Chapter 11: Trip to the Library
After another uneventful day of classes, Touka comes to my classroom. As we’re walking down the corridor, she asks me something I wasn’t quite expecting.
“Hey, Senpai—how about we go to the library?”
“Sounds good. You can go, and I’ll wait for you here.”
“Sure thing! …Wait a second! You have to come too!”
“Why? What do you need me there for?”
She smiles as if she knows something I don't and says, “So here’s the catch, Senpai: there're a lot of people who go there after school to study and stuff, right?”
“I think so.”
“Which means there's a whole audience to show how lovey-dovey we are!” she says while clenching her fist.
“Are you sure we’re not going to end up bothering the people who're just trying to study, instead?”
“No worries about that, Senpai! That would only work against us, after all. All that matters is that people see us together after school in the library! That’s all!” she says while flashing a cheerful smile.
“...Okay, then, sure. Let’s get going, I guess.”
“Okaaay!”
It’s not like I care very much about where I'm going after school, and I have nothing better to do at home anyways, so I’ll tag along with her.
☆
“This is actually my first time here," she says while standing in front of the library door.
“I don't really come here much myself… Damn, there’s a lot of people here. Let’s be as quiet as we can.”
I can tell there’s a lot of people here based on the number of shoes placed in the lockers outside of the library. It seems like people weren't kidding when they said a lot of people use this place; it's pretty packed.
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
After Touka reassures me that she’ll behave, we finally enter the library. Most of the students are sitting in neat rows along the long tables, and they're either reading books or studying.
There's a small creak as we open the door, but it’s quiet enough that the people inside don't even notice us entering. We scan the area for any open seats. Oh, there are two over there at the end of the table. Touka and I move over to them.
I pull out the chair, ready to sit down, until I notice a school bag left on the chair; it’s not free after all.
Maybe I should take it and move it somewhere so I can sit down? Then again, that’d probably mean… I mean, I’d be stealing someone else’s place, right? Or maybe the bag belongs to the guy sitting next to me? Wouldn’t it be rude to just take it and move it elsewhere? I’ll ask him before I do anything.
“Hey, can I sit here?”
“Hm? Oh yeah, sorry. I’ll take my bag… W-Wait a second, T-Tomoki-kun?! Why the hell are you here?!”
The moment he shouts that, everyone in the library turns to focus on us.
“Whaaat?! Why is Tomoki-kun here?”
“You gotta be kidding me. Hey, everyone, run! You think this is any time to study?!”
“Ugh! And just when the book was getting good… But I totally can't focus if he's here."
Complaints start flooding in like a landslide. In a matter of minutes, just about everyone clears the library; they're absolutely terrified at the thought of me being here. Now it's just me, Touka, and the guy I was talking to.
“A-Ahaha! I actually just remembered that I have something important to do! Here, take my seat! It’s all yours!” the guy quickly gets up and dashes out of the room.
“Wow—you booked the entire room for us today! Nice going, Senpai! You never disappoint,” Touka says after making a whistling sound to show she's impressed. She's clearly poking fun at me.
“If you mean that mass stampede I just caused that cleared the place out, then sure.”
I look over at the counter. There’s supposed to be someone working there to help check out books and whatnot, but I don't even see them. Damn, even the people who're supposed to be working here ran away?!
“Let’s just make this the first and last time we come here together. I don't wanna bother anyone who actually came here to study seriously or whatever.”
If I end up coming here repeatedly, other students won't be able to use it. Obviously, I don't want that to happen.
“You’re a nice guy, Senpai,” Touka says with a serious expression.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“It's just… I don't think you've really done anything wrong here. They're the ones who chose to shit their pants and run away. I just think you should ignore them; if they really wanted to study, they’d stay.”
Damn, she’s actually pissed.
“Are you trying to console me or something?”
“Nope. I’m just pissed at them, in general… and at you, too.”
I get what she’s trying to say here. Really, I do. But…
“It’s not like I can somehow convince them that I'm not a criminal when that's what they all think. So I can’t really blame them for running away.”
“Huh, I see," she answers, totally deadpan.
Damn, this silence is awkward. What are we even supposed to do now?
“Well then! Since we’re already here, and the room is practically ours, I think we should just make the best out of it! Let's finish our homework while we're here, and we can also chat or whatever!” she exclaims. Looks like she's back to her usual cheerful self.
Nice save, Touka. She definitely sensed the awkwardness hanging in the air and did something about it. I don’t mind going along with her suggestion at all, actually.
“Well, since I’m here, I could help you out with your homework.”
“Nah, it's all good. I doubt you could teach me anything, Yakuza-senpai.”
“...I'm a year ahead of you. I can definitely help you out with your schoolwork.”
“No need, really! That's because… hehe… I got the top marks in my entrance exam!” she says with a smug grin.
“Damn, that's impressive.”
No, really. It actually is impressive. The moment I say that, though, she does a complete 180—her smug smirk vanishes, and she looks completely dejected instead.
“Well, considering who my brother is, it's a given that I’d have to get the best marks,” she whispers in a dispirited voice.
“What? What does being Ike's sister have to do with anything?”
“Huh?”
She’s surprised at my reply.
“Oh, I get it now," I say, “Is it because he’s helping you with your studies or something like that?”
That’d make sense—I mean, if I had Ike tutor me daily, I'd definitely do way better on my exams. Maybe I'd even do well enough to take second place in our class rankings.
“No, he’s never tutored me,” she answers. Her expression darkens further.
I don’t get her... So she’s proud of her exam marks, but she doesn't like having people recognize that it was through her own hard work? Why would that be the case? She should be proud of her efforts. I don't understand why she's acting this way.
“I don't really get how any of that is related to being Ike's sister, then.”
“I mean, it's probably not, but…”
“Well, your good grades are a result of your hard work, right? You didn't even rely on your brother’s help or anything like that. I don't think you should be acting so down about it.”
Touka remains silent after my reply.
“What’s wrong?”
She shakes her head at my question.
“No, it's nothing,” she whispers.
An awkward silence blankets us again. Normally, Touka would be able to come up with a topic in the blink of an eye, and the awkwardness would be gone; but, right now, she's remaining silent.
I guess I'll try to come up with something to talk about myself, but given that I’m a complete disaster when it comes to human relationships, nothing really springs to mind. Shit.
“Ugh, god! I just feel totally off today! I’m going home!” Touka shouts, and she quickly stuffs her notebook inside her bag and stands up.
“Uh, sure,” I say as I follow suit.
We quickly leave the library.
☆
We don’t say anything at all to each other on our way home together. Touka's off in her own little world, immersed in her own thoughts.
I probably messed up earlier and said something that upset her. I wanna apologize, but I don’t even know what made her angry in the first place. I try to come up with something to talk about, but we end up reaching the station without exchanging a single word the entire way.
“Well then, Senpai…”
Touka bids me farewell in her usual manner and heads towards her respective train platform. Her whisper was so low that I could barely make out her promise to see me again tomorrow.
So maybe she’s not mad? I wish I had more experience with situations like this, because I’m so lost right now. It doesn't help that she actually smiled at me when she said goodbye, so that confuses me even more.
…And here I am, just happy to see her smile. I’m a simple man to please, I suppose.
