Chapter 12: Another Main Character, or an Antagonist?
It's the next day.
Lunch break has just started, and I'm in class. Suddenly, Touka slams the door open and shouts, “Yuuji-senpaaai! Let’s have lunch together!”
Huh… it looks like she’s back to normal. Here I thought that yesterday I’d made her angry, but I guess I was wrong.
I stand up and walk over to her.
“Let’s go to our usual spot!” she exclaims with a big smile.
I nod and head toward the door. Right as we're about to leave, though, somebody calls out from behind us.
“Hey, you guys got a moment?”
I turn around; it’s Ike. Before I can say anything, Touka jumps in, ready on the defensive like usual.
“No, we don’t. Didn’t I tell you not to talk to me while we’re at school?”
Judging by her snappish tone and the daggers she's glaring at him, she's definitely trying her hardest to tell him he's bothering her. Ike just looks confused and a little weirded out by it all, so I cut Touka off. I should at least hear what he wants.
“What’s up?”
“Do you guys mind if we join you for lunch? There’s something we’d like to talk to you guys about,” he answers in his usual gentle manner.
“Huh? What’s your deal? Nah, I think we’ll pass,” Touka answers curtly.
I'm hoping this is part of her plan to make him jealous and not coming from a place of pure malice. She’s being a little too aggressive toward him, I think.
“Wait a second, you said 'we'…?” I ask. Who's the other person he's talking about?
“Yeah.”
He nods. As he does, a girl peeks out from behind him.
“H-He’s talking about me!”
It’s Ike’s childhood friend, Hasaki Kana. Her short, chestnut-colored hair flutters delicately around her face the moment she pops out from behind him.
“Why's she coming along? I don't get it; what's your deal?” Touka snaps, now clearly annoyed by the two of them.
Hasaki quickly answers, “I j-just want to make sure your relationship is pure!"
“Huh? Our relationship is none of your business, though? Why do you even feel the need to check on us?” Touka asks with a shrug. Damn, shots fired. Touka isn’t pulling any punches, huh?
“B-but it actually is something that should be my business! I… I worry about you, you know?! And… and… I-I worry about T-Tomoki-kun too!” she answers. She glances at me for a second, but when I return her look, she averts her eyes.
She probably wants to make sure that I’m not doing anything weird to Touka. The girl in question, however, doesn’t seem to appreciate Hasaki’s concern at all, and she still looks visibly pissed.
“Huuuh? I don’t get why you're so worried about all this. It's actually kinda annoying, more than anything y'know?"
Hasaki makes a strange groaning noise and takes a step back at her biting words. I thought Ike would come in and try to help her out, but he’s just watching silently from the sidelines. It makes me pretty feel bad, to be honest. I mean, Hasaki's clearly struggling right now, and Ike isn’t stepping in to help. I guess I’ll try to soften the situation a little bit.
“C'mon, it can't be that bad. I don’t mind them coming,” I say as I look at the two of them.
Hasaki seems surprised by my answer. “I-Is it really okay?” she asks.
I nod wordlessly.
“Nice!” she whispers.
“Thanks, man,” Ike finally replies with a gentle smile.
“H-Hey! What the hell, Senpai?! You’re not the only one who gets to call the shots here, okay?!”
Well, I should’ve expected Touka to get mad. She's not even trying to hide her feelings anymore, her anger bristling. Ike simply shrugs at her opposition.
“...Haah. Well, okay. If that’s what you want, Senpai, I’ll make an exception just for today.”
“Thanks, Touka.”
“Hmph!” she pouts.
Oh well, looks like we’re going to have a fun lunchtime with these two and Touka in perma-pissed mode.
☆
We head toward the usual spot in the courtyard. Just like always, we're the center of attention—but today, we stand out more than usual.
Obviously, it's because the protagonist, Ike, is here. He's followed by his sister, Touka, who’s always the center of attention because of her cheerful and friendly attitude. Then we have Ike’s childhood friend, Hasaki Kana, one of the school's cutest girls, and the ace of the tennis club. And last, but not least, we have me—the school thug.
“I-It’s been a while since we last had lunch together, huh, Touka? Back in elementary, we were always together, remember?!”
“...Now that I think about it, it’s actually been a while since we've last spoken, as well,” Touka replies.
“Uh, haha… Yeah... I’ve always looked out for you, though.”
"Looking out for me doesn't do much good if you don’t even bother talking to me.”
“Ahaha…”
Damn, it's pretty obvious Touka doesn’t like her. Maybe she considers her a rival because she's close to Ike?
Hasaki forces a smile, and we're enveloped by an awkward silence. She looks increasingly troubled, though, and eventually turns to Ike.
“Ha...Harumaaa…”
She asks him for help.
“Well, when you two started drifting apart, Kana was getting really good at tennis. It's a given she didn't have as much time to spend with you anymore. She had to go to competitions left and right. Plus, I also remember you started avoiding her, didn’t you?”
