Chapter 8
Career Survey
One day during lunch break.
Just like usual, I entered the world history preparation room while being wary of my surroundings. I didn’t go the the staff room this morning, so this would be my first time meeting Hiiragi-chan today. Hiiragi-chan normally would have said, thank you for your hard work, but she instead faced me while looking like she was in a bad mood.
“Is something wrong?”
There were bentous for two people set on top of the table, and next to Hiiragi-chan my seat was placed on standby.
“Earlier, I fished this off of Sakai-sensei’s desk.”
Sakai-sensei is my homeroom teacher.
“Heeh. Wait, don’t snoop around other people’s desks!”
“He was in cla.s.s anyways, and the staff room was basically empty.”
“That’s a reason!?”
“I had something that I was curious about, so I did a little bit of investigating.”
It was quite a self-righteous statement that she made. Please someone teach Hiiragi-chan about the general manners of society. As a student, I believe that the teacher should lead by example.
Regardless, what did she want to investigate on my homeroom teacher’s desk…?
“Then, sensei, what did you find out?”
“It’s not Sensei, it’s Haruksan when we’re alone, right?”
Busubusu, Hiiragi-chan pokes my cheek with her finger. As expected, when she’s pouting it’s cute.
“The reason that I’m in a bad mood, do you not know, Seiji-kun?”
While talking about how she was in a bad mood, she didn’t forget to continue feeding me the bentou. Today, what I was being fed was the same karaage as before. It’s really good.
“Did I do something?”
“Doing something like that, I think it’s a
little bit awful.”
“Awful? I didn’t do anything like that.”
Doing something that would make Hiiragi-chan sad would make me guilty. It’s a rule that I swore in my heart. Did I do something which I thought was alright, but it was really not?
“Ah. Did you not like it when I talked to the other girls in cla.s.s?”
I say talk, but it was only to the extent of saying stuff like, “Ah, it seems like it’s now a self-study period”, or “Ah, thank you”.
“If it’s only a high school girl, I won’t get jealous of her.”
After her say it out loud I muttered to myself in a small voice, “… of course”.
“Besides, there’s no way a second-year high school girl would be able to draw you away, right? I mean, I’m a college graduate and I also have a teacher’s license. I’m a hundred times better.”
“That’s what you focus on?”
It seems talking about a high school girls made Hiiragi-chan frustrated enough to bring out societal standings.
“Mukii”
She said it outloud. It seems like what she’s angry about is something else entirely…
“It’s alright, it’s alright. Haruksan has a lot of good points.”
“Uuu~. Even if you try and avoid it like that…”
As I comfort her by patting her head, her expression becomes softer and softer.
“I, Hiiragi Haruka, am mad at you Seiji-kun…”
Her face wasn’t convincing at all.
“Haruksan, isn’t it about time you told me? Why are you mad?”
She rummaged around in her bag until she fished out a single sheet printout. With it in her hand, she slammed it down on the table with
with a loud sound as if challenging me to a duel.
[Career Survey Second Year Cla.s.s B Sanada Seiji]
It was the career survey that I had turned into to my homeroom teacher before this.
“??”
Ignoring me, who had many questions come up in my head, she spread it out in front of me.
“Look at this. Do you still intend to act dumb?”
In her angry mode, Hiiragi-chan pointed with her finger at what I had wrote for my first and second choices.
My first choice was a local public university, while my second choice was a private university. By the way, I ended up going to the university that I wrote in as my second choice for four years in the future.
“What do you mean by acting dumb? Isn’t it normal? Didn’t I do it properly? It isn’t even the summer of my second year, it’s normal for me to write a few schools I’m interested in.”
“It’s not that! Why are you going to college?”
“Why is that… well, it’s basically a bureaucratic society after all. There isn’t anything else that I want to do in particular either.”
“Even if you go to college, there isn’t much meaning to it. I guarantee it.”
“What do you guarantee? Well, it’s true that when I went there I didn’t take my cla.s.ses seriously and instead ended up doing part-time work all the time.”
“Didn’t take cla.s.ses seriously and did part-time jobs…?”
“Ah… it’s something that I hear often.”
The things that I happened to be thinking about leaked out of my mouth. After taking a skeptical looking at my face, Hiiragi-chan gave
Hiiragi-chan gave a nod, apparently convinced by my cover up.
“That’s right. College is a scary place. It’s a h.e.l.lish world made only for the enjoyment of riajuus [1]. There are also a lot of mean girls. It isn’t a place where Seiji-kun should go.”
I agree with the part about the enjoyment of riajuus. It seems like Hiiragi-chan wanted to talk about how scary college is to make me have a bad impression of going to college.
“Even if you graduate, you’re only receiving the t.i.tle of being a college graduate.”
“Let’s stop talking about real life.”
Me going to college, does Hiiragi-chan not like it?
“Ah, I got it. Me going to a place where you can’t reach, are you worried?”
“Nope. Not at all.”
“You won’t?”
“I won’t lose to a girl with no skill. I’m great at cooking after all.”
“Then, what is it? What are you mad at?”
“I told you that I would take care of you, then why are you going to college!? Seiji-kun, all you need to do is be dependent on me!”
The point of her anger is completely opposite from normal! Having a boyfriend being completely dependent and not working is something you should be sad and/or mad at. I’m doing things properly, and yet, it seems like I made her mad.
“As such, all you needed to write at the time was husband ♪.”
She erased the words on the printout. Then, she used a mechanical pencil and wrote [Husband ♡] in large words.
“I’ll anger the homeroom teacher if I wrote that!”
The second choice was written as [Help out with housework].
“That’s basically a NEET!”
Thebasically a NEET!”
The third choice was [A luxurious unemployed life].
“That’s also another way to call a NEET!”
Mou! Hiiragi-chan, whether she was annoyed at me or the retorts I was making, hit the desk.
“To be honest, it would still be better to not put down that you want to be dependent!”
“A complete change!?”
“It can’t be helped because it’s you, Seiji-kun…”
She erased everything that was written.
“You won’t have any complaints if it’s this, right?”, as she rewrote it.
[A groom]
“It got even worse!”
There’s a little bit of cuteness when a girl writes something like that, but for a boy, no one would think that. I stole back the printout, and rewrote my original choices. Muu, Hiiragi-chan looked at me with a dissatisfied face.
“Since this school is a pretty technical school. I need to write something like I’m going to college despite what I really want. This way, the homeroom teacher can’t complain.”
“Eh… Seiji-kun, you’re a genius!”
Well well, I got her to accept it.
“Sanadkun? From now on, don’t sadden your teacher like this. Okay?”
“Yeah. I got it.”
After suddenly switching to her teacher mode, Hiiragi-chan faced me, closed her eyes, and stuck out her lips.
“Nn…”
“We’re in school…”
“… quickly.”
After closing the open curtain, I gave her a kiss.
“This is the last time we do this in school, okay?”
“Eh. Why so strict…?”
It’s because it’ll escalate. Probably.
“One more time.”
“I was saying…”
“Nn ♡”
In this way, Hiiragi-chan and I continued to make out.
TL Note:
A short abbreviation for “a person who lives a fulfilling real life”. Stereo typically seen as urbane, socially skilled, and most probably in a relationship. (A Normie)