When school ended, Weiss disappeared from the classroom in a flash. Ever since her transfer here, her whereabouts had become the biggest mystery for Class 1-B.
"Her shoes were still in the shoe cabinet, so I don't think she's heading straight home after school."
"Sun, when did you leave school yesterday?"
"Hmm, about five."
"I saw Weiss near the staff room."
Homeroom's about to start, but Weiss's nowhere in sight. A group of students had gathered around her desk which is right next to me, and were exchanging information they had among themselves. Stop meddling in other people's affairs already!
"I thought she liked drawing since she chose fine arts as her elective, so I tried inviting her to the arts club… but she ran away after saying some strange stuff to me. What's with that!"
"Speaking of which, that girl does nothing at all during the lessons, right? All she did was open up her sketchbook and leave it there! Is there something wrong with her brain?"
"She should just choose music instead. She's causing a lot of problems for the teachers as well, right?"
Everyone's appraisal of Weiss was sliding down further as they continued talking, though that was to be expected.
"Oi Hentai-san, do you know anything about her?" Sun suddenly involved me in the conversation.
"Dammit, Sun! Can you please not address me like that. You're really pissing me off now!"
"Then how about 'Weiss Schnee's Exclusive Critic'?"
"That's even worse!"
"Then how about I combine both to make it 'Hentai Critic'?"
"Don't go about combining things randomly!" Due to Weiss's baseless slanders, I was facing a crisis in my life.
"Listen Sun, we just met once during the spring vacation, so I knew nothing about her!" What's with those stares of disbelief!
The bell began to ring, but Weiss was still not in the classroom, and Yang still hadn't arrived either, as usual. It seemed like she was practicing the drums somewhere every morning. The advantage of being a drummer is that you can practice just about anywhere, so long as you have a pair of drumsticks, a metronome and a stack of old magazines. The moment the bell finished ringing and Yuuhi-sensei started closing the attendance book, the door at the back of the class suddenly opened.
"I'm safe! I'm safe, right?" Yang shouted while dashing into the classroom, and for some reason, she was pulling Weiss along as well.
The silent Weiss showed a grumpy expression, and flung Yang's hand away. Our teacher's nice though, and said to them, "I won't consider you two as late, so take your seats immediately." If Yang was alone, Yuuhi-sensei probably would have marked her as late without hesitation.
"Sorry, but lend me your notes for a while. I'll copy it quickly." Yang snatched my notebook after sitting down. I looked at her as she copied my notes furiously, and asked softly.
"What were you two doing just now?"
"I was practicing in the corridors on the third floor, and I saw Weiss. It seemed like she was lost."
"I was not lost… " Weiss mumbled. I secretly cast a glance at her, she seemed slightly angry, and her face was quite flushed too. This means… that this girl actually has a really poor sense of direction? The school is quite big, but it is quite ridiculous to get lost trying to get to your classroom, right?
"I made a detour to the music room, and on my way back…"
"Alright, I am about to start the lesson, so you three stop your chit-chatting," Yuuhi-sensei snapped, and our classmates gave a stifled laughter.
The music room? Why there? My doubts lasted for a brief moment though, as Yuuhi-sensei suddenly called me out to answer the questions in our assignments. With that, the only thing I could do was to focus on snatching my notebook back from Yang.
As usual, I escaped from Yang's attempts to rope me into the club after school. I made a trip down to the library to return the books I had shown Akeno that day, before walking towards the direction of the abandoned classroom behind the main building of the school. Just as I turned past the corner of the building and saw the chimney of the incinerator, the faint sounds of an electric guitar drifted into my ears. It came from the classroom which I've been using. And I suddenly thought, did I leave the room with a CD still playing? Shit! But as I approached the door and listened, I realized that wasn't the case. From within the classroom, came a tune that I hadn't heard of before, but I was very familiar with the melody all the same.
Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. This is an extremely difficult piano solo. During the endearing friska, the tune will be accompanied by notes that are played repeatedly at blazing speeds; moreover, what I was listening to is the guitar version. What's this? I don't have such an amazing CD… no, wait, this is live so there's someone playing it right now, with the electric guitar plugged into the amplifier that I had modified. I couldn't help it, but I was having goosebumps. It's impossible for a tune like this to be played by a person alone, even if he possessed four hands. However, the melody that was flowing into my ears definitely came from a single guitar. So who could that person be…?
I grabbed the door handle. Just then, that grand piano which was buried in the dumping grounds appeared in my mind. I pushed the handle down diagonally, and turned it at the same time. "Kacha"—a muffled metallic sound was heard, and I could feel the sensation of the lock coming loose through my palms. Just as I opened the door, the music came to a screeching halt. Weiss was sitting on the long desk and looking at me with a stunned expression. Her varnished guitar nearly slipped off her legs. I guess my expression then was probably the same as hers. Why… is Weiss here? In my classroom, which I'm using without permission, and holding onto a guitar? What the hell is going on here? When and how did this dream start? Could it be that everything that dates back to my encounter with her during the spring vacation was just a dream…
"… Y-you." Weiss regained her senses a tad bit quicker and spoke first. I took a small leap backwards in shock as well.
"Eh? Oh shit! Wait wait wait, stop, you will kill me if you hit me with that guitar of yours!"
Weiss's face was flushed red, and she swung that slightly heavy Stratocaster of hers at me while she was chasing me. I slammed the door shut so as to escape from her.
"Why are you here? Hentai! Stalker!" Weiss's shrieks came through the gaps of the door. Wait, I should be the one asking that question!
"I've been using this classroom all along, so why did you go in by yourself?" Though I was also using it without permission.
"I… I obtained permission from Rossweisse before entering."
"Eh?"
Rossweisse is our Norwegian music teacher. She came all the way from Norway to Japan to teach music in our school. She is a young beautiful teacher who everyone finds approachable and yet scary at the same time.
I see, so that was the reason for her going to the music room in the morning? No, wait, why was she given permission to use the classroom? So that means if I had asked the teacher for permission, I would also be permitted to use the classroom?
"Just scram already!"
She was saying that, but I had already moved in a huge stack of my CDs, refitted a component amplifier, and had even prepared some cushions, I'd wasted so much effort to make this classroom as comfortable as possible! Even if you want me to disappear, you can't possibly expect me to say, "Alright, so be it" and obediently leave as I was told!
"… Eh, what's happening here? Why would the teacher…"
She didn't reply, instead the sound of a huge claw scraping against the walls could be heard, it was the electric guitar's feedback. Stop that, or else the amplifier will break down! All I could do was sigh and move away from the classroom door.
Back in the school building, a surge of anger swelled up from within me as I was walking through the corridor. That was obviously my territory, she came later, but there she was, sitting in there comfortably. Who can possibly accept that? If that's the case, I'll complain to Rossweisse-sensei. However, the anger died down in me as I approached the doors of the music preparation room. A huge poster of the American Rockstar Slash was pasted on the sliding door.
Could Rossweisse-sensei be a fan of the rock band Gun N' Roses? Also, is it fine for her to be pasting such a thing openly onto the entrance of the staff room? I had a staring contest with Slash as I tried to calm myself down. I could faintly hear the relaxing melody of a concert band practicing next door. It's the music of the famous The Wizard of Oz's Over the Rainbow. Regardless of what you say, you've also used the classroom without permission, should I complain to her, then I'll get in trouble as well. Mmm, even so, if you want me to just back out like that, then…
"Yes? Looking for me, Namikaze?"