Damn, Haruma. Absolutely no chill.
“Huh? I don’t remember avoiding her, like, ever. It’s pretty shitty of you to just make stuff up like that out of thin air. Plus, don’t talk to me while we’re at school.”
Touka snaps at Ike and turns away, as if to ignore him. He seems sad for a moment, but quickly returns to his usual smile when he notices me looking.
Man, I wish I could help them get along better somehow. I really wish they would. It's really just a question of “how.” While I'm brainstorming, Hasaki regains her courage to speak.
“Um, T-Tomoki-kun!” she shouts.
“What’s up?”
Her face is beet red. Once again, as soon as she notices me looking at her, she looks away. I feel sorry for her. She probably finds me really scary, but I’m trying my best to appear as friendly as I can; I swear.
“A-Are you two really going out?!”
Huh, interesting question. That’s a really sharp observation. It's true that we're not actually going out—maybe Hasaki's been watching us closely enough to notice that Touka and I aren't really as close as we appear to be.
“We are.”
“B-But… it doesn’t feel like that at all!”
My answer only makes her more suspicious, and she raises her voice even more.
“Huuuh? Are you blind or something, Hasaki-senpai? Yuuji-senpai and I are the most lovey-dovey couple around! Right, Yuuji-senpai?!”
Oh man, Touka's ready to make another scene.
Hasaki's expression hardens; clearly, she’s not the least bit content with Touka’s answer. I can't blame her for being upset.
“I-If that’s the case, then…! Then you’ll have no issues k-kissing right now, right?!”
Hasaki riles herself up and shouts at the two of us. She's not pulling any punches, either—if Touka was looking for a fight, she just found herself one.
I don’t think you can force people to do that, even if they were actually going out. Plus, we’re at school—probably not the best place to make out.
“Huh? And why should we? Just because you said so? I don’t get you.”
“D-Didn't you just say you two are 'lovey-dovey'?! If that’s the case, then you shouldn't have any problems kissing each other!”
“...Are you for real right now? Do you realize we’re at school?”
“Yes, I’m for real! So why don't you two show me if you're for real, too?!”
“Ugh.”
Looks like Touka loses this fight.
“Calm down, Kana.”
“You stay out of it, Haruma!”
Hasaki is so riled up that she doesn’t even care about the large scene she's making. Everyone's paying attention now. If this keeps up, she’s not going to calm down until Touka and I kiss.
Not gonna lie, I'm a little worried now. We’re not going out, so we can’t kiss just like that.
What should I do? Wait, I’ve just come up with the best possible excuse ever.
“Sorry, Hasaki, but I can’t really kiss Touka right now.”
“What the hell?” Touka whispers angrily.
Ike looks at us dubiously, and Hasaki seems cheerful by my reply.
“I knew it! …Wait, what do you mean by that?”
Her happiness lasts just a few seconds before being replaced by confusion. She tilts her head in puzzlement.
“No matter what you say, you can’t just force me to kiss Touka out of the blue like that. It's not something that should be taken so lightly.”
“Huh?”
“Wait, what?”
Touka and Hasaki answer in unison, both of them clearly confused.
“I’m saying that I’m really going out with her. This isn’t any game or anything like that. The most we've done so far is hold hands. We haven't even kissed yet. I want to cherish this relationship, so I want to take my time and do things right.”
Hasaki's mouth gapes in surprise when she hears my reasoning. It might just be an excuse I made up on the spot, but it sounds like a pretty valid thing to say if our relationship was real.
Unfortunately, I’m outright lying, so, yeah. As much as I'd like to be sincere with her, I have to make something up.
Hasaki's clearly processing my statement mentally, as her expression flicks between several stages of confusion like some sort of television. It's actually pretty funny to watch. Finally, she goes completely pale.
I guess she's not a fan of that proclamation of affection for Touka that I just shared. Yeah, I just realized that's what I implied there… I feel pretty terrible about it now. I mean, Hasaki's even started crying and everything.
“N-No way! Sniff, hic! Haruma, you JEEERK!”
She screams at Haruma and breaks out into a run, dashing out of the courtyard in a matter of seconds.
“Why me?” Haruma says, clearly puzzled as he watches her retreating figure.
“Ummm… Aren’t you even slightly embarrassed at what you just said?” Touka asks while looking up at me.
Huh? What?
“...Oh, yeah. That was actually pretty embarrassing.”
What the hell’s wrong with me? Man, I’m such an idiot. I bet this'll come back to me tonight right when I'm on the brink of sleep, and I’ll end up staying up all night from the embarrassment instead. Nice one, me.
Touka also looks surprised.
“Sigh... You’re so stupid, Senpai. Look at your face—you look like a tomato.”
“Oh, shut up.”
