Chapter 2 - Cla.s.sroom Positioning

Chime after the fourth period eased the leaden atmosphere of the cla.s.s.

A short time after, someone on the window side flung open the window and wind whistled from the outside, where blue sky was now transparent.

Cla.s.sroom was bustling during lunch break.
Everybody was talking about yesterday"s TV programs while eating bento at joined desks.
Or about club related grumbles and love stories. Or so I thought, but it seems like they are talking about a popular game.
Conversations like this, that are empty at first sight, are the most lasting when people grow up is what gr, no, what aunt says. If it"s about games, I too want to join the conversation a bit.

Be that as it may, it seems that since Golden Week ended the atmosphere of not only this cla.s.s, but whole grade became more cheerful. At the end of the day, we, second graders, still have main events of school life like summer vacation, school trip and school festival ahead of us.

There is only now. Let"s enjoy this moment right now.
This feeling of elation that sounds so much like giving up, it"s probably generally equally contagious. For the great majority of people.

Speaking of me, I only had two block of CalorieMade cheese, after which I opened ring of English vocabulary flashcards. ZU03.0. It"s pretty useful for examination training. I"ve already lost count to how many repet.i.tions I have done.

Recently, I"ve decided to spend my lunch breaks on reading this. Unchanged routine since my first year. Diversity comes only from the choice between English and Mathematics.

It"s not like I really like studying.

When thinking about what is the most natural thing for a guy, who couldn"t even say "let me in" since he was child, to do during lunch break, this is the best answer I came up with.

Trying to join the conversation without any reason, too unreal… I can"t help but think of that. Just imagining it makes me want to cut my wrists. Before a problem of choosing a group to join, no amount of arms to cut is going to help. It"s that bad.

Still, my pessimism is not unfruitful, so it is not absolutely awful.
My test rank gradually rose to the 4th position among second years. I"m almost at the point where I can surpa.s.s, what-was-her-name, genius girl of the millennium. At such pace even Former Imperial University is not just a dream, so I cannot slack off.

However, there is still a little problem.
Well, it really is a trivial problem, but… As expected, in an environment that reeks of "Youth", someone like me is treated as someone, who can"t pick up on the mood.

– Hey. That guy is doing that again.

– That shady character, was it something-Jou-kun? Lol

– Don"t know. Whatever-Jou-kun, who even cares about him? lololol

Stuff like that is being said at the back of the cla.s.sroom.

Humph, say that as much as you like.

I think they are deliberately saying it so that I hear, but I"m not in the mood to talk back. The part about shady character is true, and not caring about goes both ways. I"m self-conscious about everything, so I don"t care at all.

– Ah! Just now, Ichijou-kun twitched a bit. Will he cry now? lololol

– Oi! Stop crying! Lol

I take back my previous words. Ain"t that too cruel!?
That"s already bullying. From now on, I"ll really give my best at crying, so take a serious notice, Board of Education. OK?

Well, there are more than 300 people in one grade, so there are various types of people gathered here.
Even if we only consider this cla.s.s it still holds true. It"s amusing how for the most part you can grasp a student"s standing in cla.s.s just by looking at where he sits during lunch break.

For example, those guys who were just deliberately badmouthing me audibly, they sit on the rightmost tables of the last rows near the corridor, while I sit on the rightmost table of the first row. So they are actually right behind me.
They belong to the type of people labeled as the so-called "otaku", so I actually would like to join the same category as them. Still, there are no chances of that happening.

In fact, far from taking me into their circle, they are looking down on me.

On the other hand, the group positioned on the opposite side somewhat differs. They sit on the leftmost side at the back near windows. In other words, diagonally opposite from me. After looking at them for a few second, I can tell that their group consists of boys from football and basketball clubs, as well as several girls with outstanding appearance.

Hmm. Somehow, I feel that their lineup has good looks, good communication and good physical strength.

You can feel it the first time you see them, they belong to the top caste of school.
By the way, unlike the group of otaku, excelling guys don"t care about me at all. Seems like they haven"t noticed me right from the beginning.

Anyway, now they are talking about something with an ostentatiously loud voice.

– So, you know. That was a disaster, she ran away in the middle of our date…

– Haha, no way.

– Dumped you real fast, eh? Wipe your tears, baseball club.

– And Daichi-kun has a buzz cut, haha.

Uuh, isn"t baseball club too pitiful? But I do like baseball…
Still, they really like talks about love, don"t they? I even think they come to school just to enjoy love talks.

They look for potential pairs and make conversation material out of them. At some point they start to really make an effort to make a pair stick together like love birds. Can"t you let people and their love affairs be?

– Hmm, what do you think of buzz cuts, Tachibana?

– Ah, all boys wanna hear about that. What"s your type, Tachibana?

Eventually, blond girl at the center of that group became the topic.
Sitting on the top of the table and crossing her legs she said "Eh, me?" with a troubled look on her face.

Tachibana Karen.
On the surface she is a naïve beautiful girl popular among both s.e.xes, but behind the scenes, she is an infamous b.i.t.c.h. Regarding her infamy, there are actually no front and rear sides to it, it"s more of an open secret. Anyway, there are numerous rumors about her. There are different rumors, so putting aside minor details, common topic among them is "She eats any guy, whom she takes an interest in".

Well, it seems guys in our cla.s.s want to be eaten by her, so when her type of boy became topic of discussion, cla.s.s suddenly quieted down.

– Hmm, It"s like this…

Actually, her dressing was a head-on provocation for all youngsters of the world.
It is not only about her flashy hair and looked after facial features.
Two unfastened b.u.t.tons of her shirt slightly reveal moderately developed chest. The length of her skirt is clearly violating the school regulations, meanwhile she sits with her legs crossed and feet bare.

Who cares about that! Got to study! Study!

Right now, that strange girl is only a source of troubles for me.
Since the time Tachibana started coming to the library… I have been spending weird after school hours.
Anyway, I"m only helping her with studies. Helping a gyaru, who is so dim witted at first glance.

She"s not coming today again, right…?

– I guess I prefer manly type. I need to get fired up too, or something. Well, buzz cut is acceptable too, but it looks like I"m just complaining, no?

– No way, and I have just been dumped earlier too…

The ship of Daichi-kun from baseball club was sunk before he even confessed.
That is too unreasonable… I would like to say some words of comfort to him, but, unfortunately, I am a loner. Even though it"s bitter, I can"t say a word. Please come to me anytime you want. And while you"re at it, please become friends with me.

Well, what to say here… With this much boys and girls gathered in one room, it"s no wonder there are different types of people.

Those, who prefer talks about love. Those, who find both joy and sorrow in mobile games. Or those, who have nothing else to do apart from studying.

That is why I don"t mind being made fun of, but I want to be recognized for that.
If there was no bookworm who can"t pick up on the mood, those happy otakus would probably be lonely with no one to look down on. Perhaps, they wouldn"t be playing games so calmly.

To sum up, I contribute to the cla.s.s by not being able to sense the mood. For this reason, by all means, I hope I can come with an agreement with each and every one of my cla.s.smates.