shrugged my shoulders.
– It"s not that I feel unpleasant. It"s just that, I was always like this.
– Then, it"s alright if we do it little by little… Is it okay if do it a bit like today for the starters? Join us from time to time.
– Uh… You don"t pay attention at all. I"m happy by myself.
– Haa? I"m saying that I want you to get involved with me. It"s just a… simple wish? I want to talk with you… And we finally have close seats…
Tachibana is a girl who can skillfully change her expressions.
A smile when she makes fun of me or, conversely, a gentle smile or an angry face.
But lately, there is one more… She started showing me this somewhat earnest look of a spoiled child. For some reason, for me, that was the most difficult to deal with expression. I can"t meet her eyes for even a second.
– Tomorrow, even if it is for a little while, raise your head, look into my eyes. That way, wouldn"t we mostly understand what both of us want to say?
– …Well, I guess I"m okay with that…
And then, when her expression changed to a smile, I finally had a peace of mind.
It is the same as my position in the cla.s.sroom, but our relations are gradually changing in a mysterious direction.
We, are just friends… right?
– Ehehe… Thank you. Well then, today, I will let you take me on a thank you date…
– Oi, didn"t you make quite a leap right there!?
– Isn"t it okay? That"s for not caring about me in the cla.s.sroom, alright? I want to go on a date 4 times a week.
– Ugh… Two times!
– Alright, alright. I"ll let you off for three times♪
In the end, going by the logic that a girl should be escorted on the road at night, it became 5 times a week.
Apology date, thank you date, good work date… There is an excuse for every day.
Recently, my school life started to become something I do not understand at all.
in Momotaru Densetsu game series.