She sighs defiantly, as if she’s pretending that my little spiel didn’t affect her. But I can see her cheeks flushing pink, so she’s definitely embarrassed, too.
☆
“Uh, well... let’s just forget about Kana for now,” Ike says, completely drained of energy.
“Sure, man.”
I’m honestly worried about her, but if he insists… I mean, he's the one who actually knows her. Meanwhile, Touka's chomping away at her sandwiches and completely ignoring Ike.
“I'll ask my share of questions now, if that's cool with you two.”
“Right. You also had stuff you wanted to ask. Go for it.”
He nods.
“I was wondering if you could give me a hand in the upcoming study meet.”
“The hell are you talking about?” Touka asks.
“It’s a study meet organized by the student council. It happens every year during Golden Week. It’s mainly aimed toward the first years, but seniors are also encouraged to go—they can help each other out with their studies and make new friends."
“Damn, sounds pretty boring. Count me out.”
Ike ignores his sister and continues with a pleasant smile on his face. “So basically, it’s a study meet for the first years. The student council hands out old exams to whoever comes so they know what to prepare for and how to study for them. But after that, there’s a live concert in the school’s gym, and the cooking club's gonna make food for everyone. Consider it more of a welcoming party for the first years.”
Okay, that sounds reasonable. It was kind of a long explanation, but at least it's pretty clear.
“Whaaat? Hell no, that sounds boring. Also, stop talking to me at school.”
Tactful as ever, Touka. She totally brushed off his long explanation like it was nothing. Even Ike looks depressed at this point.
“Okay, I’ll help.”
Those words are enough to make his smile return.
“Oh, really? Sorry to always ask for your help; you’re a lifesaver, man. Be sure to have your schedule open after school for the week before Golden Week, okay?”
“Wait, what?! Isn’t it obvious that he can't just drop whatever he's doing and open his schedule for you?! We spend time together after class and get all lovey-dovey, so obviously he won’t have any time to help you!”
Looks like she doesn’t like the fact that I want to help him.
“Sorry Touka, but I'm gonna help him.”
“Wh-Whaaaat?! You’d rather help my brother than spend time with me, your significant other?!”
I wish I could tell her to chill out, that we’re not even in a relationship to begin with, but Ike is here. I don't want us to get busted, so I'll have to control myself and keep my mouth shut.
“You’re just exaggerating at this point.”
I know she’s pissed with me, but I’ll take the opportunity to set the record straight while I can.
“Ever since the term's started, I’ve spent most of the afternoons and time outside of school with you. Don’t you think I should have some time for my friends, too?”
“Yeah, yeah—that’s fine and all, but remember how I'm super cute and peppy? Remember how my brains and beauty make me super popular at school? Remember how other guys'll probably try their luck with me when you're not around?”
Man, she’s just way too cocky and sure of herself. At this point, I’m starting to think that she just lives in her own little world.
“You sure have balls to say something like that so openly.”
“I mean… it’s the truth, though.”
I look at Ike—hopefully, he can back me up here. He’s forcing a smile, but he seems to understand what I'm silently asking him for when he looks over at me.
“Sorry, Touka, but I’ll be borrowing Yuuji for a bit.”
“Huh? What're you apologizing for, you shithead? Senpai, are you seriously gonna help him?"
“Yes, I am. Looks like we won’t be able to walk home together for a bit… Sorry.”
Touka stares at the two of us as if she's about to explode. She takes a deep breath and suddenly shouts out, “Aaaah! Okay, okay! Fine! It’ll be a huge drag, but I’ll help too. Okay?!”
“Wait, what?”
“Huh?”
Ike and I reply at the same time, equally confused.
“Are you sure? It’s an event for first years like you, so there’s really no need for you to help if you don’t want to,” Ike says.
“How come you're okay with Senpai doing it and not me? Last I checked, neither of us is in the student council,” Touka answers while giving her brother a fearsome glare.
Ike seems to be deep in thought.
“I'm not against you helping out. If you really want to, by all means,” he replies after a few moments of thought.
“...Are you sure about this?” I ask.
I don’t know what she’s trying to prove by being so stubborn. Is she going to get something out of helping us out?
“I can’t be with you if I don’t, Senpai. Plus, it'd be weird if you did all this work for the first years without me helping or showing up, don't you think?"
“You don't need to force yourself to be with me all the time, y'know? We still have the lunch break, and you just have to go to the actual study meet to avoid the guilt trip.”
I can't wrap my head around why she's suddenly so focused on helping.
I mean, it’d be just a single week where we wouldn’t act like a couple for a few hours after school—is it that big of a deal?
Touka visibly bristles at what I say and takes a few deep breaths. After she calms herself down, she flashes me a stepford smile.
“C'mon, Senpai—is it really that hard for you to ask your cute girlfriend for help? You’re gonna make me sad if you keep telling me you don't want me to help out at this study thing, y'know?”
