Chapter 3 - Annoying

After all, Tachibana came to the library after school that day as well. Well, to be accurate, she was already there. She arrived one step faster than me, though I left cla.s.sroom right after homeroom.

A bit further into the library, she was there near the window, just as usual. In contrast to how cheerful she is during cla.s.s, the girl was quietly reading a book.

In addition, she was not sitting on the chair, but unmannerly on top of the desk. Dull white sunlight was falling on her. From time to time she would look out the window, seemingly bored. I wonder if that face looking at textbook is serious or listless?

Still, this schoolgirl doesn"t match with a dusty solemn room at all… On the contrary, when she looks bored… It was a strangely magical scene.

After noticing my approach, she gave me a resentful glare.

And the first thing she said to me was

– …Annoying

Whoa. Have I done something wrong?

No, no, it wasn"t me. I have confidence I haven"t done anything different from the usual.

I had absolutely 0 good guesses, but I was confident of my innocence, so I walked to next seat and took out my study tools from the bag without worries.

In any case, the fact that she came here probably means that she came to study, so let us finish everything quickly. Even so, I think me having a non-refusing personality is a disaster. Personally, I do think it is as pathetic as it can be. And my situation deteriorated in just the few days between the day when I was first asked to help with homework and today.

Well, it"s not that I"m dissatisfied to that extent.
I come here alone anyway…

– Hey!

Tachibana pulled on the sleeve of my uniform.
Blonde girl"s big eyes looked frustrated about something.
For a moment her fair-skinned face came so close, flowerlike sweet aroma tickled my nostrils.

I gulped. Air almost stopped inside my throat.

– Wh-, what?

– Annoying. Really annoying.

– Did you mean to say "Quickly ask what is annoying me, virgin loser"?

– Well, I wouldn"t go that far… Let"s leave it at idiot virgin s.h.i.tty loser…

– That is even more disparaging! What are you, elementary school student!?

Give me a break, that kind of chat is not under jurisdiction of a d.a.m.ned lonely bookworm loser like me. Just having to help with studies every day almost makes me go crazy.

– Look. Even if you want to complain, there is a more suitable company, right? And you have many friends for that.

– Ha? It"s not like that. It"s not about me. It"s about you, bookworm.

– What? About me?

– About what was said today! During lunch break, you know?

– Aa, now that you mention it…

So it is concerning that group at the back of the cla.s.sroom, those guys that were having fun playing mobile games.
Certainly, that guy was spiteful, eh. He spoke in quite a loud voice so I heard him, but it even reached Tachibana"s bustling group.
That is to say, everyone in the cla.s.sroom heard it…

– What"s wrong with them? That"s practically bullying. So annoying. Laughing like idiots in the cla.s.sroom, I felt so angry! I was planning to say something…

– It is good that you gave up on that. Things can get complicated, so please don"t do things like that.

Tachibana got irritated and clasped my sleeve tighter.

When I tried to lightly shake off her hand, she glared at me.
Is this what they call "look daggers"? Is a gyaru looking daggers at me right now?

The only thing in my vision is her face. Hey, so who are you actually angry with?

– There was no real harm, so it doesn"t matter.

– Bookworm is okay with that, but I am not! It makes absolutely no sense…

To begin with, why is it you and not me who is annoyed? Now that really makes no sense.

– Don"t you hate always being alone? That and let yourself be irritated.

Unpleasant, huh? Well, it is unpleasant, but it is not such a simple topic.
I have been a loner for a considerably long time, but Tachibana seems like a complete opposite of me.
That"s right. What kind of explanation should I give, so that she can understand?

Being alone is like having your own house.
You get used to being alone so much, it starts getting really comfortable.
Besides, as long as I"m disliked, I can only be alone. In perspective, it gives a peace of mind. It"s like from now on, loneliness is guaranteed to me.
Hence, it"s not as simple as just feeling unpleasant.

If things get bad, at times, solitude itself can become a way out and it is quite frightening.
Even if someone friendly appears, loner, unfamiliar with goodness of others, will be completely confused and act suspiciously as a result.
If I become hated even by that friendly person, then I would better be a loner right from the beginning.

No… That"s not it, right, Ichijou Jun?
Explaining her all of that, you think that you want her to understand you?
Haa… Stop, stop. This will just ruin the mood.