I jumped in shock from a voice that suddenly came from behind me, and my forehead slammed into the face of Slash. I turned my head around, and saw Rossweisse-sensei standing behind me with a light smile on her face. She was wearing a white blouse and a mini skirt as she is so disturbingly suitable for that sort of attire, the students call her the 'Ero-sensei' in secret. She is the reason that the first year guys who had chosen fine arts or calligraphy as their electives lived in regret. However, after attending her lessons, it was the guys who had chosen music as their elective that are the ones who have the deepest regrets now.
"Eh? Ah, nothing."
"It's fine, just come on in. I was thinking of having tea. Want to join me?" With that, Rossweisse-sensei dragged me into the preparatory room.
The music preparatory room is only about half the size of a normal classroom. As there is a shelf filled with musical scores, as well as an upright piano, the place is pretty cramped.
"Oh, there's hot water in the teapot, and the teabags are in the drawer. Also, cut a slice of honey cake while you're at it."
So you're delegating all the stuff onto me?
"Ah, just a cup of tea will do, and slice the cake into three pieces."
"Eh? You not having any?"
"What are you talking about? It's for me, of course. I never mentioned anything about you getting some."
Dammit… what else can I say?
"If you want to drink some tea no matter what, I can let you suck on those tasteless used-teabags."
"No thanks." This woman… ugh… I wanna go home already…
Rossweisse-sensei patted me on my back and said that it was just a joke. I was finally able to take a seat on the chair after I was done preparing two portions of tea and cakes. Just then, she suddenly said, "You're here to talk about the music building, right?" I nearly spat out my sip of tea.
"H-How did you know?"
"I know everything already. Like how you've been using the classroom without permission since spring, how you've modified the CD player to link it to an external input-device, or how you've fixed the reception cables for the radio… and how the cushions are really comfortable to sit on…"
Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! I was honestly considering if I should just hide under the table or something. No wait, if I do that, I'll just get slaughtered by her.
"But since you cleaned up the place really well, I turned a blind eye to it. I'm the only one who noticed anyway."
"Sorry sorry, I won't do it again."
"Since Weiss can use the classroom straight away as it is, the timing is just perfect." I released my arms that were hugging my head, and looked at Rossweisse-sensei's face. She said while laughing. "You are here to complain about that, right?"
"No… I am in no position to be complaining anyway."
"It's fine with me if you want to use it. I can't be rejecting you after granting Weiss special permission to use that room. You two should try to get along well with each other."
"No, that is quite impossible." Speaking of which, I was totally confused about the situation. "Could it be that you and Weiss-san already knew each other?"
"Yes. I was a student of her father, and I used to play with Weiss all the time."
Rossweisse-sensei's expression was slightly lonely.
"As for… Weiss, something happened, and she ended up transferring to this school. She then told me she wanted a room that she can use by herself. This is just the Director's daughter being willful, but since she isn't causing problems for anyone…"
"I see…" So the staff had silently agreed to it already.
"So you can use that classroom too, if you are willing to share it with Natsu."
So ultimately, I was the one who was chased out!
"But, why is she playing the guitar? I've heard that she no longer plays the piano, is that true? She was originally going to the College of Music, right? Why did she transfer to our school?"
"I can't be the one to tell you all that…" Rossweisse-sensei's expression became serious immediately. "Moreover, she herself doesn't want anyone to know. To be honest… I think it's better if she doesn't do that, but ultimately, the decision lies in Weiss' hands."
I don't have the slightest idea of what was going on around here, and Weiss didn't explain anything to me either. Because of that, the biggest problem facing me was what to do about that classroom. If the case was that the school found out that I was using the classroom without permission, and angrily banned me from using it ever again, I would have given up immediately. However, if you want me to sit next to Weiss and listen to my CDs while she plays the guitar, there is absolutely no way I could do that, no matter what!
"Why don't you try talking to her, to see if you two can share the classroom?"
"But she was trying to smack me to death with that guitar of hers when I tried talking to her?"
"You give up really fast! How can a youngster be like that?"
After a sudden round of reprimanding from Rossweisse-sensei, I was finally allowed to leave the music preparatory room.