Now she’s pretending to be nice about it?
Doesn’t help that even if she’s smiling, she's still emanating a seriously murderous aura. It's pretty intimidating, to be honest.
“...Okay, it’d be an honor to have you. Your boyfriend's super lucky to have you. Let's do our best, okay?"
Touka shrugs in response.
“Like I care about what you think. I'm not helping because of you, dipshit. Don't forget that.”
The more I listen to her, the more I'm convinced that she's the tsundere type. On the other hand, her facial expression and the tone when she talks to Ike just gives off major bitch vibes instead; I can’t make my mind up.
“In any case, I’ll try my hardest to help out. Let’s do our best, Seeenpai!”
As she looks at me with her eyes upturned, I suddenly realize why she accepted to help: basically, we'll get to be together, and she'll get to publicly show off how "close" we are.
Not bad. It could also make Ike jealous, too, so two birds with one stone. Well played.
“Same here. Hopefully, you take it easy on me.”
Touka doesn't seem to understand what I meant when I said that.
☆
It's a week later.
Once classes end, Ike heads straight over to me.
“All right, Yuujii—today's the day you start helping out, so here’s hoping for the best.”
“Same.”
Yep, today's the first day that we’re helping the student council.
We prepare to leave the classroom. As we’re heading to the door, we cross paths with Hasaki. Our eyes meet, and she blushes and quickly looks away.
She’s been acting like this ever since our confrontation last week. I bet she hates my guts.
“Hey, Tomoki-kun—do you have a moment?” Kana asks while looking intensely at the door, rather than at me.
Huh. I wasn’t expecting her to talk to me. What does she want?
“What is it?”
My answer makes her flinch slightly. Her eyes dart around restlessly, and eventually she settles her gaze on Ike, who's next to me.
“We're kinda blocking the door, so let’s go somewhere else to talk. Okay?” Ike says while checking around us.
Sure enough, there are students around waiting to get out, so we move out of the way. Ike resumes the conversion.
“There’s something you want to say to Yuuji, isn't there, Kana?”
She nods readily, as if she were preparing herself for whatever she wants to tell me.
“I’m sorry about the other day,” she apologizes with a bow of her head.
And here I was ready for her to pester me about my relationship again. I’m surprised… Why's she apologizing, again?
“What's the apology for?”
“I tried to force you and Touka-chan to kiss the other day,” she says, her face fully flushed a tomato red, “I know it just sounds like an excuse, but I just wasn’t thinking straight back then. I didn't really consider how we were at school, and how kissing in front of other people like that would be… awkward. It won’t happen again. I'm sorry.”
“Right,” Ike says in a gentle tone.
Hasaki's face is filled with regret and sadness.
Okay, I get it now.
“Don’t worry about it too much; I don’t mind. Just be sure to apologize to Touka, and you’ll be fine.”
My words make Hasaki smile a bit. Why, though?
“I apologized to Touka-chan this morning, and she said the same thing: just apologize to you, and I’d be fine.”
Huh, I see.
I guess I can see Touka saying something similar. Although, coming from her, I bet it was a lot less flowery or subtle than what I just said.
If I put myself in Hasaki's shoes, I can understand why she'd have all these complex feelings about our relationship. I bet it was especially weird getting the same answer from both of us today.
“Oh, okay. If that’s the case, then don’t sweat it. Actually, I'm mostly relieved things seem to be cool with you now."
Hasaki shakes her head slightly at my response and looks me dead in the eyes.
“I think what I did was wrong, but that doesn’t change how I feel about your relationship with Touka-chan. I still don’t like it.”
“...Wait, what?”
Her bold statement surprises me.
“I'll talk to you later, so hopefully, we can continue our conversation then,” she says seriously. Rather than averting her eyes like before, she's gazing at me with a certain intensity. Wow, you can really tell how serious she is about this. It really shows how much she cares about Touka. I feel like I really understand her now.
I nod and reply, “Sure, I'll talk to you later. Whenever you want. I don’t mind.”
For some reason, my reply makes her expression darken.
“Anyways, sorry for stopping you guys. See you around.”
She leaves the class, but then turns around to face us, as if forgetting something.
“Oh right, Tomoki-kun—you’re going to help the student council with the study meet prep, right? I can't help, since I'm in the tennis club, but I'm rooting for you.”
I manage to answer with a weak affirmation, since she took me by surprise, but it still makes her smile.
“Bye-bye, guys.”
She waves at us and leaves.
That was weird… So in one conversation, she managed to apologize, declare her disapproval of my relationship, encourage me, and—last, but not least—leave with a smile on her face. At this point, I can't help but wonder, just what the hell does she think of me?
“Don't sweat what just happened, man. She doesn't hate you or anything like that, if that's what you're thinking,” Ike says while patting my shoulder.
I guess I was pretty easy to read there, huh?