Somehow, thinking by myself made me dizzy.
Being a loner means that you can"t start a conversation yourself, yet your inner thoughts are so noisy, it worries you. There are at least three different threads of self-consciousness in my brain that always start a debate by themselves, therefore I have so many uncontrollable concerns.

Goodness! And I was planning to help with studies after this…

– I… don"t really dislike it you know. I"m one of those who don"t care what others think about them. Otherwise, how would I be able to study during lunch break?

– It"s so sad… So you don"t care about whole cla.s.s?

– Well, it is not exactly like that…

– Anyway, I do not like it. Don"t like that bookworm is hated. Even though you are a good person. And kind.

– Let"s end this conversation here, I"m feeling itchy! Look, didn"t you come here to study? Pull out your workbook, right now! You came here because of topics you don"t understand, no?

Tachibana sighed, clearly not content, but she finally released my sleeve.

Despite the heated argument, today"s study safely proceeded.
She has certainly gotten used to being taught, and Tachibana"s earnestness increased considerably to boot.

In the beginning she only asked for homework, while today,

– Err… It"s about past here, is it Past Tense?

– Wrong, that is Present Simple. Take notice of the verb at the front ――like "advise" or "recommend", they are the verbs of advising someone. Having "that" after them, means that it is Present Simple.

– Eeh, like I know that! Unfair!

– Not my problem. If you want to complain, travel to England and complain to the authors. Otherwise, just give up and memorize. You"ve got only two choices.

– Virgin acting as a demon teacher…

– Quiet! Come on, show me willpower of a b.i.t.c.h.

– Hahaha, what the heck does that mean?

Currently, difficulty level of the questions is rising.
These problems include material required for the next Midterm, and there is still one month before it. Haha, now you"re a bookworm too.

Still, gyaru who has a say in the cla.s.s is studying seriously only after school?
What kind of crazy woman is this? Like, for a long time it was said that good girls should go play outside after school. So go to karaoke or something.

Of course I can"t say that.
Tachibana clearly has her own reasons to be doing something like this… Yet I haven"t asked anything. It"s not like we are friends or anything.

Instead, my imagination is producing some stupid guesses on its own.
Like… In truth, she is aiming to become a doctor and is secretly studying with fervor under disguise of playing around.
In the future she will be blonde beauty surgeon, a.k.a. Doctor b.i.t.c.h. Please don"t use senseless high-school girl slang when writing medical records.

Hmm… Mystery deepens.
I feel like lately we are having reasonable chats, but I still don"t know anything about her.

For the whole day, this period is the only time when we speak to each other.

We don"t speak to each other in cla.s.sroom.
It is the same in gym, sports ground or during home economics practice.
We are total strangers on the way to and from school.

However, it is more comfortable to me this way.

Tachibana had many requests, so by the time we finished it was already sunset.
When we were finished orange sunlight was shining through into the room. As expected, at that time aunty at the reception desk left her workplace again, there are no traces of her at all. Why is she always like that?

While I was preparing to go home, Tachibana slapped my b.u.t.t with her soft hand.
I was careless… Realizing that I lowered my guard and feeling shocked by sudden feeling, I turned around.

What the h.e.l.l, b.i.t.c.h? - I asked with my eyes.

– Hey… Earlier, you said you don"t care what others think about you, didn"t you?

– I guess so?

– On the other hand, it means that you don"t care if everybody will like you, right?

"Huh?" I had a perplexed look on my face
The girl started devilishly grinning. Is my face that funny?

– What"s so funny?

– Hihihi… Nothing in particular. If everybody knew that bookworm is in truth tsundere virgin, who can"t be honest, would they start to like you, I wonder.

– When was I acting love-struck…

– Haha, acting all shy. In any case, soon you will be deredere, I know that for sure.

Foolishly laughing, Tachibana was poking my shoulder over and over. So annoying…

– Of course you know. Teach me then. See you…

– Ah, wait for me~!

It all feels like a joke.
Well, it might be an illusion or something. Everything can stop at any moment. Tomorrow is Friday, possibly our last session. Who knows if she will come next week.

Simply being a male, this situation makes my chest feel itchy unconditionally. I"ll try really hard to forget all about it, and it seems like it will take fair amount of time for me to calm down after I get back home. Well, don"t think too deeply into it, is what I was saying to myself.