The golden week was now over and today was the first day of school after a week-long holiday. And as is the case always, many students were heading towards the school will reluctant faces and scowl. The vacation syndrome. The condition when you don’t want to go to school on the first day after the vacation ends but have to go anyway which puts you in a sour mood all day long. It was a common disease that affected every student and every person. However, there is nothing to fear about. After a few days, they will get used to the normal, hectic life again and the syndrome will fade slowly.
The school building was the same. The road leading to the school was the same. I looked up at the hot, burning sun.
“You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”
Ever since I was a child, whenever I looked up, the sun was the same. Not changing. Unchanging. Not being able to change. But, in my opinion, that was a good thing.
I could feel what the
The bell rang, signaling the end of the fourth period and the start of the lunch period.From the first period till now, Aina had been doing her best to ignore me. The effort she put astounded me. It was so exciting to watch her hold her ground.Aina was keeping her books in her bag, preparing to leave for the cafeteria.“Hey.”“What?”She answered, without looking back at me.“Why are avoiding me?”“…I am not.” I didn’t fail to notice the pause in her response. “I just don’t have anything to talk to you about and so I am not talking to you. That’s all. Is there anything wrong with that?”“No, nothing. If it were just that, that is.”“What else is it supposed to be then?”“I can see you are deliberately trying to avoid me. Is there a reason for that?”“No. It’s not deliberate.
That small interaction between me and Aina was the last time the two of us talked.It had already been a week since then.It seems Aina had talked to our homeroom teacher and she had been able to change seats which, to be honest, wasn’t that far from her seat before. She had just exchanged seats with Nakamura Yui. That meant Nakamura will be taking Aina’s previous seat and vice-versa. To me, that change was as good as not changing seats at all. But, for Aina, even that may have been a good option. After all, now she can just focus straight ahead, and as long as she doesn’t turn her head back the chances of our eyes meeting will be significantly less.Talking about the one who would be on the seat next to me, Nakamura Yui, she hadn’t come to school yet. Two days ago, I had gone to check up on her out of curiosity and she said she will be able to come to school from next week. It seems she had also called a doctor to check her condition whi
The news had spread all over the school like a wildfire.Within two days, almost everyone in the school knew about it. The student council president Shizuku Aina was dating a second-year transfer student Miyamoto Sota.This news earned different reactions from different people. There were boys who were immensely displeased. They were those who were gunning for Aina. And the number was overwhelming. Though it wasn’t surprising. Aina was a beautiful girl with her long brown hair and captivating pair of blue eyes. Her gait, her demeanor, and the aura surrounding her hit the boys like a lightning arrow to their hearts. So, it was no surprise that many boys were jealous and shot daggers at Miyamoto. He was a poor little guy.On the other hand, there were also those who thought of them as a perfect fit. Both were good-looking and said looked better together. I had also heard that some people have made Aina and Sota fan club (as weird as it sounds) and started wo
I see. Miyamoto Sota. He knew me. I didn’t know him. He went to the same school I went to. I went to the same school he did. But I didn’t know him. Though he knew me. That means. That meant. That could only mean. He knew about my past. My past. My dark past. My twisted past. A past I have left behind. A past that still haunts me. A past that is a part of me. A past that tells who I am. A past that shows what I am. A past where I ruined lives. My own life. Those girls’ lives. Everyone’s lives. I ruined. I destroyed. I broke. I sinned. I regretted. I didn’t regret it at all. Those girls. Those people. I don’t care about them. But, they care about me. Miyamoto said. “I hate you.” Yes. They hate me. I am indifferent but not them. They are human. Unlike me.
What had transpired in the classroom had reached far and wide.The students in the whole school started hating me. Whenever I passed by, they will give me disgusted looks and say mean things to my face. They cursed me on my face.Some even threatened me. Some beat me up to. I didn’t retaliate. I just faced that one-sided beating without uttering a single word. I can't even remember the number of times I have passed out. It was my punishment. For having hope. For trying to divert from my original goal. This made me realize that I was a bad person. Which I was aware of already.The case had reached far enough that the old hag had called me to her office.Without knocking, I went inside the big wooden door.The director was not in her seat. She was resting her upper body on the large, wooden table facing the door as if she had been waiting for me.“Sorry for making you wait.”“What’s this ruckus with Shizuku
The light from the street lamps faintly illuminated my face. There were some small creatures flying around that light for whatever reason.“She hasn’t called me for a while now, has she?”The last time we talked was about two weeks ago. After that, she hadn’t contacted me and I, because of things happening here and there, didn’t have time to think about calling her.I pulled out my phone and dialed the only eleven-digit number that I had memorized.Two rings later, she picked up.“Yo.”“Oh, it’s Kageyama. How are you doing?”“If you really wanted to know how I was doing maybe you should have called me?”“Aah, sorry, sorry. I have been busy lately with all this work and don’t even have the time to rest properly.”I heard the sound of a yawn from the other side.“Were you sleeping, perhaps?”
Why was Tanaka here? In front of my house? And why did he look so angry?“What’s wrong, Tanaka?” I tried to sound normal.“Don’t give me that crap!” He shouted.It looked like he didn’t want to hear me say anything. He was clearly upset with me. But, I don’t know why. I don’t remember doing anything that will warrant his anger toward me. In the first place, I didn’t have much contact with him after I left the student council.“You…Who the hell do you think you are!?” He yelled. “Always doing whatever you want, always saying whatever you think, without any constraint, without thinking about others. You always keep bossing others around and not to mention butting in when you have absolutely no place and no right!”“Ah, you mean, the student council?”Ever since I first came, I knew that Tanaka didn’t like me. He had made that f
When I opened my eyes, I saw a cute face. A cute face with big round eyes and short black hair was peering at my face. She was so close to my face that even her short hair was grazing my cheeks gently. “Umm…” With my eyes half-open, I spoke. My voice came out hoarser than I expected. “Oh? You awake?” She said, blinking her eyes in surprise. But, she didn’t move an inch. Her face was still over my face. I could see her big round eyes and my face reflected in those eyes. “It’s pretty bad, eh?” I brought my hand closer to my face. Instead of the usual soft touch, I felt a rough and porous sensation on touching my face. “Yes. It is pretty bad.” There was a bit of force in her voice. She was smiling though her eyes weren’t. “Why are you getting angry?” “I am not.” “Yes, you are.” “No.” “Yes.” “Stop pouting.” “I am not.” “Yes. You are.” “No.” “Listen here, first get your face off me. You are close. Like, uncomfortably so.” She suddenly held my head with her hands and brough