“Oh really? Good to know, then.”
“I’m sure things'll be just fine. Anyways, let’s go to the student council room, okay?” he says with a friendly smile.
Will it really be fine? I'm not so sure things will work out with Hasaki in the end. Plus, it's not like Touka and I are actually going out, so this whole thing is just making me feel weirder by the minute. I can’t really do much but nod at Ike's suggestion and keep my mouth shut; it's better not to voice my concerns, after all.
We head toward the student council room.
☆
“Tanaka-senpai, Suzuki—sorry for being late,” Ike says with an apologetic bow of his head.
When we enter the student council room, we see that it's already occupied by a boy and a girl.
“Don’t worry about it, dude,” they answer with friendly smiles and a wave.
“I’ll introduce you. Yuuji, this is Tanaka-senpai, and this is Suzuki, who’s also a junior. Tanaka-senpai is the council’s secretary, and Suzuki's our accountant.”
“I think this is the first time I've met you, yeah? Thanks for helping us whenever you can. I’m Tanaka, and I’m a year above you.”
He looks at me with a warm familiarity, smiling at me as if I'm his friend.
“I've been meaning to thank you too, but I've never really gotten the chance. My bad. I’m in the same year as you, and the name’s Suzuki. I hope we get along well.”
She smiles at me too. Even though she's the same age as us, she gives off mature vibes.
“Huh? I-I mean… Uh, yeah. Same here.”
I can’t hide my confusion. I’m pretty sure these two must've heard the awful rumors about me, so why're they being so friendly?
I look at Ike for an answer. He notices and smiles.
“Oh, right… Suzuki, Taketori-senpai isn’t here yet, is he?”
“Mhm. I think he mentioned something about helping Makiri-sensei out in the staff room, didn’t he?”
“Oh, right. I’ll go there too, then,” Ike replies and heads for the door.
“Ike, please wait a sec,” I say.
I'm not sure I'll know how to act normally without him around.
“Don’t worry, Tanaka-senpai will explain what you gotta do. Plus," he says and breaks out into a smile, “Everyone in the student council's your friend.”
He leaves the room.
…They’re my friends? I don’t get it.
I don’t think I’ve called anyone a friend or an ally. Well, apart from Ike or Makiri-sensei, of course.
“Like Ike-kun says, don’t worry. We know you’re always helping around here, so we’re not really scared of you or anything like that.”
“Yep, what Tanaka-senpai said. Not gonna lie, though, you still look pretty intimidating, so it’ll take a while for me to get used to your face. You might make me jump a few times in the meantime, so sorry in advance.”
They don’t seem scared… I’m seriously so touched. Almost moved to tears, even.
Maybe this is why Ike wanted me to help out so often? That’s the only reason I can think of. That guy is just way too smart for me, honestly.
“...Sure.”
I was trying to showcase my happiness, but that totally didn't work out. Rather than expressing my enthusiasm, I just sound like I want to die.
“Anyways, time to explain what you gotta do,” Tanaka-senpai says.
Right, then...
“Hello, guys! I’m coming in!”
A cheerful voice calls from outside the room, and Touka enters. She notices the three of us and cries out in an astonished voice, “Huh?! Senpai, you’re talking normally to someone who's not me or my brother?! No, it can’t be! Who are you?! What did you do to my Yuuji-senpai?!”
“The hell?” I ask.
“Oh, right—how could I confuse you for someone else, Senpai? No one else in this school would have such a scary face ♡,” she says as she playfully sticks out her tongue.
She’s gone too far.
Tanaka-san watches our banter and decides to continue the convo.
“Oh, yeah, you’re Ike-kun’s sister, right? Pleased to meet you. I’m Tanaka, a senior. I’ve heard some impressive things about you, like how you got the top grades in the entrance exam. I guess that's a given, considering you’re his sister.”
“I feel much better knowing Ike’s sister will be helping us out, too. I’m Suzuka, a junior. I hope we get along well.”
They both smile at Touka as they introduce themselves.
“Sure thing, guys! Nice to meet you two as well!”
Touka's smiling, but I can tell that she’s not very happy about what they've said, for some reason.
“Anyways! What do I need to help with?”
She changes the topic instantly, and, at the same time, Tanaka-senpai starts explaining our tasks.
“It’s actually a fairly simple job. You two just have to go to the printing room, print the mock exams, and staple them along with these other documents over here.”
“Oh, that's all? That sounds, like, a little bit too easy, don't you think?”
“You might think so, but there's going to be around 200 people at the event, even though it’s not compulsory. We have enough documents for everyone in the school who's coming, from freshmen to seniors, so it might take longer than you think,” Suzuka replies with an averted gaze.
“It’ll be fine! It’s a ton of work, but thankfully we have Senpai with us, right?!” Touka answers with an impish grin in my direction.
