Chapter 25 - School caste ①

Today"s last morning lesson is P.E. The event is softball.
Of course, my partner in playing catch is the member of my union - Komatsu-dono.

By the way, various things have happened and I"m doubtful if we can still be called colleagues, but I don"t know when I will return to active duty, therefore it would be wise to treat him with kindness.
Moreover, with Iidzuka, who I suspect can"t read the mood, pestering him from behind in the cla.s.s, in his own way he has his worries maximized. Well, most likely that fake pharaoh is not doing it out of malice. Still, it has to be bitter for a gloomy person.

That"s right.
Distress of a pessimist will make him wither, even if there is not a single ill will in the surroundings.
Occasionally, when I am together with someone, I feel sorry for being alive. Someone like me just deceives with a bluff, but when I walk in public together with Tachibana, I especially want to drop into a hole.

So to speak, the two of us became victims of the Youth World just by being born.
For the sake of getting through the next two years of this cla.s.s, despite being loners, at times, we have to help each other. There are still so many events that spread fatigue across a gloomy person"s whole body.

It was a day where the blue sky could be seen here and there in the gaps between thick clouds.
Sports ground"s earth was slightly muddy. The ball rolling over the ground gets wet and our hands are inevitably covered in dirt.

Smelling strong scent of the earth, we were throwing the ball.

Still, the two of us haven"t really talked about anything, and for whatever reason, I ended up letting something like an indifferent true thought slipping out of my mouth.

– Haa… Sorry, as expected, it is tough.

– Well, it is tough.

Whoa, that got through to me.
Moreover, the contents of the conversation resembles a prince of some country1 with his comrades right before a final decisive battle. As if there is going to be a campfire and his whole body has black clothes on it. Stand by me is about to play in the ending.

But it seems that Komatsu-kun had his own thoughts on this, so he replied to me like this.

– I mean. Lately, Ichijou-kun suddenly got popular.

– That is just me being used. It"s only for the time before the tests.

– Even so. Every single one is saying "Ichijou, Ichijou". They rely on you.

I threw the ball in my hands to Komatsu-kun who was standing 20 meters away from me.

– I"m glad I heard it. That it is tough as expected. You suddenly became sort of a faraway person, so I felt a little lonely.

– I"m still, a loner.

– Really? You speak with girls from time to time. Right in the middle of the cla.s.s, you exchange jokes with various people… That is absolutely impossible for me. Because I"m a loner.

– Ugh… I"m still a loner in my heart…

– Yeah, yeah, lol. Somehow, you"re stubborn, aren"t you?

Somehow, I can"t help but feel the most comfortable when I"m with this frail boy.
I still don"t know anything about this guy. And he too, has never asked anything about me. We are just relying on each other a little and hold no interest about the other person. Otherwise, it is no different from being friends.

Whenever I got to know someone, there was always a feeling of distance like this.

But since meeting Tachibana, I started thinking that maybe it was a slightly desolate way of living my life… maybe. I wonder. Like stuff about that girl, I haven"t wished for it, but I already know this and that about her. Sooner or later, stuff about me will be known too.

I would"ve build walls around me, but isn"t it meaningless with her around?

Haa… Stop, stop, it is plenty enough to worry only when blonde girl is around.

– Sat.u.r.day, you come too, Komatsu-kun. I think you could save me there.

– Eh? Me…?

– Well, you can"t get anything out of it anyway. You"ll only get tired if you go.

Eventually, P.E. teacher"s voice announced the end of practice time and we moved on to have a practice game.

Earlier we practiced with students from different groups, so now it is a contest between former partners.

The match started and I was given the position of the left fielder.
I may be supposed to defend, but this is nothing but standing in one place. It"s not like I have a special eagerness to play. Well, it is a common condition where you want the time so slowly pa.s.s by, that gloomy people bad at physical exercises have to face during P.E.

Girls are away from here, playing tennis, while they chatter and giggle, yeah.
Distance-wise, they are fairly far away from here, so it is not likely that Tachibana will watch here, ah.

Why are you worried about what she will see, virgin idiot?

Haa… So this is Stage 2. It"s so bad being a boy in p.u.b.erty.
This s.h.i.tty mental illness is steadily inflating inside my body.
Which internal organ should I take out to cut it off, huh?

While I was having such foolish thoughts, an extrlarge trouble came my way.

I was late for just a moment. To realize that a ball was flying my way, I was late for just a moment.

s.h.i.t, I started running with my legs covered in mud.
I immediately caught up with the place it was going to fall, but when I looked up, sunlight pierced my eyes.
Losing the ball out of my eyesight, b.u.mp, I received the hit with my forehead.

– Ouch

With my up becoming down, nearby voices seemed coming from far away.
Sounds of the rushing footsteps, several people shouting "Ichijou!", reaching from far away a burst of laughter from… what was he called.. Okamura. Everything instantly mixed up.
And the only troublesome thing among them is that guy"s guffaw coming from the other side of the fence. It is okay when everyone laughs, but it is not so. It was only him who abandoned any ability to read the mood and was laughing. I felt that there will be troubles because of it.

For G.o.d"s sake, don"t behave in such a way that will provoke that blonde girl.
And at that point, my consciousness abruptly went off.