I can already tell that she’s just going to push all of her work onto me. I can feel it in my bones.
“Yep, having him here is really reassuring. Anyways, sorry to rush you guys, but could you get going to the printing room and get the copies? We still don’t know how many students in the first-year class E will attend the event, but the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll finish,” Tanaka-senpai says.
“What? Isn’t that my class, though? You haven't received the documents yet? I’m pretty sure we already decided who was going," Touka says.
“Yep. Today was the last day, so I’m sure that your class rep will be here soon enough with the news. As soon as I know how many people are coming from your class, I’ll come to the printing room and let you guys know,” he replies.
“Okay then! Which of these documents are we supposed to copy?”
“Oh, right. I forgot to tell you that. Here you go,” Tanaka-senpai says as he hands me a stack of papers.
“This paper has instructions on how to use the printer, plus the number of people from each class who're joining the event. This'll tell you how many copies you need to print,” Suzuki says, handing the paper in question over to Touka.
Touka and I nod.
“All right, time to get going!” Touka exclaims.
I bow slightly and prepare to leave. Right as we're about to head out, though...
“Hey guys, I’m back… Wait—what are you doing here, Touka?”
Another guy enters the room with a smile on his face. Despite seeming like he's got a short fuse, I can't deny that he's pretty good-looking.
“Oh, Kai-kun! Well, I was just taking care of some stuff, y’know? Actually, you’re here to hand off the attendee list, right? Dude—you sure are lazy for someone who's supposed to be the class rep! Ours is the last one to be turned in!”
“My bad. I’ll try to be better about that next time.”
Looks like he’s her class’s rep.
This is a pretty insightful look at how Touka interacts with other people. She has a cheerful personality, and she’s being super nice now. He should see her whenever she speaks to me or Ike.
“Sorry for delivering this so late,” Kai says as he hands a paper to Tanaka-senpai.
Even when he's apologizing, his tone is pretty easy-going.
“Don’t worry. You haven’t delivered it late or anything like that,” Tanaka-senpai answers.
Kai coincidentally looks my way, and his smile completely vanishes.
“Tomoki… senpai? What're you doing here?”
He doesn’t sound very friendly. He’s looking at me, not in fear or disgust, but in pure hatred.
“What?”
I thought that Kai would avert his gaze when I addressed him, but he’s glaring at me without so much as flinching.
“Why're you here?”
He has balls; I like that. Most of the people here just apologize to my face and badmouth me behind my back later. It’s easier for me to face the people that just straight up hate me, like this guy does.
“My bro asked me to lend a hand here, and Yuuji-senpai decided to tag along 'cause he wanted to be with me! Isn’t he just the sweetest boyfriend?!” Touka chimes in, cutting me off before I can say anything.
“Huh? He asked you to help out? Why would he?”
“No idea! He just asked; that’s all. Anyways, Kai-kun—we have stuff to do, so we’ll get going!”
She grabs me by the arm and drags me out of the room as Kai tries to stop us.
“Hey Touka, wait a second!” he cries out.
“Bye bye, see you tomorrow!”
We head off toward the printing room. I turn around and see Kai standing back and watching us. If looks could kill...
“Ugh, I swear, that guy's a pain in the ass," a clearly fatigued Touka mutters.
“Really? He seemed pretty nice and brave.”
“Huh? Senpai, are you for real?”
She looks genuinely surprised.
“Absolutely… Okay, maybe not.”
“Man, just the fact that you're not denying it outright is super weird," she shrugs.
“Anyway, I wasn’t expecting you to lie to get us out of that, so thanks.”
I mean, Ike didn't ask her to help at all. In fact, she basically felt forced to join so she could tag along with me, the guy that Ike actually asked.
And even after essentially getting her into all this trouble, she goes out of her way to save my ass from that Kai guy.
“No need to thank me. He’s seriously a pest, so mostly I just wanted to get rid of him.”
“Oh, okay. Well, thanks anyways.”
She doesn't answer. Maybe she’s just embarrassed or something? I wish I could look at her and figure out why she did it; but, unfortunately, I don’t know her well enough to be able to read her yet. I can believe her excuse, though—that she just did it in her own interests, that she finds him annoying and wanted to get rid of him.
“So he’s in your class, I assume? Who is he?”
I try to change the topic of conversation, but she just gives me another impish smile.
“Oh my, Senpai. Don't tell me you're already thinking about getting all violent? I bet once I tell you, you'll, like, totally bully him into submission. Or maybe you're trying to scout out his weakness or whatever?"
“Sometimes, I wish I could figure out who the hell you seem to think I am.”
Her joking is seriously getting real old, real fast.
“I’m just kidding! ...Okay, mostly kidding. He’s Kai Rekka, the class rep for my class. He’s pretty hot, and he treats everyone equally. Plus, he got into high school with really high entrance marks. Obviously, he's really popular among us freshmen. I've only heard a rumor, but apparently he’s already been asked out by, like, three different girls,” she answers.
“He might be popular and all, but I know someone close by who's ten times more popular."
“Oh my god, Senpai! You sure never waste any opportunity to flirt with me, huh! I know you can't help it 'cause I'm totally cute and all, but please try to contain yourself! We’re at school right now, y'know?!♡”
I don't seem to react the way she was hoping, and her jovial tone immediately returns to nonchalance.
“Anyways, he’s already the soccer team's ace, even though the term's barely started. So yeah... he’s basically one of the top dogs around here already,” she explains in a bored tone.
“Oh wow, so he’s like the first-year version of Ike.”
So he's smart, athletic, and already popular, to boot? He’s totally following in Ike's footsteps. They're still not on the same level or anything, but he's already on the right track to becoming the next school celebrity.
“...He's basically like a discount version of my shitty brother, to be honest.”
“Damn, that’s harsh.”
"I can't help it if it's true, dude," she sighs.
“I don’t get why he's already glaring daggers at me, though... I can't think of any reason why he'd hate me so early on.”
“He likes me, so I'm guessing he's just jealous of you.”
“Man, only you would say something like that... But, honestly, that would be the most logical answer.”
She stops walking and looks at me apologetically.
“I’m sorry that everyone's so jealous, but I can't help it that I'm popular, Senpai.”
“What kind of apology is that?”
...Can you even consider that an apology?
“Aren’t you always worried about other guys chasing after me? Y'know, 'cause I'm super popular and all.”
“I'd be lying if I said no… though I'm more worried about what they'd do to me than anything."
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting you to go along with me... but your answer kinda pisses me off."
“Did you want me to say that I’m 'totes jelly' of other guys chasing you since you’re 'sooo popular'?”
“Exactly! If there are other people around, be sure to act super possessive, 'kay?! Saying you're jealous with that creepy face of yours... Not gonna lie—picturing that totally would've scared me at first, but now I really like the idea!" she giggles.
She’s a little too cocky for her own good.
“I think you’ll be okay, though," she continues, "I can't think of anyone in school who'd have enough balls to try and face you.”
“...Yeah, probably.”
I agree with her. I don’t think I’ll ever need to worry about fighting anyone around here, at least. But after seeing Kai staring at me with so much venom, I can’t completely rule out the idea of violence at some point.
We take our sweet time getting there, but we eventually arrive at the printing room.
I retrieve the documents we need to print from the bag and place them on the table. Meanwhile, Touka starts looking over the paper with the instructions she was given and comparing them to the documents I left on the table.
“Actually, how was last year’s study meet for you?”
“Beats me. I didn’t go.”
“Wow, huge shocker.”
Oh come on, don’t say that. That hurts, okay?
Touka notices that I didn't take her comment too kindly and smiles at me.
“Well, since we’re helping organize it this year, you’ll probably have a chance to go, too. Let’s make the best of it, okay?”
“Well, it’d be better to at least try and have fun instead of being pessimistic about the whole thing, I guess.”
Touka notices my dispirited lack of interest over the whole ordeal and offers me another smile as I continue fishing papers out of the bag.
☆
It's the next day, after school.
Touka and I head toward the printing room again.
“When will this suffering end?” Touka groans, her eyes soulless and empty.
I feel her pain—this job's just too simple, not to mention tediously slow. It leaves us with nothing to do for long stretches of time, so most of the time, I just end up milling about, wishing I could take a nap.
I want this suffering to end just as much as she does.
“I don’t think it'll be today,” I answer. I'm stapling some more documents and throwing them into a cardboard box with the rest.
“Yeah… haaah. This job is so freakin' boring. Why must we waste our youth like this?”
She looks completely depressed right now. Despite that, she's still taking her tasks seriously—she hasn’t stopped working for a moment, even with her complaining.
Even if she ended up deciding she was done with working, just having her here keeping me company would help me out.
I’ll admit it: Touka might be annoying at times, she might be crass, and she might get a little too into her dumb jokes… but, deep down, she’s a good person.
“...Sorry.”
“Huh? What're you apologizing to me for? My shithead brother should be the one apologizing for forcing me to do this boring ass job.”
"Well, I get why the student council's doing it—in order to prepare for these kinds of events, they're mostly stuck with doing a lot of grunt work. I can’t imagine what they’re doing right now is any more exciting than our job.”
“How does that excuse my brother pushing this shit onto me? I deserve an apology, anyways.”
Damn, she’s actually angry about all of this. Now I feel sorta bad that Ike's not here with us.
“Ugggh, man! I’m gonna get something to drink from the vending machine!” she stands up and asks, “You want something too, Senpai? I’ll go get it for you.”
“Wow, you’re actually going to go and get for something yourself? Without using me as your servant?”
“Is it really that big of a deal to you? If you don't want anything, I’m off,” she says defensively, puffing her cheeks in protest.
“My bad, that was out of line. I'll have a coffee, please.”
“There we go; now we’re talking. I always take my coffee black, so do you mind if I get you that, as well?”
“Sure,” I answer as I hand over some change.
“Aaaah! Look at Senpai making it rain! You're getting me wet over here.”
Am I the only one who thinks she can be really vulgar sometimes? Just me?
“Okay then, I'm off! And no slacking while I’m gone, Senpai!”
“Yeah, yeah. Move your ass already.”
“Byeee!” Touka sing-songs as she leaves the room.
Now that she’s gone, I notice the rhythmic sound of the copying machine whirring over and over again. It's spewing out papers endlessly… Man, I want to take a nap so badly right now.
I stand up and stretch my body to shake the sleepiness from my body. I take the new stack of documents, which have emerged fresh from the printer. Suddenly, I hear a knock on the door.
It can’t be Touka since she just left a moment ago to buy those drinks. Besides, she’d never knock in the first place.
“Come in.”
The door opens, and Makiri-sensei enters.
“I was told that Ike-san was here, too, but you’re the only one I see.”
“She just went to buy some drinks for us.”
“Oh really? That’s some bad timing, then,” she says, looking somewhat awkward.
What does she mean?
“I actually bought a couple of things for you guys as thanks for helping out. I should’ve come here earlier; that way, you guys wouldn’t have had to waste your money on drinks.”
She places a plastic bag on the table and starts to pick out its contents: two bottles of tea and two ice creams. Expensive ones, by the looks of them.
“You sure you wanna give these to us?”
“Mhm. This job isn’t all that easy, right?”
“Well, it definitely takes more of a mental toll than a physical one.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much how it is. Once Ike-san returns, make sure to have these, okay?”
“Sure thing. Thanks.”
She smiles.
“It’s fine; don’t worry about it. I should be the one thanking you two—you’re a great help to the student council committee.”
“It's not like I have anything better to do, anyways.”
Her smile only increases.
“How’s school been lately?”
“Well, recently, I’ve been able to start talking to more people apart from Touka and Ike. I just talked to Tanaka-senpai and Suzuki from the student council, so I'm actually pretty happy about that.”
“I see. That’s good to hear.”
“I gotta thank you and Ike for that.”
I’m trying to hide my embarrassment as much as possible. For some reason, Makiri-sensei seems a little annoyed by what I just said.
“Nope, it's not because of me—it’s all because of your earnest hard work. There are a lot of people who have their eye on you. I bet you’ll talk to even more people from here on out. I guarantee it.”
She seems to be dead set on believing that my increase in popularity is all my doing, and that she didn’t do anything herself. Meanwhile, I know that alone, I'd never have been able to get to this point. The fact that there are people looking out for me and appreciating my work makes me happy.
“Well, you and Ike definitely played a big part. The two of you gave me a chance.”
“I… really didn’t do anything," Makiri-sensei says in a dispirited voice. She looks sad.
“Sensei?”
I'm about to ask her what’s wrong, but before I can…
“I’m baaack! ...Hey! It’s Makiri-sensei! Why are you here?”
Touka slams the door open, totally interrupting us.
“Mhm. I came here to give you guys a snack and something to drink as thanks for helping. Thanks, Ike-san.”
“Huh? Oh, you shouldn’t have bothered. There’s no need to thank us, honestly. Wait a sec! So I can have that ice cream?! Damn, Sensei, you’re super generous!” she exclaims, homing in on the ice cream Sensei brought us.
“Of course you can—it's for you guys, after all. Unfortunately, there's not much else I can do. Anyways, I’m going to have a peek at the student council to see how they’re doing.”
“Okaaay.”
I bow my head to thank her as she leaves the room.
It would’ve been nice if I could've asked her why she looked so sad.
“So there’s chocolate chip cookie, and… Hey! This one's the new flavor! Can I have this one, Senpai?!”
“Go ahead.”
“Yesss!”
She hands me the coffee I asked her for, as well as the ice cream.
“Senpai, you’re looking kinda bummed out. What's up? You want my ice cream instead of the chocolate chip cookie one? Well, too bad! It’s already mine! But maybe if you're a good boy and you beg nice enough, I'll give you a bite…”
Huh, so she could tell I was down. Okay, I guess she can worry about others when she actually wants to.
“Don’t worry about it. I was just thinking about something.”
“Huh? You were… thinking? Can't say that suits you.”
“Isn't that going a little too far?”
“Well, whatever! I’m just glad it’s nothing big! Now I get all this ice cream to myself without feeling bad!♡”
She starts munching away at her ice cream, looking happy as can be. Seeing her so happy melts any negativity I had. I shouldn’t worry too much about what happened with Makiri-sensei. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of chances to ask her in the future, after all.
